PINHEAD SCHOLARS IN THE SCHOOLS
Ron Estler, TSRC Board Member, Colorado Professor of the Year awardee and Professor of 
Chemistry at Fort Lewis College in Durango, deserves recognition for his oustanding contributions to Pinhead Institute's Scholars in the Schools Program for grades K-12 during the 2010 and 2011 academic years, as well as his Pinhead Punk Science presentation.
John Straub, Professor of Chemistry at Boston University and Past-President of TSRC, returned to the Telluride region in February 2009 to present his now famed, "A Lively Tour of the Periodic Table," with explosions, demonstrations, and a music video to 700 K-12 students from Telluride, Naturita, Norwood, Ouray, and Ridgway Schools. Straub reached all 1800 regional students in five school districts, in five different "Lively Tour" presentations in the fall of 2005 and winter of 2006. He was called back in 2009 by popular demand.
Susan DeSensi, Boston University, presented “The Secret Life of Glue: Bouncy Balls & Goober Goo” with fun demonstrations and interactive experiments, to 160 students 1st through 7th grades at Nucla and Telluride schools in March of 2009. Susan was brought to Telluride by John Straub.
Josef Francisco, Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University and President-Elect of ACS participated in the Pinhead Scholars in the Schools program in May 2008. He gave talks on the chemistry of the atmosphere and impact of pollutants on climate change. Francisco’s clear-thinking lecture style allowed students to understand climate change at a deeper level.
David Coker, Boston University Chemisty Professor, presented a demonstration of "The Science of Steam" at the Telluride Mountain School to all first grade through eleventh grade students. This was the first all school assembly presesnted by Pinhead Institute at the Mountain School and it was tremendously well received. Coker's sense of humor and drama caught the attention of the teachers as well as students.
Scott Tenenbaum, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Gen*NY*Sis
Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics, University at Albany-SUNY, visited four regional school districts and presented two lectures, “Demystifying Genetics” and “Eugenics” in the winter of 2007. Tenenbaum’s honest and frank discussions caught the attention of even the most recalcitrant teenagers.
Kieron Burke, University of California, Irvine, Professor of Heretical Physics and Chemistry, presented quantum mechanics to the regional middle/high school students freshingly using a blackboard, tennis balls, and a cardboard box, rather than powerpoint. And as is usual with this subject matter, some students went away with their heads hurting from the mind blowing ideas, while others clambered to learn more. He also spoke with students in classroom settings, and presented chaos theory games to 7th graders.
TELLURIDE UNEARTHED LECTURES
David Coker, Boston University Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and TSRC Board Member, participated in this annual lecture series hosted by Pinhead Institute and the Telluride Historical Museum. His talk, "The Science of Steam," was given on November 9, 2007 in the series entitled “A Railroad in the Valley.”
John Straub, President of TSRC (2006-2008) and BU Chemistry Professor, gave a talk on “The Chemistry of Mining” for the Unearthed series in November 2005.
