U of A at the 2025 DMAFB STEAM Village Event

The University of Arizona's Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Heatlh Southwest Center on Resilience for Climate Change & Health and Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) were invited to table at the 2025 Davis Monthan Air Force Base (DMAFB) STEAM Village event which served 1,400+ K-12 grade students primarily from Tucson Unified School District Title I schools within the span of 4 hours.

The event, by far the highest attended DMAFB STEAM Village to date, was coordinated by DMAFB's Betsy Fleming, MAEd, School Liason  PreK - 12 Program Manager. In addition to the SCORCH/SWEHSC booth, students had the opportunity to engage in STEAM related activities engineered by Arizona Science Center, InSimEd, Waters Center for Thinking, National Park Service, U of A School of Mining & Mineral Resources, Pima County Environmental Education, DOD Starbase, Tucson Electric Power, and others.

At the SCORCH/SWEHSC booth, students participated in several educational games and activities to build awareness of the health impacts of climate change. Students had the opportunity to test their knowledge of the different ways climate impacts our health and environment. In addition, students had the opportunity to pick up educational materials to enhance their knowledge on health and the environment: Environment and Health A to Z and Vision of a Resilient Community Paper Globe Cutout produced by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) respectively. 

Because this event coincided with the practice day for the Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona Air Show (March 22-23, 2025), students were able to witness gravity-defying aircraft acrobatics and were escorted across the base by volunteer Air Force personnel to investigate various US Air Force aircraft. Not a boring day for young people interested in STEAM disciplines!