Volunteer Spotlight
Each month our staff recognizes the amazing efforts of our volunteers by highlighting one of our team members. Our phenomenal volunteers contribute to our social media and science outreach events, facilitate activities and lessons for youth of all ages, and mentor students through science leadership and networking opportunities…to name a few! We are truly grateful for all of our volunteers and are so excited to share just a fraction of the inspiration they bring to our work each day.
Simone Wallace
Volunteer contributions: Science Rendezvous, classroom visits, Science Fair, Let’s Talk Cancer Symposium
When we asked Simone what her favourite memories are from volunteering, here is what she had to say:
"I do not have a single favourite volunteering memory because every school I go to gives me at least one great memory. But in general, the way that some of the kids go from unenthusiastic about the actual lesson to asking a never-ending amount of questions will always be my greatest memory. This happens in almost every school. Once they learn something new and can apply it to the experiment, they become so engaged and interested in learning more. In addition, I loved ending the lesson by asking the students what they want to do in the future. I love when their response included multiple careers; they are always so full of ambition and it’s an amazing feeling to experience."
Jennifer Huynh
Volunteer contributions: Science Literacy Week, Soapbox Science, Environmental Symposium, High School Chemistry Lab
Jennifer shared what inspires her about volunteering in science outreach:
"Volunteering in science outreach is a way to engage youth and the public in issues related to the world around them. Scientific knowledge can help us make well-informed decisions that affect our daily life. Some of these actions could involve demystifying fad diets found on the internet to supporting causes that have positive impact on the environment. Helping others improve the quality of their life through science outreach personally brings me joy."
Paniz Kimiaei
Volunteer Contributions: Let’s Talk Cancer Symposium, High School Gel Electrophoresis Lab, Science Literacy Week, Science Rendezvous, Soapbox Science
We asked Paniz," Where do you think the joy in science lies?" Here is what she had to say:
"Science is absolutely an extraordinary thing! You can achieve things that seem unimaginable and bring it to life. Just think about how we can save lives by transplanting organs, how we can travel around the world, go to space, and even provide bionic body parts! All of those advancements involved teams of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and more. Together with the knowledge of the different aspects and subjects of science we are able to create anything we can imagine: Robots, flying cars, synthetic skin, 3D printed organs, rockets etc.
All these cool innovations are the creations of science in the time we are now, but what about in the beginning of time? The invention of compasses, electricity, optical lenses, paper, vaccinations all came from science and are in use even till today! I could go on forever with a list of all the awesome things science has provided us with. This is where the joy lies in science, the fact that science gives you the possibility to create anything you ever dreamed of."
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! (No, really – we couldn’t!) We are sending gratitude to all of our volunteers for their passion, enthusiasm and hard work. Keep on Science-ing on!