Dr. Graeme Wyllie and the Concordia Science Academy have been partnering with Moorhead Students through Community Education for the past two years. He brings a wealth of knowledge, cool chemistry experiments and Concordia students to elementary and middle schools to interact with Spud students and draw out their interest in hands-on experiments.
“Concordia Science Academy originally started from a request to do an after school event from a local school PTAC. Early events were larger one time events. We could manage to run one or two each spring and fall,” tells Dr. Graeme. Over time, community partners like Community Education allowed the program to run events almost weekly throughout the year and extend their reach.
“The program’s capacity to reach thousands of students in the surrounding area is a true gift. To have dedicated college students and professors, like Dr. Graeme, in our community quenching the thirst of our young learners is truly an amazing partnership,” claims Jessica Rheault, adult and youth programs coordinator for Moorhead Community Education.
All experiments are hands-on, colorful and have cool chemistry behind them. Some of the students’ favorite experiments include:
Alginate worms (a cool chemical reaction which connects to bioplastics research)
Sugar rainbow (very colorful)
Cochineal beetles (used to color foods prior to food coloring)
Dr. Graeme holds an undergraduate degree from University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He did a post-graduate diploma at Robert Gordon’s University In Aberdeen, Scotland, then moved to the United States where he received his PhD at the University of Notre Dame. His post-doctoral work was completed at NDSU before crossing the state border to Concordia in 2006.
“I originally took the job at Concordia for what I thought was going to just be a year or two,” explained Dr. Graeme. Almost twenty years later, Dr. Graeme is still with Concordia in the chemistry department. He continues to love hands-on and engaging science. The Science Academy work keeps Dr. Graeme busy, experimenting and developing new activities.