22,115 students visited by our volunteers in...

Let’s Talk Science Spring 2013 page 1

SPRING

2013

Contents LTS by the Numbers 1

Photo Contest runner up 1

All Science Challenge 2

StemCellTalks 3

Kit Corner 4

Coordinators 5

Science is Beautiful Contest 6

In the News 7

Photo Contest Winner 7

Outstanding Educators 8

How it all began – 20 years in Ottawa 9

Volunteers of the Month 10

Aboriginal Mentorship Program 11

Local Award Winners 12

Awards Presentation Event 13

Message from Beckie 14

New

slet

ter

For volunteers, educator partners and sponsors, highlighting the program’s accomplishments and

upcoming events

University of Ottawa and

Carleton University

At the end of the 2012-2013 academic year, we have a total of 398 registered volunteers, 92 from Carleton University and 306 from the University of Ottawa.

These amazing volunteers spent over 3,575 hours volunteering and preparing 343 Let’s Talk Science activities that were delivered across Ottawa!

347 educators in elementary schools, high schools, after school programs, libraries, museums, and organizations like the Big Brothers of Ottawa and Girl Scouts benefitted from our program this year!

Continue reading this newsletter to learn more about this semester’s highlights, read articles about some of our major events, and celebrate this fantastic 20th year of science outreach!

22,115 Students Visited by our Volunteers in 2012-2013!

Celebrating

20 years of

Science Outreach

Photo Contest Runner Up

Tanisha is just about the cheeriest little girl I have met during Let's Talk Science's outreach program.

She is an Ojibwa first grader who enjoyed extracting DNA from a banana, despite that "DNA looks like

snot". – Volunteer Shuaib Syed

Turn to page 7 to see the winner of the 2012-2013 Photo Contest


All Science Challenge

Now in its sixth year, the Ottawa-area All Science Challenge continues to grow! On April 30th, 35 teams from 10 schools competed, with a total of 128 students participating. The students were welcomed by inspirational words from a number of special guests: Dr. Roseann O'Reilly Runte, President of Carleton University; Dr. Steve Perry, Dean of Science, University of Ottawa; Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, Founder and President of Let's Talk Science; and a wonderful keynote address delivered by Mrs. Laureen Harper. This year's design challenge was no easy feat. Inspired by Col. Chris Hadfield's mission aboard the International Space Station, teams were given 30 minutes and tasked with building a robotic arm (à la Canadarm) using nothing more than some popsicle sticks and an assortment of 3M products. In spite of the limited time and resources, most teams were successfully able to complete the challenge, with the top designs displaying incredible ingenuity.

In keeping with the space theme of the challenge, students were welcomed to the quiz round by none other than Col. Hadfield himself (via pre-recorded message), who also posed many of the space science questions to the participants. The remaining questions were presented by quiz master Shuaib Syed, who did an incredible job balancing the competitive atmosphere with entertainment. As one educator put it, “[the] kids all had fun.”

Congratulations to this year's winning team: the Teddy Bears from Broadview Public School. Maryvale Academy of Ottawa and the Care Bears also from Broadview Public School placed second and third respectively. This year's Spirit Award was awarded to Mac-Attack: Brains and Beauty from Immaculata High School. Thank you to all participants, educators, supporters and volunteers who made the event possible. The students were extremely well prepared for the challenge, and every team performed well. This is no doubt due to the many hours the students spent studying the All Science Challenge Handbook. One educator noted that the All Science Challenge is an “opportunity for different learners to participate in a school team.” We are thrilled that the event is viewed this way, and love being able to provide such an opportunity. We're looking forward to another amazing All Science Challenge next year!

Fraser MacQuarrie, Special Events Coordinator

Carleton Dean Dr. Butler, Mrs. Laureen Harper, and a student take part in science demo at the ASC

Students complete the design challenge

Spirit Award winners Mac-Attack: Brains and Beauty from Immaculata High School


Janet Rothberg, Training Coordinator

This past May, Let’s Talk Science (LTS) volunteers hosted Ottawa’s 3rd annual StemCellTalks. More than 80 students from 10 high schools across Ottawa gathered at the University of Ottawa to discuss the science and ethics behind stem cell research. After an introduction by Dr. Nadine Wiper-Bergeron on the basics of stem cells, the students along with LTS volunteers focused on hematopoietic stem cell research – this year’s theme. First Dr. Caryn Ito and Dr. Bernard Thebaud from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the students debated whether treating leukemia would be best with bone marrow cells or umbilical cord blood. It was a pretty close call and students began to appreciate how hard it is to make medical decisions for patients. In small groups, they also talked about whether allogenic transplant (from a donor) or autologous transplants (where you use your own cells) are better.

Dr. David Allan from the Ottawa Hospital Transplant team and Dr. Nicolas Pineault from Canadian Blood Services helped answer so many questions! After a brief lunch and some time at the microscope, students gathered again to debate the ethics of public vs. private cord blood banking. Dr. Jeff Blackmer from the

University of Ottawa gave us an introduction to ethics and posed some really thought-provoking questions! Then we heard from Dr. Sue Mueller from Insception, a private cord blood bank and Dr. Heidi Elmoazzan from the new Canadian Blood Services national cord blood bank who helped give insight into how these two banks are run. Everyone had a chance to work in small groups with LTS volunteers to debate issues from multiple perspectives. Students were lined up at the microphone with questions. In the end, it was difficult to decide which bank to support and everyone was happy that we have both styles available in Canada. Most importantly, we were all proud to hear of the creation of a national public cord blood bank that is starting up this spring with first collections in Ottawa! LTS volunteers had a great time leading high school students in small group discussions and everyone was so impressed with the questions posed by students!

StemCellTalks


Kit Corner Highlighting New and Old Kits Thanks to our enthusiastic volunteers and our dedicated Kit Coordinator Gabriel Potvin, an increasing number of volunteers have been trained on a growing number of pre-made kits. Gab’s regular kit training sessions ensure that volunteers are presenting the best possible activities to the youth we reach. Some of our new amazing kits, as well as some existing but lesser known ones are highlighted here. Look for an updated kit list with all our new kits to be sent out in September!

Boreal That’s Bloody Fantastic!

Chemistry ‘Science’ Show

Electrochemistry

Protein Folding

This activity introduces students to electricity, electrical circuits, and electrical engineering through hands-on activities. Activities: For younger kids, includes completing electrical

circuits, simulating the flow of electrons in kinetic activities, and building lemon batteries. For older

students, includes building lemon batteries, home-made security systems, and discussions on

alternative energy and energy conservation.

Level: Grades 4-12.

This kit introduces students to biochemistry and

protein chemistry, helps students understand the shape and function of proteins, and raises

awareness of current research in biotechnology. Activities: Building protein models based on

amino acid sequences and discussions of current biotechnology research projects.

Level: Grades 11-12.

Created by Alex Foo

This workshop gives younger students an

introduction to atoms and their structures, and how static electricity is produced. Activities:

Demonstrations of static electricity using various methods, including balloons raising hair, gelatin

towers, making Ping-Pong balls dance, and separating salt and pepper using electricity.

Level: Elementary school students.

Created by Beckie Granatstein

Everyone loves dinosaurs! This workshop aimed at

younger students introduces the subject of paleontology, and students discuss how to

differentiate between carnivores and herbivores, the predator-prey relationship, and all sorts of

things about dinosaurs. Activities: Making plaster imprints of their favourite dinosaur’s footprint

that they can bring home, make a model dinosaur head out of play dough, lots of dinosaur puzzles.

Level: Kindergarten-grade 3.

Science is

Electrifying!

Dynamic Dinos


Biodiversity and Conservation

Chemistry Science Show

Beautiful Bees

Coordinators

I was gonna tell you a joke about sodium and hydrogen, but NaH... My name is Kasia Drozd and I am pleased and honored to be the new Let’s Talk Science Volunteer Coordinator at the University of Ottawa. I am currently completing my Masters in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. I am a Polish girl, born in Greece who currently lives in Canada and who loves traveling and experiencing different cultures. Besides being a mad scientist (muhaha), I also enjoy sports, reading and being social. I am a very friendly and outgoing person and love meeting new friends, so if you ever see me out and about please stop me and say hi! With my new coordinator position, I hope to bring new and creative ideas to the table and contribute to the growth of LTS. I am also very excited for the chance to work with such dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers and the other coordinators and staff that act as glue to hold us all together. I look forward to yet another successful year with LTS and meeting you all soon!

Throughout my graduate studies, I was very lucky to have been a part of the LTS team here at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University site. I am even more thankful for having had the opportunity to take on a coordinator position during this past year. This really let me see first-hand how much work happens behind the scenes to allow such a successful program to run so smoothly, and my respect for LTS has increased even more! There are so many things about being a coordinator that I will miss; like all the amazing people that I have had a chance to meet, working with such an awesome team of organizers, and being involved in so many new events! I have met so many dedicated volunteers that have left such strong impressions on me. They have taught me how powerful a group of volunteer students, with the same ambitions, can be. I will never forget all of the stories that the volunteers and educators would come back with; comments that they heard from students, how much fun they had, what they learnt from younger students or the rewarding feeling when they mentored and helped a student realize that they can achieve anything that they put their minds to! Also, on a very random side note, I don't think I would have ever decided to learn how to play softball if it wasn't for LTS! Although I am sad to leave my coordinator position, I am 100% sure that our new volunteer coordinator, Kasia, will do an amazing job at helping our team push our site to its utmost potential! I am looking forward to seeing and hearing about all of the new opportunities that our site will take on in the future!

…and arrival of a new one!

Departure of one Coordinator…

We are very fortunate to have most of the LTS coordination team sticking around for another fantastic year! Fraser MacQuarrie (Special Events Coordinator), Katy Hartling (Educators Coordinator), Janet Rothberg (Training Coordinator), Gabriel Potvin (Kit Coordinator), Beckie Granatstein (Program Manager) and Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden (Program Director) are all maintaining their current positions. Our dedicated Volunteer Coordinator, Liz Abdel-Messih, is officially becoming a doctor and graduating from her PhD studies. Way to go Liz! We are all thankful for the long hours she put in and the many contributions she has made to the program! We’re also very pleased to introduce Kasia Drozd, who will be taking over the reins from Liz next year. Welcome Kasia!

Kasia Drozd

Liz Abdel-Messih


Science Is Beautiful Contest

Honourable mentions (not shown): Tyrus Gibson's Peafowl for artistic originality, and Danielle Vinson's

Poussière d'Étoile for scientific creativity.

Science is often portrayed as cold, clinical, and calculating, completely at odds with concepts such as beauty or emotion. To show that this couldn’t be farther from the truth, this winter we challenged high-school students across the Ottawa region to submit an original work of art that either used a scientific concept to produce its main elements, or represented a scientific concept using more conventional artistic media. The artwork was to be accompanied by a written explanation of the scientific concepts or methods involved. We were excited to receive a wide variety of submissions, from hand-drawn representations of scientific concepts, to digital art, and even one film! After some heated debate over the merits of each piece, we finally settled on first, second and third place, as well as two honourable mentions. We had a great time visiting the creators of the winning entries at school and delivering prizes and certificates in person. The students were already excited for next year's contest, and so are we! We look forward to expanding the contest, and possibly adding new categories for entries.

And the winners are...

First Place

Perspective: a stop-motion film by Anya Vanderlaan,

Anya used the medium of film to explore optics, colour, lighting and the progression of motion. Focusing on a wide variety of subjects – from cartoons to chemical reactions and fireworks – Anya's work demonstrates the use of these concepts in filming techniques.

Katy Hartling, Educator Coordinator

Second Place

Erlenmeyer Flask: a pencil drawing by Lello Abdosh

Lello's art piece is a beautiful pencil drawing encompassing multiple scientific concepts and achievements from a variety of disciplines, including bacteria, molecular and atomic structure, thermodynamics, spacecraft and planets.

Third Place

Skeletal Structure: a digital art piece by Anthony

Brault

Complete with 3D glasses, Anthony's entry literally jumps off the page! This digital art piece uses optics to give an artistic take on the human body.


In the News

Let’s Talk Science is known by students, teachers, and volunteers for its outreach efforts in schools and community events. What is sometimes less obvious, however, is the work that takes place outside of these activities to maintain our profile and visibility, both as a national organization and locally as the Ottawa-Carleton site. To this end, our talented Kit Coordinator and very own superstar-in-the-making Gabriel Potvin has, over the past year, done a number of TV spots and media appearances to promote our site and our organization. He has, in the past few months alone, repeatedly appeared on Ottawa Morning Live, Daytime Ottawa and the French program Entre Nous to do fun science demonstrations and promote Let’s Talk Science and related events. He has also partnered with the Canada Science and Technology Museum to make joint media announcements, including a TV spot broadcast live from the Rideau Canal! Gabriel is in high demand, having already been booked for appearances into next year, and has greatly contributed to the visibility of Let’s Talk Science in Ottawa. To be kept in the loop on LTS-related news in Ottawa, you can follow him on Twitter, @GabrielPotvin.

Gabriel and the Winterlude Ice Hogs at a press conference to promote Cool Science Saturday at

the Canada Science and Technology museum on February 5th

, 2013

Gabriel and the Winterlude Ice Hogs at a press conference to

promote Cool Science Saturday at the Canada Science and

Technology museum on February 5

th, 2013.

Photo Contest Winner

A cool demonstration of liquid nitrogen with Educator Coordinator Katy at the 2013 All Science Challenge –Kevin Nhan, 2012-2013 Photo Contest Winner


France Poitras

Elgin Street Public School

France is both immensely supportive and extremely appreciative of the volunteers who visit her classroom; she is always ready to help structure a science activity with suggestions, guidance or reference books, and never fails to thank her volunteers, be it with kind words or a trip to a local coffee shop. The teacher of a grade 1/2 split class, she has been working with Let's Talk Science volunteers for three years, and hopes to “continue forever, as it really provides enrichment to my science program.” Always enthusiastic and eager to learn herself, France is both a fantastic teacher and a wonderful example to her students. Thank you France!

–Katy Hartling, LTS Coordinator

“France is such a great educator to work with! She is always prepared for our visit and really makes us feel welcome.” -- Alisa Miller, LTS volunteer

Tanis Haggerty

West Carleton Secondary School

Tanis is a phenomenal and passionate science teacher, as evidenced by the enthusiasm, knowledge, and high caliber of her grade 11 and 12 students every time one of our volunteers visits her classroom. She has been immensely supportive of the program for many years, stating that “LTS has become a fundamental part of [West Carleton’s] planning for curriculum enhancement”, and “the knowledgeable, fun and engaging LTS volunteers have enlightened our students and helped to make connections between the curriculum and what they will learn in University”. Our volunteers have nothing but praise for her, and it truly is through the efforts of exceptional educators like Tanis that the love of science can be shared with students. I have myself had the privilege to visit her classroom many times over the last four years, and am happy to now have the opportunity to express gratitude and admiration for her work, both on my own behalf, and on that of all of Let’s Talk Science. Thank you Tanis!

–Gabriel Potvin, LTS Coordinator

Outstanding Educators

As Let's Talk Science volunteers, we have the privilege of working with some truly fantastic educators. They take the time to schedule science days in their classrooms, to support our volunteers, and to participate in our community events. They provide the greatest inspiration to their students' interests in science, and we could not accomplish all that we do without them. We sincerely appreciate each and every educator's contribution to our program!

We would like to recognize two particularly special educators who have not only been outstanding teachers, but who have also been incredibly dedicated to science education for many years: France Poitras and Tanis Haggerty!


How it All Began - A brief look at the history of LTS in Ottawa

As physiology PhD students in London, Ontario, Bonnie Schmidt and I, along with our colleagues, visited local high schools to talk to students about our research and love of science. This endeavour, initially called Let’s Talk Physiology, has grown into the national Let’s Talk Science (LTS) program, the national charitable organization that you know today with Bonnie as President. When I arrived at uOttawa, teaching opportunities were virtually nonexistent for my graduate students.

Knowing that these skills would be a vital part of their future success, I established LTS in Ottawa, the first LTS site outside of London. Launched in 1993, the program started with 13 graduate students who gave talks about their research in local high schools. LTS has simply snowballed since then, with every volunteer helping

to shape and build the program according to their unique strengths. Twenty years later, the passion of those first 13 graduate students has been passed

on to now almost 400 volunteers in Ottawa, who engage more than 22,000 children and youth in workshops and events each year. The reason for this tremendous success is simple - everyone benefits. The volunteers improve their teaching, communication and leadership skills by actively engaging in hundreds of events, workshops, tours and

activities each year in the Ottawa region. More adventurous volunteers have delivered workshops in Tanzania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Estonia and Thailand. Almost every year for the past decade, LTS volunteers in Ottawa have won national awards. This year is no different with two CIHR Synapse Awards recently being won by LTS volunteer Angela Alberga (trainee) and the Cancer Therapeutics Program (research group), whose activities are largely driven by LTS volunteers. In addition to hundreds of in-class activities each year, our history is marked by several initiatives that have become staples in our program: the All Science Challenge, Carleton Butterfly Show, and StemCellTalks. Partnerships with the Association for Bright Children, Encounters with Canada and the Canada Museum of Science and Technology have provided unique opportunities for us to reach the youth in our community. It is the impact on these youth that continues to motivate our volunteers and drive the program's success. The creativity of many volunteers, too numerous to mention, have shaped the LTS program in Ottawa into its current adventurous, dynamic, and wonderfully engaging success. But two deserve specific mention: Sue McKee has been our most active volunteer for more than a decade, delivering dozens of activities each year. And LTS Program Manager Beckie Granatstein is simply amazing. We owe much of our success to the energy and dedication of these two women. I'm looking forward to watching the creativity of the future volunteers in action and the evolution of LTS during the next 20 years!

The first LTS volunteer at

uOttawa, Rubina Ismail, is now

Scientific Director at a medical communications company. "Every

job interview I have had has

involved a discussion about my

LTS experience".

Prashanthi Baskaran, who was mentored by a LTS volunteer,

won the Ottawa Regional Science Fair and received one of

Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 awards from Youth in Motion.

“Students who are interested in science don’t always receive

the same support as students who are interested in athletics or

music”, she says. “LTS provided that support and helped me

explore my passion.”

Barbara Vanderhyden, Program Director

The winning team from Stephen Leacock, posing with teacher Warren Goodlet, after just having won the first All Science Challenge in 2008


Volunteers of the Month

In September 2012, Let’s Talk Science decided it was time to start honouring our dedicated volunteers by highlighting extraordinary ones each month. By doing this, we have given the entire LTS network the great opportunity to hear about some of the wonderful things our best volunteers are doing, and to recognize them and thank them for their efforts. This turned into such a success that we will continue to select volunteers to showcase every month from now on.

October – Mohamad Taha Mohamad is a fantastic volunteer who has spent this year presenting many workshops, notably HIV presentations for which he developed a new PowerPoint with additional background material to help students to better understand the underlying concepts. Mohamad was a rousing success when he presented a talk to over 100 students on health promotion at Encounters with Canada!

December – Tiffany Cheung and Raunak Karmacharya Since joining LTS last year, Tiffany and Raunak have been involved in every aspect of the program from visiting the teens at Encounters with Canada to working with their volunteer partners and educators to participating in StemCellTalks. They were also part of the year-long intensive AMP program where they mentored students on a one-on-one basis.

February – Maxine Myre Maxine has been an exemplary volunteer, devoting countless hours to volunteering, including on the weekends for special events like Cool Science Saturdays at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology. Maxine volunteered with the Science Travels program, donating a week of her time to perform science outreach at two different communities in Nunavut!

April – Adam Vigneron Adam joined Let’s Talk Science this year and has enthusiastically devoted his time to the program. Whenever an activity on space is requested, Adam will not only develop activities to suit the workshop’s needs but will bring other volunteers on board to make sure that students get the most hands-on activities possible. Adam’s enthusiasm about science and youth outreach is contagious!

May - Shuaib Syed

Shuaib is a new volunteer this year and has stunned us all with his outgoing and enthusiastic personality to which students are drawn. Whether hosting the All Science Challenge, participating in Cool Science Saturdays or participating in the Science Travels outreach program, Shuaib never fails to make science exciting, informative and entertaining not only for the students, but for educators and other volunteers as well!

March – Dema Najem and Sarah Seang Dema and Sarah, besides being outstanding volunteers, have distinguished themselves by creating two new and engaging kits on subjects in high demand, but previously lacking from our inventory. Their Seasonal Changes and Understanding Structures kits, both aimed at younger kids, are fun, interactive, and great additions to our kit library. Well done!

January – Alisa Miller Alisa has been balancing the requests of three different educators throughout the past year, presenting on previously unfamiliar subjects at three different age levels, and all in French (her second language). She has completed 6 activities with her educators to date, and is just shy of completing 50 volunteer hours since September.

November – Jacob Wong

Jacob, a Team Leader, has gone above and beyond by organizing many sessions for gathering and working with team members where he addressed each of their questions on the spot. Jacob also organized and signed-up for multiple events so that volunteers could pick from a wide range of dates to buddy-up with him and participate in their first classroom activities quickly. Jacob even continued his LTS activities with a broken arm!


Aboriginal Mentorship Program

2012-2013 AMP Science Fair Winners

First Place – Montana Adams The Chemistry of Colour

Second Place – Kory Kauffeldt Cryonics

Third Place – Kateri Amikons, Skylar Lightbody and Brittany Sarazin

Student Perceptions of STDs

This third year of AMP (Aboriginal Mentorship Program) was better than ever before! Ten volunteers from the University of Ottawa began working with 24 students in two schools from December to May. Jill Gedeon, Tiffany Cheung, Jovian Tsang, Monique Marguerie and Raunak Karmacharya traveled to Opeongo High School every month for 5 months to mentor 12 high school students in order to prepare them to come to the University of Ottawa for three days in May to experience university life and participate in a science fair. Volunteers Justin Renaud, Dana Danielson, Matt Herod and Helene Redfern traveled with Program Manager Beckie Granatstein to mentor 12 students at Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School.

The students arrived in Ottawa on May 14th and were privileged to be immediately guided by Justin on a walking tour of the city. Then the students travelled to the Civic Hospital for a lab tour provided by Jonas Vaskas. They dined at the Lieutenant's Pump before going back to residence accommodations to finish last minute touch ups on their science fair projects and to sleep. On Wednesday, the students were delighted by a fantastic lab tour at the National Research Council provided by Dana Danielson. They then returned to campus to present their science fair projects judged by LTS volunteers. Afterwards, they toured Ottawa by amphibious boat and finished by having dinner at Zak’s. The students left early on the third day to go back to their respective schools but not before making bouncy balls in the chemistry lab with Justin! A great time was had by all!

Students Joey and Skylar perform experiments at

their mentor’s lab

Lady Dive Amphibious

Bus Tour

Congratulations! The following AMP students have graduated this year and are on their way to very exciting futures:

Corrina Aird – has been accepted into the health series at Sir Sandford Fleming College with the intention of becoming a paramedic

Sierra Commanda – has been accepted into Nipissing University’s Orientation to Teaching program Karly Meness - will be attending Algonquin College in the biotechnology technician program


Local Award Winners

Award for Creativity in Science Outreach The top award for the Let's Talk Science program is the Award for Creativity in Science Outreach. The award is given to the volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional creativity, enthusiasm and dedication by the design, development and delivery of science workshops for elementary or high school students. This year, the award goes to Sarah Seang and Dema Najem. Sarah and Dema are fantastic volunteers who have gone out of their way to create amazing kits that filled a big void in our kit library. These kits are not only unique and fun but they also reflect the Ontario Science Curriculum. Dema and Sarah’s season changes workshop is now one of the most requested kits in our library! Well done!

Significant Contribution to Science Outreach

The Award for Significant Contribution to Science Outreach is given to the most active volunteers - those who have delivered a large number of workshops, including those that are most popular and therefore in high demand. It is possible for the most active volunteers to also distinguish themselves by developing and delivering some new activities. Our winners this year are Tiffany Cheung and Alisa Miller. Tiffany has volunteered for everything from Careers in Science for students as part of the Rotary Club of Ottawa to workshops on

Sue McKee Spirit Award This award is presented to the volunteer who has brought the most enthusiasm and interest to the program, through motivation of volunteers, recruitment of new volunteers, assisting other volunteers with the development and/or delivery of their workshops, or strengthening the Let's Talk Science program in any way. These volunteers are sometimes those who can be called upon by the coordinators on a moment's notice to respond to a request. We are pleased to announce that this year’s winners are Adam Vigneron and Maxine Myre! Throughout this past year, Adam has been one of our most enthusiastic and fantastic volunteers. An expert in the field of space, Adam has rallied other volunteers to participate in a myriad of space themed workshops. Adam even created the materials and

oncolytic viruses with the Encounters with Canada students. Tiffany has also created a Stop Smoking kit for use by any other volunteer. Furthermore, Tiffany travelled to Nunavut with our sister program, Science Travels, to present workshops for Aboriginal students in two different communities. Alisa has spent the year coordinating and presenting to three different educators (in French no less!). She has not only done activities with her paired educators, but has logged over 50 hours of additional activities including the Carleton Butterfly Show!

questions for the space part of the All Science Challenge, and took the initiative to create Yuri’s night, a special event in partnership with the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. Maxine has been an exceptional volunteer. This year alone, she has logged over 65 volunteer hours and is always excited to join in and support LTS through any means possible. Her adventurous nature has even led her to join the LTS softball team. Her fluency in both French and English has made her a valuable asset to the program and wherever she goes, she brings a lot of enthusiasm with her!

Adam Vigneron Maxine Myre

Tiffany Cheung Alisa Miller

Dema Najem Sarah Seang


Awards Presentation Event

`

● ● ● On Friday, May 24th, LTS volunteers and

coordinators gathered together for drinks, snacks and the local awards

presentation at Father and Sons Restaurant. Our biggest turn out to any event yet, volunteers sipped drinks and nibbled on snacks in a relaxed setting while getting to enjoy the company of

their fellow LTS volunteers. Awards were presented and appreciation shown to

Volunteers, Coordinators, the Manager and the Program Director. A fitting end

to another amazing year of science outreach!

● ● ●

Significant Contribution to Science winners Alisa and Tiffany with Program Manager Beckie, Kit

Coordinator Gab and Program Director Barbara

Volunteers enjoying

drinks and

snacks

Program Director Barb and the original Spirit Award winner, Sue

Outgoing Volunteer

Coordinator Liz and new Volunteer

Coordinator Kasia

Sue McKee Spirit Award winners Maxine and Adam with Program Manager Beckie, Kit Coordinator

Gab and Program Director Barbara

Volunteers Hien, Raunak, Maxine, Tiffany and Paula


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Contact us:

Beckie Granatstein

Science Outreach Manager

Room 304 Tabaret Hall

University of Ottawa

550 Cumberland St

0ttawa, Ontario

K1N 6N5

Tel: (613) 562-5800 X 2909

Fax: (613) 562-5285

[email protected]

SPRING 2013

A Message from the LTS

Faculty Advisor

A Message from our

Program Manager

Our Sponsors

Let’s Talk Science is supported locally by funds from the University of Ottawa’s Administrative Committee and Faculties of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies,

Medicine, Science and Engineering and Carleton University’s Faculty of Science.

I am constantly astounded by the effort and dedication by each and every one of our volunteers. This is never been more apparent than when I was putting together this newsletter. I am completely in awe of what we accomplished this year. Over 22,000 youth have benefited from our hands-on, minds-on science activities. This is an incredible number that was only possible with volunteers generously donating over 3,500 hours of their time. Not only are we reaching this large number of youth, but we are positively impacting them. I had the pleasure of helping out at the All Science Challenge

and I had many teachers and students come up and thank me for this wonderful event and all that we do. A teacher told me that while some students play after school sports, those who are not so athletically inclined were not able to participate in team activities until now! The students spent their afternoons training for this event and participating as members of a team, reaping the benefits of team activities. We cannot thank the volunteers enough for all your hard work, but the look on a student’s face after you have just taken the time to stimulate their mind might!

Beckie Granatstein, Program Manager

22,115 students visited by our volunteers in...

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