Science Career Conference Set For Girls

Article originally published in October, 2000

MADISON - A conference for seventh and eighth grade girls interested in exploring career options will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Saturday, Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Expanding Your Horizons Conference will feature a wide range of career possibilities for women in science, engineering and mathematics. The day will offer hands-on workshops, visits to workplaces and interaction with professional women in a variety of fields.

The UW Biotechnology Center is hosting the concurrent program for parents, teachers and other adults. It will focus on problems and concerns that girls face in middle school and will include tours of university facilities and hands-on DNA experiments the new biotechnology building.

"I've been involved now for three years both as a facilitator and a parent of a middle-school girl," says Cheryl Redman, UWBC Biotechnology Outreach Outreach Specialist. "It's exciting because it meets the needs both of girls and of parents to get girls excited about going to college to study sciences."

Tamara Towns, a student worker at UWBC, adds, "We don't need WonderWoman, we need women as role models in the sciences." Towns will be serving on a student panel at UWBC discussing challenges facing girls who want to pursue careers in science. DPI clock hours will be available.

The registration deadline is Oct. 1 or until available space is reserved, and the cost is $18, lunch included. Scholarships are available. This conference fills quickly, so early registration is recommended. Brochures may be obtained from public school math and science teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and school psychologists, as well as private school principals.