Summer scientists soared at WISEST
Written By: Ileiren Byles
2006-08-15
Sixty-five high school students are leaving the University of Alberta a little bit older and a lot wiser.The 60 girls and five boys are headed back to their Grade 12 classrooms after taking part in Women in Scholarship Engineering Science and Technology (WISEST), the summer program that brings students to the U of A to conduct research in areas traditionally explored by a specific gender. Tuesday marked their last day on campus and they gathered in Lister Conference Centre to share their research findings and experiences. Students, U of A researchers and media milled around the colourful posters that described each teen's WISEST experience and listened to enthusiastic accounts of the past six weeks.
"We discovered a wide range of research possibilities, from isolating titanium minerals in oilsands tailings to improving your golf swing," said Fort McMurray student Jenny Thompson. The Westwood Community High School student thanked the U of A and the mentors on behalf of her counterparts.
"Thank you for teaching us to be good research scientists - to look and look again, to be honest about our findings and results. You really brought us to great heights. You really brought us up there with you. For that, I say thanks, because it has been a great view," she said. "You gave our curiosity wings."
The range of projects embarked on by the WISEST students was so vast it was hard to describe, said program co-ordinator Grace Ennis.
"That really is the beauty of a day like today. The students have all been working in their research labs for their six weeks, and have a chance to hear about the other students' work, but now they have a day for them to actually see, to look at the range of opportunities to be involved in. It really becomes a visual statement for the students themselves."
Ross Sheppard High School student Stephanie Bale spent her six weeks at the U of A working with one of the most groundbreaking nanotechnology research units in the world - the Buriak Group. She worked with grad student Yuan Gao on determining the possible effects of gold nanoparticles in the bloodstream.
"I was really excited to be working with Yuan because a lot of the Buriak Group is working with metallic nanoparticles on silicone surfaces and more of the electrical applications, but Yuan's was definitely specific to biology," said Bale. "This was really fundamental research on what happens when we put these particles inside of the body."
One of the results Bale witnessed was the effect of a certain blood protein that prevented the miniscule particles from clumping in simulated blood plasma. What stood out for Bale is the independence she was granted in the lab environment.
"There was a lot of help from my research team, but they didn't need to hold my hand through it. I was surprised at the trust level, actually."
St. Albert student Theo Di Castri also had a few surprises over the summer, as he delved into the world of forensic psychiatry with the U of A Faculty of Nursing and the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre.
"When they first told me I was going to be working in the Faculty of Nursing, I must say I definitely had some preconceived notions about what I'd be doing. I had a very stereotypical view of nursing," he said. "When I came and saw that it was completely different, I didn't even know there was this whole other side to nursing."
Students who are willing to try new things - despite any preconceived notions - are just what the world of science needs, said Ennis.
"We're so fortunate in WISEST, that the teachers in the high school community have really helped us in spreading the word, and we've been fortunate in the students' academic ability and willingness to learn and try new and different things," she said. "It takes a special kind of student who's willing to take that kind of risk."
It was a risk that paid off, said Thompson.
"Each of us came with anticipation, fear and excitement about being chosen to be a WISEST scholar. Would it be worth our while, giving up six weeks of our summer vacation? The answer is a resounding 'yes,'" she said. "Many of us have started to make choices that will no doubt take us into exciting careers."
Original: ExpressNews