About Dr. Ruth Patrick
Dr. Ruth Patrick was a contemporary, world-renowned scientist who studied the waterways of South Carolina for more than sixty years. Ruth Patrick was born in Topeka, Kansas, where she learned to share her father’s love for nature and microscopic plant life. From there she came to South Carolina and in 1929 she earned a Bachelor’s degree from Coker College in Hartsville, SC. In 1934, she earned a PhD from the University of Virginia.
In the early 1950s, she was assigned by the Atomic Energy Commission to collect baseline data on the water quality and biota of the Savannah River prior to the opening of the Savannah River Plant. Dr. Patrick responded by forming a team of scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia to study the area. She was the first scientist to diagnose the health of a river or stream by plant life and animal species. Her early studies contributed significantly to the developing field of ecology. For the first time, they established a set of aquatic indices that could be used to describe the health of water systems and the impact of industrialization. Her work has since been modeled by ecologists worldwide.
Dr. Patrick’s career was marked with many awards and accomplishments. She was the Francis Boyer Chair of Limnology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. She received the Award of Merit from the Botanical Society of America in 1971, the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America in 1972, and the Gold Medal of the Royal Zoological Society of Belgium in 1978. In 1970, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1974 to the American Philosophical Society. In 1989, Dr. Patrick was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by the University of South Carolina. In 1996, she was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Science and Technology.
Today, the staff of the RPSEC continues following the pioneering spirit of Dr. Ruth Patrick through many innovative educational programs and activities for the CSRA community. The "Spirit of Ruth Patrick Award" is given each year to a teacher who follows this pioneering spirit to inspire others to infuse a Love for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
About the Facility
The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center building contains the DuPont Planetarium, the Crawford Greenewalt Solarium, the Herb Eleuterio Teacher Resource Room, The Westinghouse Physical Science Class/Lab, the NCNB Life Science Class/Lab, and the Apple Computer Learning Center. Many science, mathematics and engineering applications are architecturally integrated into the building itself to enhance learning. These special features, which were integrated under the direction of Dr. Henry Gurr, a physics professor at USCA, demonstrate science principles and everyday applications of science.
The building provides other learning opportunities in the form of alternating and permanent exhibits, many of which are prepared by local volunteers. Among the permanent exhibits are a portrait of Dr. Patrick, a portrait of Mr. Greenewalt along with a hummingbird pictorial display, the Owens-Corning Scales, a South Carolina geodetic monument (benchmark), color wheel, spectrum-viewing rectangular prism, South Carolina topographic maps, SC/GA habitat mural, aerial photographs, living periodic table, and a vivarium. Among the alternating exhibits are interactive radioactivity displays, a human kaleidoscope, geodes, petrified wood, and computer-operated displays.
Architecturally Integrated Features
- RPSEC Sundials - A horizontal and an obelisk sundial are oriented in such a way that they are really one large sundial. The plaza around the sundials has lines for hours, lines for the summer and winter solstices, and a line for the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
- Color-Coded Building Parts - Trace building system and building skeleton.
- Exposed Elevator Shaft and Motor - Demonstrate hydraulic principles.
- "Corner Reflector" Mirrors - Show how bicycle pedal reflectors work.
- The "Duck in Kaleidoscope" - Demonstrates light reflection principles.
- Parabola Water Fountain Niche - Illustrates conic sections mathematics.
- Acoustical Bathrooms - Demonstrate low sound absorption chamber.
- Airlock Planetarium Entrance - Demonstrates high sound absorption chamber.
- Hollow Support "Listening Posts" - Creates echo chamber for studying resonance.
- Living Periodic Table - Displays physical samples of the elements in pure or compound form.
- Sodium Vapor, Incandescent and Mercury Vapor Lights - Produce light of different colors (spectral response).
- Solarium - Utilizes natural lighting and solar heating as energy savers.
- Musical Handrails - Produce musical and tonal sounds based on lengths of bars.
- Circular Planetarium Window - Creates a camera obscura, which is the precursor of modern cameras. The camera obscura allows visitors to the planetarium to experience a camera from the inside.
- DuPont Planetarium - Houses a state-of-the-art Digistar II star field and graphic effects projector. A number of other slide, video and special effects projectors are orchestrated to deliver high quality planetarium shows to local students and the general public.
- United States Geological Survey Marker - Serves as a reference point for satellite maps and surveyors.
- Satellite Map of Aiken County - Demonstrates satellite imaging capabilities and geographical features.
- Digital Television Studio
- TV Studio Control Room
- Video and Audio Media Production Suite
- Exposed Local Area Network and Telephone Closet - Displays ethernet network hardware used in the Local Area Network (LAN) to connect the computers to the rest of the campus and to the Internet. On the right side wall, is the telephone headin, cross-connect field and in-house phone wiring.