On the morning of April 11, I was excited to attend one of Caltech’s renowned genius lectures. However, what I experienced was far beyond my expectations. The speaker for the day was graduate student Hannah Dion-Kirschner, who focused on the topic of “How Soil Microbes Help Us Fight Climate Change.”
As I entered Beckman auditorium, I noticed a significant difference in the audience from typical Caltech lectures. Instead of the usual white-haired, retired intelligentsia, the audience consisted primarily of fourth and fifth-grade students from four local schools. As Dion-Kirschner took the students on a journey from microscopic microbes in soil to the outer limits of the atmosphere, they were fully engaged in learning.
Dion-Kirschner drew parallels between her scientific research and playing the piano, emphasizing the importance of practice, hypothesis testing, and the scientific method. She explained how microbes play a crucial role in combating climate change and even treated the audience to a piano performance.
Throughout the lecture, the students actively participated in the learning process, asking insightful questions that Dion-Kirschner gladly answered. It was evident that they were fully engaged and absorbed in
