PhD student makes it her mission to fuel unapologetic curiousity about science in high school students

Rachel Pillsworth has spent the past six years at McMaster giving what she never got in high school.

She went to a small school in a small rural town in the heart of Simcoe County that’s home to the annual Alliston Potato Festival. The cash-strapped school didn’t have the budget for science outreach so there were no field trips or workshops run by visiting scientists. Her physics courses were a literal boys club – in Grade 11 she was one of three girls in the class and by Grade 12 she was one of only two. Her physics teacher was not a fan of Rachel’s plans to study physics and astronomy at university – he kept pushing applied math because it would lead to a job in industry.

Yet Rachel wasn’t easily dissuaded. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do.” She recognized that drive and determination set her apart from most of her classmates or the typical teen. “Few high school students know what they want or what they’re capable of if given the chance and a vote of confidence. A lack of opportunities and less than supportive teachers can push teens out of dream careers where they could’ve been really successful and made a real impact.”

Rachel was lucky to have support on the home front – her parents are chemical engineers and they encouraged her to stick with her dream. And she had a role model in her big sister Samantha who was earning a math and physics degree at McMaster. Her sister would talk about her astronomy courses and Rachel – who was just finishing up elementary school at the time – was hooked.

So she ignored her high school teacher and followed her sister to Mac. She was slightly mortified during fall open house when her dad, as dads like to do, struck up an embarrassing long conversation with professors who’d remembered his eldest daughter.

Rachel earned a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Astrophysics and is now in her second year as a PhD student in Astronomy and Astrophysics. She wants to become a professor, combining her twin passions of research and teaching.

She’s also heavily involved in science outreach. In her third year of undergrad, she started volunteering with Elevate: A Day for Inclusion in Science – back then it was called Girls in Science. Rachel’s now on the organizing committee with Jody Bruulsema, Miranda Schmidt and Veronika Dornan. Working with a crew of 23 graduate and undergraduate student volunteers, they welcomed 85 high school students to McMaster this year.

Departments and Schools in the Faculty of Science host hands-on workshops and tours. There’s a keynote talk and panel discussions. There’s also a deliberate emphasis on inclusion. “I feel very strongly that every student who’s interested in STEM should be given a welcoming and supportive space to explore what that interest looks like for them.” Rachel was the co-founder of an equity club at her high school. They organized a Pink Shirt Day that enlisted the help of all the downtown businesses on Victoria Street and included a school event in the cafeteria where Rachel discovered that making cotton candy is a thankless and sticky job.

Rachel would also serve as the first grad student representative on the Physics & Astronomy EDII committee. “STEM fields have a real problem with a leaky talent pipeline, especially for students who are girls, Black and/or Indigenous, racialized, disabled and 2SLGBTQIA+. It’s easy to miss out on really good scientists. Elevate is helping to address that challenge. In talking with students, I know we’re making a difference.”

Around 10 months of planning goes into the day. It’s a ton of work but Rachel says the payoff is huge – they get to see students fully engaged with science. There’s a tangible change in the students’ mood by the end of the day, says Rachel.

“They really come out of their shells. All of the students are supported and encouraged to be unapologetically curious about science. This makes them so much more confident and positive about STEM-related subjects. It’s heartwarming to see such a change happen over the course of just one day.”