UK to Host STEM Conference for Middle School Girls April 29

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 9, 2017) — A team from the University of Kentucky has received a grant from Kentucky NSF EPSCoR (National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) for Education and Outreach Activities to fund a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) conference for middle school girls at UK this spring.

The primary goal of the conference, titled “Expanding Your Horizons (EYH),” is to encourage middle school girls to consider STEM studies by providing them with memorable interactive workshop experiences, visible female role models in STEM fields and exposure to different career paths in STEM. EYH seeks to provide middle school girls and their parents an inspiring environment in order to help both groups recognize and pursue opportunities in STEM. The conference will be held April 29 in the Jacobs Science Building.

Ellen Crocker and Bradford Condon, postdoctoral scholars in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Susan Odom, an assistant professor in the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry, were the recipients of the grant and will be leading the organization of the event.

UK students are currently being recruited to assist with this conference. Course credit is available for UK undergraduate and graduate students interested in designing and leading workshops for the middle schoolers. These students will act as role models for the students while developing their own outreach skills and leadership abilities. To learn more, contact Ellen Crocker at e.crocker@uky.edu.