Ontario Science Centre celebrates women and girls in STEM

JANUARY 29, 2020

Nine-year-old Gracyn Hepplewhite wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. Unlike girls of an earlier era, she sees no reason she can’t follow her dream.

Hepplewhite is featured with scientists — all women — in a photo exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre, part of its International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebration on February 9. The day itself is celebrated February 11, created by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize the role that women and girls play in the fields of science and technology and to challenge long-held biases and gender stereotypes. Fewer than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women, 

according to a UNESCO science report. The field of paleontology, in particular, is underrepresented by women.

“The message of this day is that science is for everyone,” says Rachel Ward-Maxwell, researcher-programmer, at the Ontario Science Centre. “And science needs women. This is a place where visitors can come and see themselves doing science and feel welcome to participate. We are all about making science fun, accessible and inclusive while helping children navigate stereotypes and assumptions.”

 

Here’s a look at how the Science Centre’s February 9 festivities will celebrate women and girls in science:

Curiosity cafe

Start the day by joining informal conversations with other visitors in a relaxed cafe setting on the question of how we make decisions about the world. There will be a guest speaker and everyone will be encouraged to explore ideas through some of the Ontario Science Centre’s interactive activities.  

Meet women in science

Three women who work in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) will share the stories of their careers. Ive Velikova is a neuroscientist and has a podcast called Science Sucks, Farah Qaiser works in the field of genomics and is president of the Toronto Science Policy Network and Eden Hennessey is a social psychologist who creates interactive photo exhibits of women in STEM.

Wikipedia edit-a-thon   

Farah Qaiser hosts this workshop (pre-registration is required), which will teach participants how to be an editor for Wikipedia, the most popular encyclopedia on the web. Just bring your laptop and Qaiser will detail the process of how to edit, update and create pages. Since only about 18 per cent of biographies on Wikipedia are about women, why not create a page about ‘Canadian Scientists’, ‘Women Scientists’, and ‘Black Scientists’ (February is Black History Month).

 

Turning tables in STEM photo-research exhibit

Eden Hennessey’s latest photo -research exhibit features over a dozen Canadian women in STEM fields, including aspiring paleontologist Hepplewhite. “This is what scientists look like, this is what they do, and this is what they’re up against,” says Hennessey. Portraits will be mounted on the wall and accompanied by personal stories interwoven with research on experiences in science. Hennessey has invited special guests (some of the featured scientists) with the goal of encouraging girls and women who are interested in STEM fields to pursue them and succeed.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit OntarioScienceCentre.ca.