Spring is here! As the weather (and rain) picks up, let’s check out the science happenings in the Ithaca area. PRI’s Cayuga Nature Center made sure to show some of the plants peeking out as the warmer months kick into gear:
More signs of spring! 🌷🌳 Flower buds have emerged on the Eastern redbuds at the Cayuga Nature Center. And Ingrid Zabel, one of our Climate Educators, spotted Lungwort emerging in the pollinator garden! 🐝 @USANPN pic.twitter.com/KtQDicpFdF
— Cayuga Nature Center (@CayugaNature) April 8, 2022
⚗️Here we’ll be taking a dive into the different news, notices, and advancements for science in Ithaca!
Without further ado, let’s check it out:
Quick Bites
- Eligible groups in Tompkins can now receive a second COVID-19 booster shot four month after their first booster. These groups include:
- Adults aged 50 years and older
- Those aged 18-49 who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as their primary and booster doses
- Those aged 12 and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised
- The Tompkins Health Department is going to have a mobile mammogram clinic on May 4 from 1-am-6pm. Uninsured are welcome and to schedule an apointment or check eligability, call 607-798-5723.
Cornell Sustainability Month Kicks Off
A variety of sustainability-focused events will be coming during the upcoming month at Cornell hosted by different groups and students on the campus for their Sustainability Month!
Events include:
- Climate Change Seminar Series
- Cornell Business Impact Symponium
- Various Lectures, Panels, and Discussions
- Freezer Challenge
- Other student-led happenings
Event reminders can be found by following Sustainable Cornell on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
No news yet on IC’s Sustainability Week that typically kicks off at the same week as Earth Day – well, at least it did pre-COVID. Information on that if it occurs can be found here.
COVID on Campus?
Cornell is back in Green status as its students are off on Spring break, having delt with a severe caseload that sent it into yellow a few weeks ago. Students have been strongly encouraged to test before and after their break, but are not required to.
Even then, the campus has 69 student cases and 55 employee cases as of April 7, so it remains to be seen how the back half of the semester will shape up in terms of COVID impacts, protocols, and case trajectory when students return to instruction on April 11.
Ithaca College is seeing an increased set of COVID-19 cases (19 as of April 8 among students) but have no quarantine rooms that are in-use. 10 employees also have logged a positive test for the disease. The school required COVID testing for its students to return after its spring break in mid-March.
The school did announce that it would be pausing use of its health check protocol that allowed students to record and display their health status for the ease of mind and requirement of certain locations, events, and classes.
As of April 8, there are four active COVID-19 hospitalizations in Tompkins County.
Museum of the Earth gets a New Exhibit on Crawly Critters
I’ve always loved insects, so I’m definitely going to have to check out the new exhibit set out by the Paleontological Research Institute’s Museum of the Earth called “Six-Legged Science”.
Partnering with the Cornell University Insect Collection,
They also set up a website informing about different insects and their necessity to the ecosystem on their website.
This follows the ‘Insect Encounter’ event and other bug-themed displays they had for their Dawin Days celebration this year that I helped report on for WICB’s Ithaca Now.
Some More Before You Go!
Check out my recent article on this website and Ithaca Week featuring Cornell Electric Vehicles which begins their competition this week! Check it out here.
If you have any thoughts on this format and if you would like this to be continued and expanded please let me know. Please send me an email at jayrbradley10@gmail.com!
