Sparking Science through Mentorship
In celebration of Science Literacy Week (#SciLit17), we’re organizing a Sparking Science Through Mentorship Conference on Thursday, September 21!
The purpose of Sparking Science is to increase science literacy among girls entering grade 9 and demonstrate that a career in science is fun, satisfying and comes in many different shapes and forms. It is important to reach girls early in high school before they have developed any negative associations with or barriers in science that would discourage them from further pursuit of its studies
This unique mentorship conference features 14 AMAZING women working in science and technology with a social purpose. They represent different fields of science (e.g., life and environmental science, space, geology, engineering, data and technology), ages and backgrounds. This conference celebrates and takes place on Thursday, September 21, 2017 during Science Literacy Week (September 18-24, 2017).
The event will feature a keynote speaker Dr. Maydianne Andrade - a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, the Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs and Equity as well as a Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology. This will be followed by a series of interactive sessions with the 14 mentors. They will share what they do, how they got into the field, as well as some of their successes and challenges, and students will have a chance to ask any questions about working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
This is the first time the project partners have organized this kind of event and we’re so excited to see it come to life. We’re expecting 120 grade 9 girls from four local high schools in the Durham District School Board! Join us on social media (#SparkingScience) to see the conference in action!
For more info, please visit: www.ecospark.ca/sparking-science
About Science Literacy Week:
In 2017, Science Literacy Week takes place from September 18 to 24. Science Literacy Week is a week-long celebration of science in Canada highlights Canada’s outstanding scientists and science communicators from coast-to-coast. The goals are to showcase the excellence and diversity of Canadian science and to show how exciting science is.
Project Partners and Sponsors:
EcoSpark, Dunbarton High School and University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), with support from the Office of the Vice Principal Research and the Office of the Dean at UTSC, and the NSERC (National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) PromoScience Program.
