As part of the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy’s summer programming, Scholars have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a weeklong “Serving through STEM (StS) Project” that gives them the opportunity to contribute to a real-world project and see first-hand how STEM-related work can help improve the world.

Join us in the E1 auditorium (10 West 32nd Street) on Wednesday, July 24 from 2:30–3:30 pm for the special Sustainability Forum “Serving through STEM: Teen Community Sustainability Projects,” featuring the results of two sustainability-oriented StS Projects completed by teens:

“Sustainable Landscape Management and Ecological Design: Inventorying and Calculating the Water Impact of IIT’s Trees,” with the  IIT Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability

Scholars learned about the complex and often surprising ways that plant life and landscape design can impact water use and sustainability. Scholars helped take an inventory of the trees on IIT’s campus, including mapping locations, determining species and calculating water need, and from this information made recommendations for potential alternative plantings. At this Sustainability Forum, students will present their findings in hopes to inform implementation of future sustainability projects on campus.

“Mapping Movement in the City: Identifying Invisible Borders,” with the University of Chicago’s Center for Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy (Meghan Vincent, education outreach director)

In this introduction to research methods, Scholars used Chicago as a laboratory to study how people move through the city. Students utilized data collected from surveys and fieldwork that they helped conduct, as well as from the city of Chicago’s data portal, to visualize the invisible boundaries in the city. At this forum, students will present their findings and discuss larger implications.

Light refreshments will be provided at this special event. Contact Marya Spont, IIT Boeing Scholars Academy program director, at mspont@iit.edu.