Berkeley Lab

Seeking Scientists and Engineers for Community Mentorship Events

In an effort to promote STEM outreach to the next generation, Berkeley Lab is encouraging scientists and engineers to participate in one of the upcoming community mentorship events this spring:

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  • STEM Mentoring Cafe – Wednesday, April 20, 2016 – Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland (3:00-5:00 p.m.)

Register here by Friday, April 15th: https://ngcpsurvey.typeform.com/to/PkZCH4.

“We are looking for volunteers in ALL STEM fields, none of particular interest.  The ultimate goal is to expose students to as many STEM careers as possible so they can get a feel for the range of possibilities.”

Volunteer Training Videos: http://www.energy.gov/diversity/downloads/stem-volunteer-training-materials

Questions? Please email stemed@energy.gov.

 

  • Women Scientists – GETSET Dinner with a Scientist – Thursday, April 21, 2016 – Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton (6:00-8:00 p.m.)

“GetSet (Girls Exploring Technology, Science, and Engineering Together), is an extracurricular enrichment program for Tri-Valley high school girls, grades 9 through 12, with interests in science, technology, engineering, and math.  As the big finish to a successful year, we organize a dinner for approximately 60 of our most avid participants and 15 women “scientists”. The “scientists” include women from engineering, medical, computer science, and science industries. We try to bring in mentors that are working in occupations our students show an interest in, so we have had women from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Stryker Neurovascular, Sandia, USF Medical Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and many others.

As everyone arrives, we encourage mingling and conversation. The women mentors then introduce themselves with a very brief description of their careers, and we all sit down at the tables. We have 1 – 2 women and about 6 – 8 girls per table, and we then invite individual tables to choose their meal at the buffet-style dinner. As this is happening, the other tables are discussing how the mentors got to where they are ~ maybe they started out at a community college, or in a different major than where they ended up. We have a list of conversation starters on each table to encourage the girls to speak up.

After about 10 minutes, a little bell will ring. In order to prevent imminent chaos, we ask the mentors to change tables in order to speak with a new group of girls.
Yes, it’s very much like speed dating! Not all mentors will get around to all tables through the evening, so we do wrap it up and allow a few more minutes for further conversations and to allow the girls to speak with some of the mentors they maybe didn’t get a chance to. As an option for our mentors, you can share contact information with us, or the girls directly, in order that they may reach out with further questions.”

Questions? Please email Deborah Walker at dwalker@pleasantonusd.net.

 

  • Oakland Unified School District’s Dinner with a Scientist – Wednesday, April 27 (middle and high school); and Monday-Wednesday, May 23-25 (4th and 5th grades) – Oakland Zoo (5:00-8:00 p.m.)

Register here by Monday, April 11th: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HFVBBQK

“As a unique volunteer opportunity, these semi‐formal dinners connect Oakland science teachers and students with local scientists like you. The goal of the event is to encourage and support our science teachers as well as inspire a generation of future scientists.  The program includes a keynote speaker, group discussions with featured scientists, and animal encounters.

As a featured scientist, you have the opportunity to share about your scientific journey and experiences.  The dinner and conversations are organized around large tables with one scientist, a few teachers, and their students at each station.  Additionally, each scientist shares a 5‐10 minute activity at the dinner table involving artifacts or a demonstration. Over the course of the evening, the scientists move to three different tables in order to meet a variety of students and teachers.  Pictures or other souvenirs related to your science profession are also welcome.”  http://science.ousd.org/dinner.htm

Questions? Please email Caleb Cheung at caleb.cheung@ousd.org.