NIMBioS postdoctoral fellow Maud Lélu answers questions from middle school girls about her career.
Middle school girls work on a project at STEM camp.
NIMBioS postdoctoral fellows, faculty and UTK graduate students answered questions from middle school girls about their lives as female biologists and mathematicians at the Adventures in STEM day camp, held last week on the University of Tennessee (UT) campus. Co-hosted by NIMBioS and CURENT at UT, the 27 girls worked on a variety of fun projects and activities to explore the various STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities culminated in a “poster session” where the girls shared what they had learned with their families. The week was geared toward expanding girls’ interests in engineering, math and biology and raising their awareness of careers in the STEM fields.
NIMBioS had a lot of help in carrying out the event this week. In addition to co-hosting the event with CURENT, which led morning activities, many volunteers contributed to the afternoon activities, which were led by NIMBioS. From NIMBioS, postdocs J.J. Chai and Maud Lélu, and Graduate Research Assistants Mauricio Gonzalez-Forero and Adam Sullivan all leant a hand from making themselves available for interviews to helping the girls with their activities. UT Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduate students Jessica Bryant and Emily Austin volunteered to be interviewed, and UT mathematics graduate students Jillian Trask and Sara Abdelmageed also volunteered. Susan Riechert, UT Professor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and creator of Biology in a Box, led a black box activity with J.R. Jones, Biology in a Box production manager.
The camp was also featured in a news story on local television station WBIR. For more information about NIMBioS education and outreach programs, click here. For more information about the Adventures in STEM camp, click here.
Adventures in STEM campers pose for a silly picture with NIMBioS graduate research assistant Adam Sullivan (back left), NIMBioS Education and Outreach Coordinator (left, white shirt) and NIMBioS Associate Director for Education, Outreach & Diversity Suzanne Lenhart (middle, yellow shirt).