From left, Addey Sweep, a Mountain View Middle School student; Kylie Steinert,
a student at CY Middle School in Casper; and volunteer Erica Farris participate in
the workshop “Introduction to Fossil Conservation and Preparation with the UW Geological
Museum” at the 2024 Women in STEM Conference at the University of Wyoming. This year’s
Youth in STEM event is scheduled Tuesday, May 20, from 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m. at various
locations on the UW campus. (Megan Candelaria Photo)
Nearly 650 junior middle and high school female and male students from 19 schools
across the state have signed up to learn more about science and its various disciplines
on the University of Wyoming campus.
The Youth in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Conference, scheduled
Tuesday, May 20, from 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m., is designed to spark students’ passion
in STEM fields and provide the students with mentors and role models. The conference,
now in its 25th year, formerly was known as the Women in STEM Conference.
“We have updated the name of the conference to Youth in STEM. However, the mission
of the conference is still to inspire and support future scientists, mathematicians and engineers. We do expect
to see an increase in male attendance following the rebranding, which more clearly
reflects the inclusive nature of our event,” says Megan Candelaria, an assistant research
scientist in UW’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and co-director of the Wyoming
NASA Space Grant Consortium. “However, our core mission remains unchanged -- to engage,
inspire and cultivate the future STEM workforce in Wyoming.
“We believe that fostering an environment where every student feels they belong in
STEM is essential to developing tomorrow’s leaders,” she continues. “By welcoming
a broader range of perspectives, the conference not only enriches the dialogue around
STEM, but also paves the way for innovative collaboration that benefits the entire
community.”
The conference will offer 36 hands-on workshops. Each participant will engage in three
workshops and will meet professionals who do “science” daily in their careers, Candelaria
says.
Volunteers from UW and regional organizations will present workshops on a variety
of science- and technology-related topics, including careers available at animal care
facilities; fish health; designing a new fish species; falconry; veterinary pathology;
surviving in outer space; ocean acidification; using gel electrophoresis to solve
elk poaching cases; entomology; genetics; fluorescent microscopy techniques; an anatomy
treasure hunt; what ice cream floats and groundwater have in common; images in microscopy;
what plant cells say when they are in danger; how nine million square feet of UW buildings
are heated; thermal remote sensing; building stack bond prisms; STEM mobile science
lab; and reconstructing past environments through studying layers of lakes.
Danny Dale, a professor in the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy, leads a
workshop titled “Surviving in Outer Space: How the Ideal Gas Law Can Save You!” in
the Enzi STEM Building at the 2024 Women in STEM Conference at UW. Students explored
a variety of hands-on experiments related to pressure, including torturing marshmallows
in a vacuum; shooting off liquid nitrogen cannons; trapping ping pong balls with a
hair dryer; and bronc-riding a hovercraft. (Megan Candelaria Photo)
Other workshops will cover artificial intelligence and machine coding; purifying strawberry
DNA; pharmacy’s role in cardiac arrest; how Earth holds fluids; Wyoming State Geological
Survey; a hands-on pharmacy workshop; seeing beneath the soil surface; a hands-on
health workshop; stable isotope analysis; harnessing the sun’s power for clean energy;
Riverside Discovery Program animals; the Harry C Vaughan Planetarium; design and build
high-performance air rockets; 3D printing; LED circuit board keychains; and a “sounds
of the body” hands-on workshop. Additionally, UW Admissions will provide a campus
tour.
Workshops are scheduled to take place in various campus buildings, which are yet to
be determined. Welcoming and closing remarks, as well as lunch, will take place in
the Wyoming Union.
To date, students from the following communities and schools have registered to participate
in Youth in STEM:
-- Casper: CY Middle School, Centennial Junior High School and Dean Morgan Middle
School.
-- Cheyenne: Carey Junior High School, Central High School, East High School, Johnson
Junior High School, McCormick Junior High School and South High School.
-- Douglas Middle School.
-- Glenrock Junior/Senior High School.
-- Green River High School.
-- Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Junior/Senior High School.
-- Laramie High School, Laramie Middle School and some home-school students.
-- Mountain View Middle School.
-- Saratoga Middle/High School.
-- Yoder: Southeast Junior High School.
Schools may still sign up to be on the waitlist and will be allowed to register if
space opens, Candelaria says.
For more information about the Youth in STEM Conference, go to https://wyomingspacegrant.org/k12programs/youth-in-stem/.
