After what felt like the longest winter ever, we’ve shaken off our puffy coats and emerged into the sunshine. Summer is almost officially here and we have a lot to be excited about:
1. More skills
Our team is learning some new skills this summer. Brandon and Courtney attended a recent Internet of Things workshop at the Indiana IoT Lab. We’re excited to explore new possibilities for creating prototypes that use computer programming and the internet of things. Courtney’s got an Arduino kit and she’s not afraid to use it (okay maybe she is a little, but she learned how to solder at the workshop so that’s a start, right?). Bridget is currently taking some classes about communicating science through improv and is bringing back some techniques that will help our whole team with thinking on our feet during jams.
And with all of our upcoming projects about opioid use disorder, we thought it was important to learn how to use naloxone, which temporarily reverses an overdose while emergency responders are on the way. The majority of our team is now naloxone trained thanks to our friends at Overdose Lifeline. Hopefully we won’t need to use this skill, but it’s good to be prepared. Check out the Overdose Lifeline website to learn more about Naloxone and how to get some.
2. More places
Our upcoming projects are taking us to new locations, in Indiana and beyond. We’ll be visiting Dubois county to understand more about why genetic testing for cancer treatment happens less often in rural counties in Indiana even though they have high cancer death rates. We’ll be visiting Boston to work with a design research partner to create a program to help new mothers of babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome stay engaged in opioid use disorder recovery. And, we’re reaching out to Georgia through the use of self-reporting toolkits that ask teens and young adults to share their thoughts on dual protection (using condoms and birth control together).
Last year we joined our friends from All IN at the Indiana State Fair to learn fairgoers’ thoughts on lots of different research topics. We’re still planning our booth for this year, but we’re very excited to be returning to chat with our fellow Hoosiers and our out-of-state visitors (and eat fair food, let’s be honest). We’ll have more updates about this soon, but, if you’re coming to the State Fair, be sure to take a break from all the funnel cakes and lemon shake-ups to come say hello.
3. More team-building
We’re looking forward to fitting more team-building into our schedule as well. Bridget found out that the university offers hands-on fire extinguisher training so obviously we’re doing that. And the always popular annual CHeP pool party is just around the corner.
Cannonball!