International Day aims to inspire students with science

CORALVILLE - When Jodeane Cancilla, director of the Macbride Raptor Project, shared facts like how turkey vultures poop on their own legs to cool off, she grabbed the full attention of a room of impressed junior high school students in Coralville Tuesday.

Then she brought out Zephyr, a Swainson's hawk, and Whiskers, an Eastern screech owl, both of whom are cared for by the Raptor Project, which rescues and rehabilitates injured birds. The students peppered her with questions, from what the birds eat to how they hunt to how the different species are named.

'As you all grow up and become scientists and discover new plants and animals, you'll get to name them,” Cancilla replied.

Inspiring students to do just that - discover new things and explore the world around them - was part of the impetus for the day's events.

Approximately 300 students from around Eastern Iowa gathered at the Coralville Marriott for the 18th annual International Day Human Rights Conference. Held since 1997, the conference is designed to educate middle school students on topics related to both local and global human rights issues.

This year's theme, 'The Human Right to a Clean Environment,” found students not only learning about raptors but also making compost, learning how to clean up oil spills and designing water purification systems, among other things.

The event was hosted by the University of Iowa's College of Education in cooperation with the Stanley Foundation. Speakers and presenters came from several UI departments as well as community organizations.

The day's keynote speaker, Kevin Adair, is director of the Force of the Sun, a company based in the Dominican Republic and Haiti that builds solar ovens run on biomass briquettes as an alternative to charcoal. Adair talked about deforestation and other developmental challenges his company is trying to address.

He interspersed his very serious presentation with lighthearted juggling and magic tricks. He said he uses his showmanship skills as a way to inspire people to pay attention to causes that inspire him.

He encouraged students to expand their perspectives, think internationally and consider how they can use their skills, whether juggling or caring for raptors, to have a big impact on the things that inspire them.

Cancilla said she hoped students walked away with a better understand of the natural world around them.

'I hope they got an appreciation of the animals they're existing with, and the ways the things we do can both help and harm them,” she said.