Annual Report 2022
Let’s Talk Science
At SciXchange we offer a number of programs, through Let’s Talk Science, to meet the needs of the organizations that we partner with and by extension the youth that we serve.
High School and Elementary School
Through our long-standing partnership with Let's Talk Science (LTS), we facilitate high school and elementary school outreach programs across the GTA (sometimes beyond).
Our Digital Literacy Program has seen continued growth with ever-increasing demand since its introduction.
We provided outreach to over 261 students through our virtual science outreach activities.
Our Computer and Digital Literacy Program served 284 students.
Community Partnerships
We also partner with a number of community organizations. These partnerships allow us to go beyond a school setting to engage participants of various backgrounds within their communities. The format of these programs varies based on the requirements of our partner organizations.
By special request, SciXchange was also involved in a mock interview preparation series with Visions of Science during the month of June.
We facilitated activities for 142 youths through a combination of both ongoing and one-time activities.
Recruitment Office and Connected North
Through our relationship with the Recruitment office, we started a partnership with Connected North. This ongoing relationship ensures that outreach is available to teachers and students no matter their location.
To date, we’ve hosted 2 virtual sessions reaching 39 students.
Climate Outreach
The addition of a Climate Coordinator role to Scixchange was made possible through additional funding from LTS. The introduction of this position expanded SciXchange’s capacity to host and promote highly demanded climate-related activities.
During the summer, our Climate Coordinator facilitated outdoor climate education activities at farmers' markets across the city. We also extended our climate outreach to both members of TMU’s community and the general public by hosting our first indoor on-campus event since the pandemic (see Let's Talk Climate (in)Justice (LTCiJ) below).
Special Events
Let's Talk Climate (in)Justice (LTCiJ)
Let's Talk Climate (in)Justice (LTCiJ) was held at TMU's Campus with 33 participants attending this in-person event. Through LTCiJ, invited speakers shared their knowledge and experiences working in the field of Climate Justice with a diverse audience. LTCiJ was made possible through a collaborative effort of the French Embassy (as part of their Fête de la Science 2022), LTS, EnSciMan and SciXchange.
All of these endeavours were made possible through the dedicated work of our Coordinators, Career Boost students and volunteers. We are excited to continue providing the highest-calibre outreach programs in 2023 and beyond.
A panel of speakers having a discussion on stage with moderators.
From left to right: Sandra Kelmet-N’Guessan, Master of Ceremonies, Krystal Henry-Mathieu, Climate Coordinator, Dr. Kelsey Leonard, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Waters, Climate and Sustainability, Dr. Deborah McGregor, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice, Hillary McGregor, Indigenous Youth Leader, Kehkshan Basu, Founder of Green Hope Foundation, Tia Kennedy, Indigenous Rights Activist and Dr. Tyrone Hall, Climate Strategist.
Photo by Clifton Li
Soapbox Science
Our annual Soapbox Science event hosted at The Word on the Street (WOTS) was held on September 25th, 2022 at Evergreen Brick Works. Soapbox Science is an annual event that seeks to engage the public with science on the streets. This event saw 9 speakers and volunteers engage 94+ audience members over a 3-hour period. The audience was a mixture of children and adults.
In addition to our Soapbox Science event, we hosted 3 webinars for past Soapbox Science Speakers over the course of the year.
We brought Soapbox Science to Word on the Street at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto.
Video by Kathleen Espiritu
Science Rendezvous
Science Rendezvous, now part of NSERC’s Science Odyssey (external link) , is Canada’s annual celebration of science. This free festival, targeted to all age groups, makes science accessible to thousands of people with a day of engaging, informative, and interactive events. In 2022, Scixchange returned to in-person programming for this big event, with various interactive activities run by TMU community members and external guests. We hosted a live show by Science Everywhere which included a dunk tank where participants had a chance to dunk our science dean! We were happy to have support from FOS10 and the France Canada Culture (external link) department of the French Embassy.
You can check out the event photos in our Science Rendezvous 2022 gallery.
We engaged with 900+ adults and children.
Science Rendezvous 2022 was back fully in-person on Gould Street at our TMU campus.
Photo by Clifton Li
Our volunteers made Science Rendezvous 2022 a great success.
Photo by Clifton Li
Indigenous Outreach - Stoodis Science
“Stoodis” is Indigenous slang for “let’s do this”. Our programming under the banner of Stoodis creates opportunities for elementary and high school students, and the general public, to learn from Indigenous knowledge holders.
2022 Youth Outreach Highlights
- Expansion of Stoodis Science into urban Indigenous classrooms in partnership with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC).
- Conducted workshops in 14 different classrooms in three different Indigenous-focused schools.
- Specific schools are Native Learning Centre Downtown and Kâpapâmahchakwêw - Wandering Spirit School.
- Conducted workshops for students in grades 3 - 12.
- 52 hours of face-to-face engagement with Indigenous students and staff.
Conducted 35 workshops with a total of 332 Indigenous youth participants.
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Indigenous outreach coordinator Caleb Wesley making a DC motor car with a student at a workshop.
Indigenous Scientist Chats
In 2022, SciXchange hosted a series of four webinar sessions with Indigenous professionals working in STEM, for our second annual Indigenous Scientist Chats. These talks were geared for high school age and up as well as the general public with a focus on Indigenous learners, but all were welcome to join. Each week our scientists addressed a different theme around their body of work. Students submitted questions prior to the chat or during the talk through Zoom.
You can learn more about our speakers on our Indigenous Scientist Chats web page.
You can watch all 4 episodes on YouTube (external link) , or take a look at one of the videos below!
Stoodis Science presents the Indigenous Scientist Chat with Dr. Nicole Muir who is a Métis Psychology professor at York University.
Technovation Girls Toronto
Technovation (external link) is a global tech education nonprofit organization. Technovation Girls (external link) allows girls across the world to use technology to solve problems in their lives and their communities. SciXchange hosts the Toronto chapter and Dr. Emily Agard is the chapter ambassador.
In 2022, 25 Technovation teams registered throughout the GTA. We ran our program in collaboration with chapters in Ottawa, Waterloo and Niagara.
Six of our GTA teams advanced to the semi-finals and 2 of those teams progressed even further.
The Adventure Takers were the top beginner team in North America.
The Determined Duo was one of the top 5 junior teams in the world.
Meet Daniella and Bianca Almeida, aka The Determined Duo from the Toronto chapter of Technovation Girls. They are one of the top 5 global junior finalists advancing to the Technovation Girls World Summit 2022.
Eureka Summer Camp
In the summer of 2022, SciXchange hosted our 10th annual Eureka! day camp in collaboration with engineering and athletics. We were happy to be back to in-person programming after 2 summers of virtual.
You can learn more by reading the personal stories of our camp counsellors in the Eureka Camp 2022 recap.
Our camp counsellors Sofia Verduga and Lynn John-Koshy leading the "Let Me Take a CELL-fie" workshop with campers in the lab. This lesson gives students the opportunity to learn how to use a microscope and learn about cell structures and organelles.