High school girls can sample the field of equine science or enter a traveling planetarium at the 16th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Conference Saturday, Sept. 22, at MTSU.Both middle- and high school girls who preregistered will be attending the event. Girls from Georgia, Chattanooga and Memphis will join their peers from Rutherford and surrounding counties in what will be the largest EYH ever with 448 registered attendees, said event director Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross.
During the conference, girls in fifth through eighth grades can learn about the science of Sharpie pens, dig and sift an archaeological field, see “Pearl” the puppy be a part of a veterinarian and biology professor’s workshop, discover “worm races” and take in the Starpower planetarium.
Expanding Your Horizons, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education, is scheduled from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. across campus, said Iriarte-Gross, who also is director of MTSU’s WISTEM (Women in STEM) Center.
Sgt. Jon Levi, left, on “C.C.” and Det. Troy Hooker on “Rebel” are members of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department horse patrol unit that will visit MTSU Sept. 22 for the Expanding Your Horizons event. (MTSU photo by News and Media Relations)
The event will include early-morning remarks from Rich Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and Dr. Bud Fischer, first-year dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
Expanding Your Horizons, or EYH, is a hands-on science and math conference that helps girls investigate careers and talk with women in the STEM fields, attend math and science workshops and meet other girls interested in science and math.
The girls also will hear a keynote message on Saturday from Jennifer Hill, who recently was promoted to manager of process control engineering Nissan North America after six years at the company.
Hill said her talk, “Learning to Live Out Loud,” can be summed up as “understanding the sky is the limit and living out of the box.”
“The marvel surrounding diversity and exposure to this generation is inconceivable,” said Hill, a former Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators cheerleader. “Normality has progressed from being one-dimensional or ‘cookie-cutter’ to multidimensional … delving into endless possibilities in regard to one’s career, extramural or altruistic goals. I will discuss tips and building blocks supporting this phenomenon.”
In her role with Nissan, Hill said the process control team is responsible for plant data management and data acquisition. It also is a function of the cross-functional task force team that works to resolve chronic production issues.
A first-time appearance by the Rutherford County Sheriff Department’s horse patrol unit is expected to be a highlight of Saturday’s events. The patrol will be outside the James Union Building, where the girls will gather and hear opening remarks in the Tennessee Room.
Leaders for the day’s workshops include personnel from MTSU as well as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt and Tennessee State Universities.
EYH’s industry partners include Schneider Electric of La Vergne, Nissan, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, the Tennessee Technology Center at Murfreesboro, Sanford-Newell Rubbermaid and the Arnold Air Force Base STEM Center, which is bringing the planetarium.
The planetarium is a 16-by-10-foot portable dome equipped to project educational movies about astronomy and the night sky. The dome can accommodate up to 35 students.
While the girls’ conference is under way on Saturday, Iriarte-Gross said a Girls Raised in Tennessee Science Collaborative Project forum for adults also will be taking place. It is open to parents, guidance counselors and those who support STEM education. For more information, visit www.mtsu.edu/wistem/eyh/adult_workshop.php.
This year’s EYH conference is full. To learn more about the 2013 EYH conference, visit www.mtsu.edu/wistem/eyh/index.php.
