Meeting Summary
Presiding: Tim Eisenhauer
Meeting Room setup/takedown and general problem solving: Tom Mangan, Ron Van Ekeren & Mark Mader
Inspiration:
Professor’s Quote: George Gill
Guests:
Exchange Students:
Visiting Rotarians:
Junior Rotarians: Joshua deJong
Rotaract Students:
Humor: Todd Pearson
Foundation Drawing: Klaus Hanson won $10 with 51 cards in the deck and $98 in the jackpot.
O’Dwyers Drawing: Jaime Stine won a $20 gift card from O’Dwyer’s.
Upcoming Programs:
- May 17: Wyoming Fossils, Museum and Collections Manager Laura Vietti
- May 24: Wyoming Energy Economics/Renewables, Rob Godby
- May 31: Rotary Exchange Student, Barb Fukova
- June 7: ENDOW, Jerimiah L. Rieman
Announcements:
- Caitlin White passed the money cans for donations to Relay for Life.
- Randi Downham and Tom Doser encouraged members to sell their tickets and bring people to the duck race. Rotarians have a deadline of June 1 to sell their tickets.
- Caitlin White asked members to fill out the People of Action citation. Completed forms should be returned to Tim Eisenhauer.
- Tim Eisenhauer thanked the club for getting him photos to use for the promotional display.
- Caitlin White announced that the Albany County Public Library Foundation is hosting a 40 Library Heroes display for the month of May.
Rotarian of the Week: Todd Pearson nominated Aimee Binning for becoming a grandmother; Caitlin White nominated Anne Brande for donating a silent auction item for District Conference; Tim Sullivan nominated Caitlin for pulling double duty with taking notes and leading the meeting.
Introduction of Program: Ollie Walter
UW Botany professor, Brent Ewers spoke to the club about leveraging state and federal investments to UW to improve the research enterprise, workforce, and economic development of Wyoming.
Brent spoke about EPSCOR, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The goal of EPSCOR is to provide access to research resources across jurisdictions that receive the least amount of research dollars.
The history of EPSCOR at UW works to align with the state science and technology plan. Currently, there are 30 faculty positions. Many of these are funded by grants, especially since it is such an enormous investment to start a new science faculty member.
The UW chemistry department also benefitted from this funding and is now thriving. Energy resources were another area for funding leading to the new School of Energy Resources. UW also has a world-renowned stable isotope facility.
UW is now working on a $20 million grant to improve the workforce, increase research, and work on economic development.
This research revolves around microbes and landscapes. UW is researching how transplanting microbes can help suffering landscapes flourish and help with crops as well. Wyoming is a good place for this research because of the diversity of our landscape.
This is cutting edge science impacting the state. One larger project right now is on the Wind River Indian Reservation, where the project will address two questions from the tribes.
There is also a push to change the way UW students are trained to better accommodate the shift from school to the workforce. Several internships will be used providing opportunities for students to experience the private sector.
The program is also pairing with the journalism department. Journalism students will help scientists learn to communicate better and are also working to find better ways to interview scientists.
Responding for the Club: Amelia Kelso
Response: The Rotary Club of Laramie will make a donation to the public library children’s book fund in the speaker’s name.
NOTE: We Do Not Donate a Book!
Rotary 4-way Test:
Of the things we think, say, or do
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it Fair?
- Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
- Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
Special Announcement from John & Joyce Vandel: John & Joyce Vandel encouraged all members of the club to become part of the Paul Harris Society. They will match everyone’s monetary donation up to 500 points through June.
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Website: laramierotaryclub.org
Spoke Editor: Caitlin White