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Chemistry Grad Students "Talk Science" in the Community What if you were presented with the opportunity to serve as a positive role model for young Canadians, to share your passion for science, and to develop the necessary skills of communicating your research as well as general scientific concepts to a broad audience? This past academic year, more than twenty graduate students from the Department of Chemistry experienced the rewards of such an endeavour. As volunteers in the Let's Talk Science Partnership Program, an exciting multi-departmental science outreach initiative, chemistry graduate students participated in liaisons with local elementary and secondary schools, visiting the classrooms, presenting interactive demonstrations to complement the curriculum, bringing students to campus for hands-on science activities, judging science fairs, providing information about careers in science, and more. Let's Talk Science (LTS), a national nonprofit organization, has an ambitious vision of literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for all Canadians. The main objectives of this science outreach initiative are to foster students' perception of, and interest in, science; to develop communication links between scientific educators at all levels; to expose students to the benefits and opportunities of science related fields; and to provide information on science research and programs at universities. Let's Talk Science efforts have reached hundreds of thousands of students owing to the large volunteer contingent of university graduate students, faculty and industry scientists at fourteen sites across Canada. Even though McMaster's LTS regional site was launched in September 1997, the commitment and dedication of chemistry graduate students has certainly sparked the rapid development of this initiative in our community.
For more information about the LTS programs offered at McMaster, please call 525-9140 (x27562), email ltsci@mcmaster.ca, or visit our website at www.science.mcmaster.ca/lts. We welcome any interested participants! Stacey Brydges, |
