Volunteer Spotlight
Dr. Miranda Kirby
Volunteer contribution: Computer Literacy program
We asked Dr. Kirby what she wants youth and the general public to take away from her outreach. She said:
"One of the outreach activities that I was involved in this year with my team was developing a hands-on workshop for youth to learn about biomedical imaging. Biomedical imaging is the focus of my research, and this field is very interdisciplinary and draws from computer science, physics and biology. What I want the youth that participate in this workshop to take away is that you do not have to restrict yourself to only one discipline of study. There are so many exciting fields that exist at the intersection of different disciplines!"
Joy Barai
Volunteer contributions: Soapbox Science and the SciCommTO Conference
We asked Joy what his favourite volunteering memory is. Here is what he said:
"My favourite one was the breakout session led by @science.sam of using social media to promote science through multimedia and how to engage with the audience effectively. In this 21st century, social media platforms are an alluring tool over the internet, so we must learn to promote science through images and videos. Our way of interaction also need to evolve along with the trends of media. Not to forget my wonderful & cheerful colleagues that I met during volunteering."
Eryn Tourneur
Volunter contributions: Fish skin tanning, LTS high school and elementary activities, Outdoor Math Program
We asked Eryn what inspires her to volunteer in science outreach. Here is what she said:
"Throughout my life, science has been a major interest of mine and thus has inspired me to partake in science outreach. I also believe that providing science opportunities to youth, fosters critical thinking, creativity and sparks curiosity. As well, it inspires youth to partake in science and helps them envision themselves in science related careers, which are needed at this time in our society. Last but not least, science outreach is fun and rewarding."
Bihan Wang
Volunteer contributions: Outdoor Math Program
We asked Bihan what inspires her to volunteer in science outreach. Here is what she said:
"STEM education has always been my passion. Technological problem-solving and inquiry-based learning provides an authentic context, which I greatly appreciate. Rather than telling kids how to do things, it presents them with a scenario, a meaningful problem they must solve. The reason why I chose to volunteer in science outreach is because I want to develop a better understanding of how to design challenges and implement problem-solving in an educational setting. Every little thing in life must have something to do with science. I have always been fascinated by the possibilities stemming from science and hopefully I can make science fun for my future students!"
Samantha Tome
Volunteer contributions: Technovation Girls, Week of Welcome
We asked Samantha what she wants youth an the general public to take away from her science outreach. She said:
"I would want both youth and the general public to know the importance of being cautious with the information that they accept to be true. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there, so I hope that with the increase of science outreach, people will learn to become scientific skeptics when they hear things or see them in the media. Especially with [COVID-19] going on right now, we see how quickly misinformation can spread, and how important it is for our safety to have rigorous science outreach."
Vanessa Landayan
Volunteer contribution: Technovation Girls
We asked Vanessa what inspires her to volunteer in science outreach. Here is what she said:
"I was inspired to volunteer in science outreach because I'm really passionate about computer science and I wanted to share what I love with others. When I was younger, I never thought about computer science as a possibility because there wasn't much exposure. The Technovation Girls program stood out to me because there's such a big gender gap in the field and it's important for young women to know about their possibilities with technology."