Conference to offer high school students a glimpse into a career in science

Released on 01/17/2012, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, through Feb. 18, 2012

WHERE: Embassy Suites, 1040 P Street

Lincoln, Neb., January 17th, 2012 —
Valery Forbes
Valery Forbes

            Hands-on workshops, lab and campus tours, and panel discussions are all planned for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's 14th annual Women in Science Conference, set for Feb. 17-18 at the Embassy Suites, 1040 P St.

            The two-day event is designed to attract high school sophomores and juniors with a goal of encouraging young women to explore where they can take their interests in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.

            The conference is funded by Nebraska EPSCoR and sponsored by UNL's Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education.

            Participants will have the opportunity to meet with UNL science majors and professors and learn about UNL programs. Tour stops will include the George W. Beadle Center, which was named for a 1927 graduate and Nobel Prize laureate whose research laid the foundations of modern corn genetics. Participants also can get an up-close look at a career in medicine when they visit St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, where they can test out the hospital's surgical robot, tour the burn unit and learn about the CyberKnife.

            Valery Forbes, director of UNL's School of Biological Sciences, will deliver this year's keynote address. Her talk, set for Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., is titled "What's a nice girl like me doing in a job like this? The unexpected adventures of a biologist.” Before stepping into her current role at UNL in 2010, Forbes spent more than two decades in Denmark where her latest position was as founding chair of the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change and professor of aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology at Roskilde University. Forbes earned her Ph.D. in coastal oceanography from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

            Interested students have until Feb. 1 to register through a teacher or school counselor. Registration is capped at 100 participants. For more information, call 402-472-8965 or visit http://go.unl.edu/wis.

Writer: Jean Ortiz Jones, University Communications (402) 472-8320

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