News Release
May 3, 2007

UW science conference attracts 320 young women from Wyoming

Approximately 320 junior and senior high school girls from across Wyoming will attend the Women in Science Conference May 8 at the University of Wyoming.

The conference is designed to provide girls in grades seven through 12 hands-on experiences in science, mathematics and technology in order to encourage them to pursue training and careers in these fields.

The presenters are accomplished professional women and men including keynote speaker Dannele Peck, an assistant professor in the UW College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Students from Baggs, Big Piney, Casper, Cheyenne, Chugwater, Douglas, Glenrock, Lander, Laramie, Wheatland and Worland are registered for the conference.

“I want to share with them my enthusiasm for math and science,” said Peck, whose research focuses on economics of agriculture and the environment.

“I want to get the students excited about the workshops they will attend so I plan to provide many examples of the fascinating questions math and science enable them to answer,” Peck said. “I will also emphasize the rewarding careers that will be available to them if they continue to include math and science in their education.”

Peck then suggested a series of math- and science-related questions she might raise during her keynote address to pique the students’ interests. For example, she said, “Why don’t spiders stick to their own webs? How does a mirror work? Why do we dream? How many dimensions are there in our universe?”

Bill Gern, UW’s vice president for research and economic development, will provide opening remarks at 9:45 a.m. in the Wyoming Union.
Peck’s presentation follows, and then the students will have the opportunity to choose between nearly 30 workshops ranging from electrical/computer engineering, family/consumer sciences and molecular biology to chemistry, physics/astronomy, animal science, and veterinary sciences.

Women in Science conferences are held each May at UW and each October at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. Sponsors include government agencies, schools and private businesses.
 

On the Web: http://wyomingspacegrant.uwyo.edu/WIS/WISProgram07.pdf.
 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

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