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Dean Maureen MacDonald welcomed the girls and recounted how a five-minute conversation with a Grade 11 science teacher ignited a lifelong passion for science and research. “Be open to the opportunities coming your way,” Maureen told the girls. “Every path you take will lead to an amazing and unexpected career and personal opportunities.”

The annual event encourages girls to continue taking science classes in high school, which are no longer mandatory beyond Grade 10. “Girls do STEM really, really well,” Sara Cormier said. Sara, an instructional assistant with the Department of Physics & Astronomy, helped put together the day which included a LIVELab tour, Chemistry demonstrations, Planetarium show, and hands-on experiments. “The goal of the day is to encourage an excitement for science in a welcoming environment.”

Girls in Science Day was organized by the Graduate Women in Physics & Astronomy Society, with an assist from graduate student volunteers with the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. “An initiative of this magnitude takes a lot of planning leading up to the day and even more help on the day of the event,” said Sara. “We had a core group of 16 volunteers who went above and beyond and gave their all to welcome the girls to our Faculty of Science.”

Thanks to Carmen Lee, Sarah Dawson, Tara Power, Meghan Miholics, Megan Rutherford, Julie Inglis, Katerina Osztertag, Kathryn Benincasa, Lindsey Wong, Sara Evans, Rachel Pillsworth, Chris Lygouras, JC Ono-dit-Biot, Katarina Mioc, Ashley Bemis and Ian Roberts.