The Black Hills State University Women in Science Group will hold its fourth annual Women in Science Conference at BHSU in Spearfish Wednesday, May 10.
Women in Science is a one-day workshop designed to provide middle school girls with engaging opportunities to learn about topics from the diverse fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Attendees will be exposed to career fields including medicine, pharmacy, underground science, chemistry, biology, math, physics, engineering, physical therapy, geology, hydrology, biotechnology, mining, and computer science.
Dr. Katrina Jensen, director of the conference and associate professor of chemistry at BHSU, said students attending the conference will be introduced to role models who have exciting careers in STEM.
“We invite women with successful careers in STEM to speak about their career paths, answer questions, and serve as role models,” explained Jensen. “During breakout sessions, students participate in activities and learn hands-on about careers they may not have considered prior to attending the conference.”
Students attending the conference will be able to interact with speakers individually during sessions throughout the day and engage in hands-on activities during breakout sessions and in the exhibit hall. Activities include working with medical equipment, learning computer programming, interacting with a flood model, and a planetarium. The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Wendy Straub, director of Hoists & Shafts at the Sanford Underground Research Facility.
It is anticipated that 700 middle school students and their teachers will attend the conference from 18 schools. South Dakota middle schools attending include Belle Fourche, Black Hills Christain Academy, Cheyenne – Eagle Butte, Harding County, Lead-Deadwood, Meade County, Newell, Our Lady of Lourdes in Porcupine, Spearfish, Stagebarn in Summerset, and Sturgis. Wyoming middle schools attending are Hulett, Moorcroft, Newcastle, Sundance, Twin Spruce, and Upton. Attending from Nebraska are Todd County Lakeview School and Todd County Middle School.
Jensen said this is a great opportunity for students to visit a college campus and get a feel for what college is like. During the conference, students will attend sessions in different buildings across campus and have lunch in the Hive cafeteria.
For information about the conference, please visit the website at www.BHSU.edu/WIS. For more information or questions, please contact Dr. Katrina Jensen at 605-642-6247 or Katrina.Jensen@BHSU.edu.
The conference is free to students and is supported by generous contributions from the following sponsors: Sanford Underground Research Facility, Monument Health, Solitario Zinc Corporation, South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, Neiman Enterprises, Black Hills Energy, SRAM, Montana Dakota Utilities, Medtronic, American Association of University Women, Spearfish Optimists, Zonta, Powder River Energy, South Dakota Engineering Society, Energy Laboratories, Eagle Aviation, Ivory Family Dentistry, Wells Fargo, and Walmart.