Women in Science
by Alexa Raasch
February 26, 2010
On February 19, 2010, 4 sophomores participated in the “Women in Science” Conference in Lincoln. They left at noon on Friday and returned at 7:00 on Saturday night. The students that went were as follows: Kiarra H., Jasmine G., Taylor D., and Makala M. Dr. Cerny also went along as their sponsor. There were 97 students from different schools that participated in this group, including ones from as far away as Kansas City and Topeka, KS.
On Friday, they arrived and toured the UNL city campus. Then, they returned to their hotel, were introduced to professors and different fields of science. At 6:00 PM, the four went to a banquet held in the Lincoln Ballroom at the downtown Holiday Inn. The keynote speaker was Dr. Concetta DiRusso, a Professor in the Departments of Nutritional and Health Science and Biochemistry, who talked about her life and the projects she was currently working on, including how fats can affect our health. At 8 PM, they were released from the banquet and were given the choice to see a movie or stay in the hotel. So while Makala M. and Taylor D. went swimming, Kiarra H. and Jasmine G. hung out in the hotel room, trying to find the name of the theater down the street.
On Saturday morning, each of the four went to the respective salons that they were assigned to. In each salon were different professors who we were allowed to ask any burning questions that we had. After they checked out of the hotel, Dr. Cerny drove the sophomores to the Beadle Center, where they toured with a biochemistry professor who showed them the greenhouses and her lab where they made DNA glow in the dark. At noon, they attended lunch at Valentino’s where the four met Maria Lewis, an animal science major, who told them about the hilarity of working with cheetahs in Africa. Moral of the story: study abroad! After lunch, they went to workshops in Hardin Hall, across the street from Valentino’s. Kiarra H. attended the Nursing workshop while Taylor D. went to Dentistry. Makala M. attended the Environmental Studies workshop and Jasmine G. went to the Engineering part. Some highlights were: Jasmine G. and her group had to come up with a new idea using biomimicry, or the idea of using nature as a model for new ideas, Kiarra H. went to different stations where she learned to take blood pressure, oxygen levels, and listened to the different sounds of the lungs and heart, Taylor D. made a thumb out of the same material that dentists use to take an imprint of your teeth, and Makala M. learned how to make the different colors of crayons. Afterwards, they boarded a bus which took them to Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center and toured such things as the burn center, the CyberKnife, and the operating rooms. At the end of the day, they returned to Hardin Hall for cookies and pop while they filled out surveys of their trip.
Kiarra H. had this to say, “My favorite part was the hospital tour. It was a great way to help me decide on my future career.”
