NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott and "Hidden No More" Women STEM Leaders - Photo by Chad Mairn
"Hidden No More":
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“Hidden No More”, a special IVLP initiative inspired by the work of African-American women scientists at NASA during the Space Age (the subject of the movie "Hidden Figures"), brought women leaders from Antigua, Brazil, Norway, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Uzbekistan to St. Petersburg for interaction with our outstanding STEM teaching resources. These included the Salvador Dali Museum, Jacobson Technical High School, Seminole High School, Lakewood High School, the USF College of Marine Science Oceanography Camp for Girls, the St. Pete Innovation District, St. Petersburg College STEM Center, and the SPC Innovation Lab, where they met with Ms. Nicole Stott, a NASA Space Shuttle astronaut! On October 30, WP partnered with USFSP Student Government for a "community conversation" open to the public to meet and interact with these pioneering women change-makers during the panel discussion and at the reception.
World Partnerships was honored to host this special initiative for the third straight year! Join these outstanding women leaders and explore their project below which took them to many of our outstanding STEM assets in Tampa Bay!
World Partnerships was honored to host this special initiative for the third straight year! Join these outstanding women leaders and explore their project below which took them to many of our outstanding STEM assets in Tampa Bay!
Welcome & Halloween Around St. Pete!
Photo by Ksenija Keivanzadeh
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Saturday and early Sunday were great days to explore the downtown St. Pete waterfront, and enjoy the Halloween festivities on the new Pier! They even joined the "Haunted Hammock Hangout" and watched "Edward Scissorhands" in the Pier open-air theater.
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Photo by Ksenija Keivanzadeh
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Dali Foundation Lab & Sunset with Dolphins!
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Sunday afternoon's program combined the experience of a curated art gallery tour with a deeper exploration into the creative process of Salvador Dali. Led by Ms. Sumaya Ayad, School Programs Manager of the Salvador Dali Museum, the group gained new insights into understanding of how shifting perspective and playing with perception boosts our creative powers and how Dali’s experiments with perception relate to the potential for creative problem solving. All in all, the Foundation Lab was a great mind-expanding experience! Their day ended with some reflective time on the water with dolphins and a Gulf of Mexico sunset.
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Hands-On STEM with High School Students!
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It's always an early start for daylong visits to STEM programs in Pinellas County Schools, and Monday was the day to experience high school STEM programs and to interact with faculty and students. Dr. Catherine Mullins, Ed.D., Secondary STEM Instructional Staff Developer at Pinellas County Schools and Ms. Charmaine Rushing, M.Ed., PCS K-5 STEM Instructional Staff Developer, organized a full day for these STEM leaders at Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School (Tech High - gaming and graphic design, healthcare, career education), Seminole High School "Women in STEM" (robotics and drone pilots), and Lakewood High's Center for Advanced Technology (content creation, AI, and robotics).
Thanks to Mr. Joshua Wolfenden, Principal, and Dr. Melissa Campbell, Assistant Principal, Tech High; Dr. Jane Lucas, Principal, Seminole High, and Ms. Connisheia Garcia, Principal, Lakewood High, their faculty and students for their warm welcomes and engagement with Hidden No More! |
Community Conversation @ USFSP!
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Monday evening, World Partnerships teamed up with USF St. Petersburg Student Government and Pinellas County Schools for a "community conversation" where the STEM leaders related their origin stories, their inspirations, and their future plans to empower women in STEM. With many thanks to Ms. Taylor Herman, USFSP Student Government Vice-Governor, Dr. Catherine Mullins and Ms. Charmaine Rushing of PCS, and students and community who came to engage with these extraordinary leaders.
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STEM Lab in the Bay at the Oceanography Camp For Girls!
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Tuesday morning found the HNM STEM leaders at the USF College of Marine Science "Oceanography Camp for Girls" at Clam Bayou! In its 33rd year, OCG is an annual 3-week summer ocean science exploration program for young women in Pinellas County, hosted by the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida. Their mission is to inspire and motivate young women entering high school to consider career opportunities in the sciences. OCG provides hands-on, real-world experiences in both laboratory and field environments. Professors, research scientists, and graduate students at USF provide scientific mentoring, while alumni campers serve as peer mentors to “new” campers while enhancing their own communication and leadership skills. Under the interdisciplinary umbrella of oceanography, participants are directly involved in disciplines in which women and minorities are most often underrepresented: chemistry, geology, physics, engineering and mathematics. OCG Founder Dr. Teresa Greely, Faculty Director Education & Outreach, Biological Oceanographer & Science Educator led the group right into the water to gather samples to review in the lab!
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Engaging Women Leaders in Maritime & Defense Tech at The Hub!
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Ms. Alison Barlow, Executive Director of the St. Pete Innovation District, and Ms. Lauren Bell, HUB Community Manager, brought together a group of local women executives and leaders in STEM for a Tuesday luncheon roundtable discussion at The Maritime and Defense Technology Hub (Hub) in the St. Pete Innovation District. The Hub is a shared workspace that brings together under one roof the triple helix of innovation: industry, government, and academia. It takes advantage of the increased need for maritime and national security technology solutions across the State of Florida and the Federal government. The IVLP leaders exchanged stories and ideas about empowering the next generation of women leaders in STEM, and explored ways in which the Innovation District might collaborate with their programs back home. Lunch was co-sponsored by the Innovation District and World Partnerships, Inc.
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NASA Astronaut Encounter at SPC STEM Center, SPC Innovation Lab!
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As the clock wound down for their program in Tampa Bay, Chad Mairn, Librarian, Seminole Campus, and Director, The Innovation Lab at St. Petersburg College's Seminole Campus, brought together a Tuesday afternoon tour-de-force closing session!
Opening the afternoon was a presentation and dialogue with SPC graduate and retired NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut Nicole Stott, who spoke of her work as an astronaut, aquanaut, artist, author of Back to Earth ~ What Life In Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet - And Our Mission To Protect It, and most importantly a mom. She creatively combines the awe and wonder of her spaceflight experience with her artwork to inspire everyone’s appreciation of our role as crewmates here on Spaceship Earth. Nicole is a veteran NASA Astronaut with two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space as a crewmember on both the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle. Personal highlights of her time in space include being the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk, first person to operate the ISS robotic arm to capture a free-flying cargo vehicle, painting the first watercolor in space (on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum), working with her international crew for the benefit of all life on Earth, and of course the life-changing view of our home planet. Nicole is also a NASA Aquanaut. In preparation for spaceflight, she was a crewmember on an 18-day saturation dive mission at the Aquarius undersea laboratory. After her presentation, she personally autographed copies of her book to each participant, while answering their questions and encouraging their STEM empowerment mission. The afternoon continued with a STEM Center-led deep-dive with microscopes into microplastics in the ocean, led by Ms. Erica Moulton, STEM Director, SPC Bay Pines STEM Center and Lab Tech Becky Krischer, and concluded with Chad's "Makerspace" presentation and a hands-on VR, AR, and AI demonstration! |
Photo by Nicole Stott
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