Get Your Hands Dirty with Science: Vandal Science Days at the Lional Hampton Music Festival

The Lional Hampton Music Festival will be taking place from April 16th to 20th, and the University of Idaho’s College of Science is hosting a science-based event that intersects with the festival. Vandal Science Days, which will take place on Friday and Saturday, April 19th and 20th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Integrated Research and Innovation Center, welcomes people of all ages to engage in hands-on activities, workshops, and presentations.

The event is free to the public and offers participants the chance to learn more about UI’s science program while socializing with professors and students. Attendees can expect food, prizes, hands-on activities like fossil digging and comet making, as well as special presentations by faculty on topics such as arsenic usage in beauty products and archaeochemistry.

On Friday, attendees will have access to various workshops throughout the day, including a showcase of “Virtual Reality Demos” by students at 11 a.m., a presentation on “Arsenic For Health and Beauty and other dubious practices” by Claire Qualls at 1 p.m., and a “Geology Top Model” fashion show by geology undergrads at 2 p.m.

On Saturday morning, John Anderson will present “Virtual Realities for Sustainable Future: XR Application in Planetwalking Science,” followed by Melia LaFleur’s presentation on “From Yellow Powder to Black Power and Archaeochemical Journey.” Additionally, there will be workshops hosted by the Lional Hampton Jazz Festival that explore the connections between science and music throughout the week.

Vandal Science Days is an excellent opportunity for people of all ages to learn about science while having fun in a hands-on environment. It promises to be an exciting event filled with great activities that are sure to leave everyone inspired!