2022 State Tour Recap
Each year as we bring on our new cohort of postdoctoral fellows, we embark on a fall state tour to help the fellows get to know Missouri before the start of the legislative session.
Eastern Missouri
This year, St. Louis was our first stop on the state tour. After a short road trip, we stretched our legs by exploring the City Museum. Next was a delicious lunch at the Ethiopian restaurant Meskerem, followed by a meeting with our friends at Undo Bias. We finished off the day with some Prince music at the Summer Concert Series in Forest Park, where we got to meet up with partners from Washington University ProSPER and STEM STL.
We kicked off the next day with breakfast at the Mud House and a meetup at Tower Grove Park with legislative, academic, and fundraising partners. Next up was a visit to the Arch Museum with the STL Coro Fellows. We loved making new connections and exploring the interesting exhibits. We wrapped up our day with shakes and lunch at Crown Candy Kitchen. Overall, it was great to visit so many different people and attractions and in STL and we look forward to our continued collaboration with old and new partners from the area.
Southwest Missouri
For the southwest leg of our tour, we visited Springfield, met with local partners, and made new connections as well! On our first day we met with partners at the Missouri Institute of Natural Science, a museum which was formed after the discovery of Riverbluff Cave in 2001. After insightful discussions with partners, we were lucky enough to be given a tour of the cave by the director of the institute, Matt Forir. We got to see claw marks, tracks, formations, and a bear bed that ranged from tens to hundreds of thousands of years old! This was arguably the team’s favorite part of the entire tour.
On our second day we had a partner meeting at efactory, a coworking space in Springfield. We had an eye-opening discussion with Jane Hood, the associate director of the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments, who educated us on councils of governments around the state. This discussion helped us identify future partner connections for later parts of our tour. Before returning to Jefferson City, we had a chance to appreciate nature and learn a little bit of the history of Missouri at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.
Western Missouri
For the westernmost leg of our tour, we headed to Kansas City, MO, where we started off the morning grabbing coffee and breakfast at City Market. We next headed to the beautiful and historic Union Station where we met with legislative partners and practitioners, with venue help from the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. We also stopped by BioNexus KC, an ongoing industry and research partner of MOST. That evening and the following morning, we indulged in the cultural diversity of Kansas City by visiting both Nguyen Pho & Grill restaurant and Café Cà Phê, two mainstays of the Vietnamese community in the city.
Our next morning, we ventured north to do a little exploration in nature by visiting the Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary, an independent and non-profit-maintained nature preserve for the residents of Liberty, MO. After working up an appetite, we dined at a fan-favorite regional barbecue joint, Jousting Pigs before returning to KC. We finished our trip by learning about urban farming at Cultivate KC, a non-profit organization with the goal of teaching and growing sustainable food for all. This includes their New Roots for Refugees program, which trains refugees with agricultural skills to become independent farmers in urban areas.
Southeast Missouri
In Cape Girardeau, we met with SEMO United Way, the SEMO Food Bank, and the SEMO Regional Planning Commission. We learned about the different communities that the Food Bank serves and the challenges that come with serving rural communities. From United Way, we learned about First Call for Help, which is a local helpline that assists callers to find resources. Denise Wimp, who runs the program, keeps track of which agencies and programs currently have resources to aid those in need. She helps callers by sending them to agencies that have the capacity to help them. Additionally, she walks callers through the steps they need to take to ensure that they do not get stuck in the process of finding help. Overall, these groups are providing essential services to the people of SEMO, and it was inspiring to learn about them.
We also learned about the major issues facing the area. For example, multiple people mentioned the lack of reliable public transportation as a major barrier to this community in terms of accessing resources and job opportunities. Other pertinent issues included challenges to maintaining and developing the workforce, a lack of affordable housing options for the middle class, and childcare access. It was very exciting to create new partnerships, learn about the issues facing the area, and to understand how they are addressing these problems. We look forward to keeping in touch with these groups and using their local expertise to inform Science Notes in the future.
Northeast Missouri
In our final jaunt away from home, we took a day trip up to Kirksville. We first met with faculty and leadership at Truman State University, where we discussed possibilities for collaboration. There are several programs at TSU that require internships and/or field experience as part of the curricula, and we may be able to host some of these students to support our Fellows and community outreach programs. Additionally, we met up with TSU faculty, Kirksville’s city planner, and Northeast Missouri lawmakers at the Kirksville Aquatic Center for a wide-ranging discussion about our organization as well as the issues and opportunities that are important to the region. We got some tasty pastries from To Die For Bakery and had some rico Mexican cuisine at Mi Casa Restaurante before returning home.
Central Missouri
The last leg of our state tour was at home in mid-MO. We met up with local lawmakers, partners, and friends to enjoy pizza, games, conversation, and local suds at Last Flight Brewery in Jefferson City.
All in all, it was a great state tour. We saw many familiar faces and some new ones too, we got a good sense of the major issues and industries across the state, saw lots of wildlife, explored some really neat places, ate at amazing restaurants, and became more connected as a team. We feel fueled up and ready for the kick-off of the legislative session.
