Conference Special Events

At this year's Annual Conference, STANYS and its partners will be offering different opportunities for attendees to learn more before or during the conference. We will also have two dinner receptions - the Friday Night Event and the Fellows and Past Presidents' Reception - where attendees can network with other fellow educators and leaders in science education. All of these special events have an additional fee, so please be sure to select one or more of these events when you register for the conference. 
Friday Pre-Conference Workshop
Interested attendees can register for the full-day workshop separately from the Annual Conference and as an add-on to their Annual Conference registration. The full-day offering will allow attendees to dive deep into the required instructionally-embedded investigations for high school science courses. 
Friday, November 1st
​​8:30AM - 4​:00PM
Oncenter Convention Center
Fee: $130​
Deep Dive Into the HS Biology & Earth and Space Sciences Mandatory Lab Investigations
Looking for support to implement the new required HS Lab Investigations? Join OCM BOCES and NYSED as they unpack the activities and provide best practices on how educators and districts can incorporate these curriculum embedded assessments for student learning in a 3-dimensional classroom. Teachers, curriculum specialists and administrators are encouraged to attend. 
In-Conference Institute
This special institute on Monday morning is available to Annual Conference attendees for an additional cost to cover breakfast for the day. For individuals wishing to attend the institute but not the full conference, you must register for the "Monday Only" conference registration and select the PRI Institute as an add-on. 
Monday, November 4th
​​7:30AM - 12​:00PM
Marriott Syracuse Downtown
​Fee: $50
​(plus conference registration)​
PRI Monday Institute: Fire, Climate Change, & the Science of Energy
s far as we know, Earth is the only fire planet. That fire was made possible by life and it makes life possible. Fire has only been common on Earth for the last half billion years - just the most recent ten percent of Earth’s history. Fire made us human and fire drove the Industrial Revolution and virtually all the industries that followed it. It is also at the root of modern climate change as the current source of most of civilization’s energy. If we are successful in mitigating climate change, a key piece of that success will come from replacing fire in our energy systems with cooler processes. 
 
Fire also cuts across the sciences:
  • The biological process of photosynthesis created nearly all the fuel we burn, both ancient and modern.
  • The chemical reaction of combustion effectively reverses photosynthesis by converting hydrocarbon products into carbon dioxide and water.
  • The physical process of the greenhouse reaction warms the atmosphere by absorbing electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum and reradiating in the infrared. 
  • The combination of the above makes for rich Earth systems science content. 
  • Reducing the impacts of climate change requires an applied understanding and synthesis of these ideas. 
  • Energy solutions draw from biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth sciences, informed by relevant mathematics, and social sciences and communicated through arts and literature. 
STANYS Dinner Receptions
The following two dinner receptions are available for Annual Conference attendees only. During registration, you will be asked if you would like to add these two events to your registration ticket. 
Friday Night Event: Live Music and Dinner
November 1st from 7:30PM - 10:00PM
Fee: $45
Come join us Friday evening for some dinner and live music from Sonic Vortex.  Additional fee covers cost of dinner buffet and the entertainment. Join us to experience Sonic Vortex as they perform their original instrumental "Ambient Spacerock". One of the band members (Ben Luce) is a  physicist with a passion for the waveforms and harmonics of vintage synthesizers. 
Fellows and Past Presidents' Reception
Sunday, November 3rd from 4:30PM - 5:30PM
Fee: $25
Come join STANYS Fellows and past leaders for a passed hors d'oeuvres reception before the Fellows Dinner & Induction ceremony on Sunday evening. Learn from the wealth of knowledge from these innovative and influential New York science leaders in this unique networking opportunity. Professional attire is required to attend. 
Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS)