Note: During the conference, parents should plan to attend the parent workshop (or the time could be used to explore local shopping and restaurants). We aim to minimize distraction in the classrooms. We also ensure that all adults in the workshops have gone through background checks. If a parent needs to accompany their daughter in the workshops, we ask that they receive advanced permission from the organizers.
Session 1 Workshops A-1 Eyes Under Puget Sound Ever wonder what types of creepy crawlies lurk in the mud beneath the waters of Puget Sound? Learn how marine scientists identify theses fascinating marine invertebrates. Use a microscope and get up close and personal with worms, sea stars, clams, crabs and more! Dany Burgess & Angela Eagleston, Marine Taxonomists, WA State Dept. of Ecology A-2 Drone Zone Learn programming concepts and fly drones indoors. Jennifer Mettler, NBCT, 8th Grade Science & Robotics Teacher, Marshall Middle School A-3 When Does Sound Become Music? What is music, really? Explore the properties of sound and learn how they are organized and manipulated to create music. This hands-on workshop will be held in an electronic piano lab, where we will make music by experimenting with relationships of pitch, duration, intensity, and timbre. Jennifer Hermann, Executive Director, Olympia Symphony Orchestra A-4 So You Want to BE a Nurse! Come see and listen to what being a nurse is all about! The nursing faculty will be available to help you feel like a nurse, while learning how to listen for a pulse! Marriya Wright, Associate Dean of Nursing, South Puget Sound Community College A-5 The Art of Graphic Design Using Canva Want to learn how to create awesome graphics for social media, school work and more? This is the class for you! You'll learn the basics graphic design of using Canva from experts who use the platform every day. Posters, flyers, memes, infographics and so much more will be easy to create and duplicate! Erika Montgomery, CEO, Three Girls Media, Inc. A-6 Radiation Myth Busters In 1898 Marie Curie, a scientist, discovered a new mysterious highly radioactive element which glowed in the dark. They named it Radium. See the glow. Find out what inspires modern mythology like “Spiderman” The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and the “Hulk.” Morgan Bullock, Radiation Health Physicist, WA State Dept. of Health A-7 Physical Therapy: A Great Move Do you like the idea of having an active job helping others reach their goals? Take a look at Physical Therapy! Physical therapy (PT) is the non-surgical treatment that can help patients regain the use of joints and muscles through specifically targeted strength and movement training and education. Physical therapists are well educated in the movement and function of the body. Michelle Grippo, Physical Therapist, Olympia Orthopedic Associates A-8 Can you see the Polar Bear? Did you know that Polar Bears cannot be seen with an Infrared Camera? Do you know what Infrared is? Let's explore answers to these questions together. Rebecca Sundermann, Ph.D., Member of the Faculty in Chemistry, The Evergreen State College A-9 Working Dogs for Conservation Learn how we train the world's best conservation detection dogs & put them to work protecting wildlife and wild places. Lauren Wendt, Canine Field Specialist, Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C.org) A-10 Do You Hear What I Hear? Hearing keeps us connected with the world around us. Audiology combines the science of sound, and hearing, with helping people to communicate better. Audiologists test for hearing and balance and make recommendations that can help these people stay connected with the world around them. We combine technology and education to accomplish our goals of improving hearing and communication. Come learn about some of the different parts of audiology and the tools we have to care for our patients! Jessica Hesson and Caney Demars, Audiologists, Ascent Audiology & Hearing A-11 Money Talks! Is your money always saying “Goodbye?” In this interactive workshop, you will learn the basics of budgeting, as well as helpful tips on saving money. Start saving now and your wallet will thank you! Amanda Stevens, Community Development Manager - TwinStar Credit Union A-12 Puget Sound Beach Jobs! Puget Sound is home to an array of shellfish species and shellfish-related careers. Join PSI biologists to learn about these jobs and sample what we do from intertidal beach surveys and water quality monitoring to screening for toxic algae. Aimee Christy, Shellfish Biologist, Pacific Shellfish Institute
Session 2 Workshops B-1 Chemistry in Art Come explore the connection between chemistry and art. We will investigate the chemistry behind photography, color, and how pigments interact with different media. You will make a piece of art to take home. Marie Dunn, Professor of Chemistry & Undergraduate Research Students, South Puget Sound Community College B-2 Brain Tricks and Study Cheats A fun interactive way to learn how you learn.Brain Games and practical tips to increase focus and remember more no matter what your level. Hear about STEP - Sharing Teens and Elders Project and how listening to yourself and to others can help. Linda Terry, Brain Trainer/Community Organizer/STEP Founder, STEP – Sharing Teens and Elders Project B-3 Get Out of My Hair! Toxics in Personal Care Did you know that the ingredients in personal care products like shampoo, lotion and makeup get inside our bodies? In this workshop, you'll learn how to read labels to make safer choices and learn how to make (and take home!) your own all natural lip balm. Jennifer Johnson, Education & Outreach Specialist - Thurston County Public Health and Social Services B-4 Who-Dun-It: A Tail of Toxins Learn about a few common toxic household items that your pup may get in to, perform a physical exam on a live dog, and try to figure out which toxin she ate! Interactive, hands-on and requires some critical thinking to puzzle out this mystery diagnosis. Hannah Robertson, Veterinarian, Button Veterinary Hospital B-5 Digital Drawing and Animations with Desmos Learn how to use Desmos (free online graphing calculator) to create and animate digital drawings. We will use equations of lines, circles, parabolas, and more to create dynamic digital art. This is a start from scratch activity, no prior knowledge or experienced required. Emily Boyce & Julia Trude, Professors of Mathematics – South Puget Sound Community College B-6 Be a ROCKstar Scientist! Do you love playing outside in the forest, hiking along the river, or hanging on the beach? Meet two scientists from the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife who do these fun activities for their job! Learn aquatic habitat monitoring methods, both tried and true and cutting edge during this workshop, and rock out! In this workshop, you will learn about how WDFW scientists survey, measure and track river and beach environments to answer research questions large and small. Come on in, the water is fine!! Hannah Faulkner, Nearshore Biologist, & Jane Atha, Fluvial Geomorphologist –Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife B-7 Mighty Microbes Join us for a fun workshop about how the LOTT Clean Water Alliance cleans and recycles wastewater. Women working at the treatment plant will talk about their clean water jobs and how they got started in their career. Then put on your lab coat and gloves for a hands-on microscope lab to see some cool microorganisms up close! If you’re lucky you’ll find a tardigrade! Jihan Grettenberger, Environmental Educator Julie Dufresne, Environmental Specialist Meghan Feuk – Water Quality Analyst II Michelle Barnett, Senior Construction Manager Terri Prather, Operations and Process ControlSupervisor All with LOTT Clean Water Alliance B-8 Rescuing and Rehabbing Wild Birds What happens when someone finds an injured or orphaned bird? Learn how wildlife rehabilitators capture and restrain birds, perform physical exams, administer fluids, apply splints and bandages, review x-rays, run diagnostic tests, and condition birds for release. Warning: Bird carcasses will be used during this workshop. Stephanie Estrella, Wildlife Rehabilitator,Raindancer Wild Bird Rescue B-9 Beat the Heat! The concept of heat transfer is crucial in engineering design. Come learn about the three modes of heat transfer, conduction, convection, and radiation and why they are so important! Shelbie Davis, M.M.E., Lab Instructor, School of Engineering, Saint Martin's University B-10 Telling your Story… with Data! You’ve learned all the science, now you want to share it, teach it, present it, or show your results. Microsoft Word and Excel can get you there! This is not your boring typing class; Enter, calculate, and format data in Excel and format text as well as insert graphics and clip art for flyers in Word! Karen Hall, Projects and Facility Manager, Building Industry Association of WA B-11 Windy Towers Work with consulting engineers, and compete to design and construct a tower that can withstand wind, considering various design criteria and material constraints. Leila Zheng (Bridge Engineer), Rachel Bernhard (Civil Engineer), & Ashley Lin (Waste Water Engineer), HDR, Inc. B-12 Strong Girls = Strong World Do you get stressed out? Do you have daily calming practices to support you? We can help! We will share in an opening circle followed by meditation and breath work with sound healing, gentle yoga and other self care tools to support you so you can feel grounded and empowered. All Welcome, Girl Power Rocks! Kristen Rubis, Executive Director, Empowerment 4 Girls B-13 Build your first mobile APP Girls will learn the basic of MIT App Inventor 2 and will make their first mobile app.Smriti Somasundaram, Student & DOT4Kids
Session 3 Workshops C-1 A Breath of Fresh Air - Weather, Air Quality and You What is air pollution and where does it comes from? Think you know? You might be surprised. Also learn how weather affects air quality and what you can do right now to keep your air clean. Lauren Whybrew, Engineer 1, and Allie Feidt, Air Quality Specialist – Olympic Region Clean Air Agency C-2 Dental Assisting - The Art of Teeth Explore taking dental x-rays, molding dental composite filling material into sculptures, and making thumb molds with dental impression material. Evelyn Harry, EFDA, CDA, AAS, Clinic Dental Assistant and Student Supervisor, Dr. Dana Larson, DDS, Dental Assisting Program Director, Laura Moe-Genther, Dental Assisting Professor, and Tiffany Johnston, Dental Assistant- South Puget Sound Community College C-3 Wacky and Wild Aquatic Insects Learn about the creepy crawlies that live in streams and rivers! Benthic macroinverebrates are diverse and fascinating. Learn how to identify specimens using microscopes. Carri LeRoy, Associate Professor, Freshwater Ecology – The Evergreen State College C-4 Biological Nanomachines: Viruses Nanonscience is all about understanding and building systems that function in the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one billionth of the size of a meter! Nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize our lives through breakthrough nanorobots that can move through the body gobbling up diseased cells, effective drugs and compounds that can eat though oil spills without harming the environment. Today we will learn about nano-sized machines called viruses, viral diseases and build a take home a virus model. Sailaja Arungundram, Chemistry Professor – South Puget Sound Community College C-5 Spark the Heart! Can you revive a dead heart? Use CPR and the latest emergency medical tools to treat a cardiac arrest. See a demonstration of an Automatic External Defibulator (AED). Cori Spotts, Firefighter/Paramedic, Lacey Fire District 3 C-6 Your Body's Wall of Protection Did you know that hair and nails are classified as appendages of the skin?Explore the various functions of the skin and how it provides protection for the body by making natural remedies to prevent and/or treat acne and pimples. Gwen Morris, Clinical Compliance Auditor, Cas of Cary, Inc. C-7Animation Station Frame by frame, experiment in the world of animated storytelling with techniques like drawing and stop-motion on iPad apps Stop-Motion and Rough Animator. Learn about sound production and editing to create compelling animated stories. Roxy Boggio, Youth Media Trainer, Thurston Community Media C-8Fun with Finances – Budget Beginnings No matter how much money you make or how old you are, it is important to understand how to manage your finances. We will discuss the Three R’s of Budgeting: Reality, Restraint, and Responsibility, as well as the importance of having short and long term money goals. Come join us as we engage in interactive, hands-on discussions about money and budgeting! Crystal Wright, Financial Examiner, WA Dept. of Financial Institutions C-9 Charming Chemistry? Redox reactions are occurring everywhere in the world around us, and power everything from our bodies to our phones. Come learn about the fundamentals of redox chemistry, and the importance of this chemistry to our everyday lives. Explore some of the many applications, including electroplating of jewelry and other materials. Brandy Fox, PhD, Assistant Professor & Chemistry Students, Saint Martin's University C-10 Real-Life CSI Become a Forensic Scientist for a day! Learn about crime scene investigation, DNA/blood spatter, and fingerprints! Roll your own fingerprints to discover how much information is literally at your fingertips, and how unique you truly are! Alexis Zhukovskiy, Forensic Scientist, WA State Patrol C-11 Life’s a Beach! Come experience a day in the life of a Beach Naturalist!Perform a beach transect and explore our Puget Sound wildlife specimens found on local beaches.This beach adventure is sure going to be a blast! Aeriel Wauhob, Lead Beach Naturalist, Puget Sound Estuarium C-12 Disease Detectives Do you like a good mystery? Well, an epidemiologist's job is all about solving mysteries, but instead of figuring out "who did it" like a police detective would, they figure out "what caused it." Come use your critical thinking and logic to investigate what it takes to protect the public's health and track down an outbreak. Elisabeth Long, Epidemiologist, WA State Dept of Health C-13Satellites, Networks, and Cyber Security Computers, Global Networks, and Satellite Communications. Do they need Cyber Security? Maragarita Dunlap, Communications Director,