The Montana Girls STEM Collaborative seeks to unite and support educators, parents, professionals and other champions of STEM so we can engage and inspire the next generation! | |
January is National Mentoring Month | | |
|
|
NGCP is celebrating National Mentoring Month in January by highlighting the importance of mentors in empowering girls and young women to actively pursue STEM education and careers. Join a free Webinar to learn about
The Impact of STEM Role Models and Mentors
January 26, 2023 at 4pm Montana Time
Participants will learn from a panel of STEM professionals and the young women and girls they are mentoring. Speakers will share their journeys and advice on how mentoring can be a tool for supporting sustained career success in STEM.
Learn more and register
| | |
STEM opportunities for youth | | |
|
|
Montana Science Center in Bozeman offers an arry of out-of-school opportunities, plus Women in Science Day
The MSC offers a variety of workshops focused on creativity and invention, including robotics, candy, magic and more. New for Spring 2023: Skills-based camps for Middle School & High School. And, MSC hosts Women in Science Day on Feb. 11.
Visit the Montana Science Center
| | |
|
ExplorationWorks in Helena hosts SciGirls Jr. Afterschool Club
(and many others) starting Jan. 26
| |
SciGirls is for extraordinary girls who love to create and experiment. We'll learn how to apply the scientific method in fun, engaging challenges while meeting other science-loving girls. Come explore science with SciGirls Jr.! For ages 7-9.
Visit ExplorationWorks for this and other afterschool STEM/STEAM clubs.
| |
National opportunities for youth | |
|
EngineerGirl Writing Contest: How have female and/or non-white engineers contributed to engineering’s great achievements? Write an essay & win up to $500
The 2023 contest encourages youth to write an essay demonstrating how female and/or non-white engineers have contributed to or can enhance achievements in engineering. Guidelines are provided for elementary, middle school, and high school grade levels. Submission deadline is Feb. 1, 2023.
| | | |
|
NASA’s Astrophoto Challenge: Pillars of Creation
Youth are encouraged to join NASA's Universe of Learning and participate in the Winter 2023 NASA's Astrophoto Challenge. Participants will capture their own telescope image or work with NASA's images of the iconic Pillars of Creation and the broader Eagle Nebula, their work may receive feedback from NASA scientists. Youth may participate by using an email address to receive images taken with the MicroObservatory robotic telescopes. Participants 12 or younger must have a parent/guardian do the activity with them. The Challenge is open until February 28, 2023.
| |
|
Check out MCC job opportunities, including women's specific crews
Montana Conservation Corps is hiring for the 2023 season! At MCC, we focus on the growth of our participants, positively impacting our climate and environment, and transferable job skills. Leaders and their crews camp while working on physically demanding and essential natural resource and conservation projects on some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the Northern Rockies and Plains. These positions are great for candidates who are interested in pursuing conservation, climate change initiatives, or just looking for a meaningful experience. All of our positions come with a living stipend, education award, leadership and technical training, and a variety of benefits to support members during their term of service.
We have Women's specific crews (Women's Fuels and Fire Crews, Women's Field Crews) that focus on creating an experience where women can come together and work as a crew to tackle trail work & fuels projects, live in remote woodland settings, and focus on personal and professional growth within their team. This crew is for anyone who identifies as a woman and/or femme. We welcome trans applicants who are comfortable in a femme-identifying space.
See All Open MCC Opportunities
| |
STEM Scholarships and competitions | |
|
Montana’s STEM/Healthcare Scholarship Program is designed to provide an incentive for Montana high school students to prepare for, enter into, and complete degrees in postsecondary fields related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and healthcare. The goal of this program is to increase the number of STEM/Healthcare degree recipients participating in Montana’s workforce.
Applications are now open. Learn more about this opportunity.
| |
|
UM chemistry prof leads $10 million effort to support Alaska Natives and American Indians in STEM
Dr. Aaron Thomas, a University of Montana chemistry professor and director of UM Indigenous Research and STEM Education, is the principal investigator for a National Science Foundation-funded grant that builds a six-state collaboration to boost the underrepresentation of Alaska Native and American Indian (AI/AN) students in STEM disciplines and the workforce. Partners include universities and research institutions in Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
The funding comes from NSF INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science). The grant will fund Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education, or the CIRCLES Alliance. The CIRCLES Alliance launched in 2020 with support from NSF INCLUDES and NSF’s EPSCoR program, which also launched the Montana Girls STEM Collaborative.
Learn more about this amazing opportunity.
| |
|
Montana citizen science kits coming soon to libraries
A program led by Montana NSF EPSCoR (home of the Montana Girls STEM Collaborative) is bringing citizen science kits to Montana libraries. Four kits will be pilot tested at the MSU library (which lends the kits as well as all other books and materials to any Montana citizen). They will then be shared with other Montana libraries, especially those in the current EPSCoR research zones: the Upper Clark Fork River, the Judith River Watershed, and the Powder River Basin. View the four kits.
For more information or to potentially bring a kit to your area, contact Madison Boone: madison.boone@montana.edu.To be notified when the kits are in circulation, sign up for the citizen science newsletter
| | |
Museum of the Rockies hosts Women in Science Day and The Bearded Lady Project Film and Panel Discussion
On Feb. 11, Museum of the Rockies hosts a variety of family-friendly activities from local women in STEM, a book signing by paleontologist and PBS Eons host and paleontologist Kallie Moore, as well as a screening of the short documentary film The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science. Then, join MoR for an eye-opening panel discussion about the struggles and successes of women in the geosciences with Lexi Jamieson Marsh and Dr. Ellen Currano, the masterminds behind the exhibition.
About The Bearded Lady Project
This film and accompanying photo exhibition demonstrate the competencies and passions of female paleontologists and how this unfair, gendered stereotype can be easily diminished with the donning of a beard. With some well-placed facial hair, any female scientist can be perceived as equally rugged, tough, and determined.
Included with membership/admission. Learn more
| | | |
MSU workshop recordings feature women in STEM who share their personal stories and journeys
A monthly workshop series that started in September 2022 features Montana State University STEM researchers who share the work they do as well as their own STEM pathways. The workshops for educators include facilitated discussion on how to bring the content to young people.
All the fall workshops featured women in STEM. View the recordings and learn how to participate in future MSU Research in Action sessions.
| |
About the Montana Girls STEM Collaborative | |
The Montana Girls STEM Collaborative was founded as an outreach program of Montana NSF EPSCoR and has co-leaders at Montana State University and the University of Montana as well as volunteer board members across the state. This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement OIA-1757351. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
| | | | |
