Science Outreach
Below you can explore some of the activities I have taken part in!
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Guest Speaker
I love visiting classrooms and other venues to teach science or talk about what it's like to be a scientist! Using diagrams, pictures of my lab equipment, and live organisms, I teach elementary and high school students about my experiments, what it is like to do research in a lab, and fun science facts!
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Metamorphosis Girls STEM Conference
Metamorphosis Girls STEM Conference is a local conference for girls in middle school to help nurture their curiosity for science and promote STEM education for women. It is held on International Women's Day in March at John Polanyi CI in North York.
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On March 8, 2019, I was a STEM Talks Speaker at this one-day conference and got the opportunity to speak to groups of girls in Grade 6 to 8 about my research in genetics and evolution. I used props and live nematodes to convey information to my audience while giving career advice about how to become a scientist.
Soapbox Science Jr.
On May 15, 2018 & 2019 I participated as a speaker in the first and second annual Soapbox Science Jr. at the Festival of Trees, hosted by the Forest of Reading on Harbourfront in Toronto. I talked to students in grade 7 to 12 about my research with nematodes and why it's important to understand gametic isolation. I brought live nematodes for the students to look at and made sperm and egg models to help demonstrate sperm-egg interactions. Check out part of my talk here! I was also featured on Science Sam's Instagram stories, which you can find here.
Soapbox Science is an initiative that started in the UK to promote women in STEM and make science accessible to the public. I had a lot of fun that day interacting with youth and meeting awesome women in STEM!
Science Rendezvous
Science Rendezvous is a national event that brings science to the public! It's a day to get the public involved and let them see what research is taking place in Canada. On May 12, 2018, I participated with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto to organize and deliver activities to teach the public about the ecosystems that exist in their own backyard. We showed them native vs. non-native plants and animals, real fossils, and let them design their own ecosystem using the knowledge they learned at our booth.
Let's Talk Science Challenge
On April 23, 2018 I participated as a judge in the Let's Talk Science Challenge at the University of Toronto. This competitive event is offered to grade 6-8 students to test their science knowledge and help them build their team skills. My role was to help teams through the science-based activities and judge how well they did. I won an award for Best Judge based on my enthusiasm and dedication to my teams.
Let's Talk Science & SciHigh
I have been an outreach volunteer with Let's Talk Science since September 2017 and SciHigh since February 2018 and it has been an absolute blast! Both of these initiatives allow for me to go into elementary and high school classrooms where I get to lead students through science demonstrations. Occasionally I also talk to students about what it's like to be a scientist and how I got to where I am today (aka through many years of school).
Science March
I marched in the first Science March in 2017 in London, ON. It was a very enlightening and emotional day as hundreds of scientists came out to let the public and government know that funding scientific research is important for our society.
