Mines’ Spring 2025 STEAM Café Presentations
South Dakota Mines welcomes curious minds of all ages to its Spring 2025 STEAM Café presentations.
STEAM Café, an ongoing series of free informal talks by Mines faculty, staff and visiting experts, is a partnership between the university, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, and Hay Camp Brewing Company.
An acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, STEAM Café is held at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at Hay Camp Brewing Company in Rapid City, unless indicated otherwise.
The 2025 spring STEAM Café lineup includes:
Jan. 21, 6 p.m.
Old Bones and New Stories from the Badlands
Presented by Ed Welsh (“The Bearded Ranger”), a paleontologist and the Education Specialist at Badlands National Park
The Badlands of South Dakota was home to the first major fossil discoveries in western North America. These outcrops have provided more than 175 years’ worth of research, documenting past life during one of the most significant climate transitions since the end of the dinosaurs. Ed Welsh (MS Paleo 10), a paleontologist and the Education Specialist at Badlands National Park (known as “The Bearded Ranger” on social media), has been heavily involved in bringing new park discoveries to light. This presentation will highlight some of the more significant discoveries made in recent years, including new genera and species of fossil mammals, as well as what the future has in store.
Feb. 18, 6 p.m., Beck Ballroom, Surbeck Center*
Mines Magic Show during Engineers Week
Presented by Mines students with the ACS university chapter
Join us as Mines students with the university chapter of the American Chemical Society present their popular “magic show” featuring science-based demonstrations, including the liquid nitrogen cannon. *Please note: this presentation will be held on campus at the Surbeck Center’s Beck Ballroom as part of Mines’ Engineers Week activities.
March 18, 6 p.m.
The Science of Swords, Part II
Presented by the South Dakota Mines student bladesmithing team
For the past 10 years, South Dakota Mines students have competed in a yearly international bladesmithing competition with other universities. Mines students Stephen Gebes, Brianna Hoff, Cora Gehrke, and Nathan Staley will discuss combining the art of bladesmithing with the science of heat treating and forging to create their award-winning, pattern-welded Viking sword from spring 2024 that integrated local Black Hills materials. The team members will also present a glimpse at their plans and approach for the next competition.
April 15, 6 p.m.
How to Look at the World: Poetry, Science, and Creativity
Presented by Dr. Christy Tidwell and Dr. Matthew Whitehead, South Dakota Mines faculty members in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
What does poetry have to do with science? The two might seem fundamentally dissimilar, belonging to different realms, but both offer opportunities to look carefully, communicate observations, make connections, and present perspectives that help us understand the world more fully - piece by piece, experience by experience. Drs. Christy Tidwell and Matthew Whitehead, faculty members in the South Dakota Mines Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, explore these similarities and more for National Poetry Month. They will discuss the role of creativity in the sciences, introduce some poetry basics, share short poems that explore scientific topics, and lead an activity for audience members to create their own poems.
May 20, 6 p.m.
Art, Science, and History at 4,850 Feet Underground: Perspectives from a Lakota Artist
Presented by Marty Two Bulls, Sanford Underground Research Facility Artist-in-Residence (SURF AiR)
Marty Two Bulls Jr., Oglala Sioux Tribe Lakota Artist Laureate and educator, will share his unique perspective from his time as the 2024 Artist-In-Residence at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead. Two Bulls will talk about his experience 4,850 feet underground and the artwork he created for his recent exhibition Inyan Wakan (“holy rock” in Lakota), which explores the parallels at SURF: miners extracting minerals in the past to scientists extracting knowledge today. He will discuss the connections between art, science, and history as well as their importance in our society.