Forty young scientists were picked by the University of Alberta to take part in the Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) program recently and one of those students calls Ponoka home.
Zoe Cire was one of approximately 150 Grade 11 high school students who applied to the program meant to promote women in the three fields that make up the name WISEST. Assistant co-ordinator Kristy Burke says making it on the list is tough as the young scientists, mostly girls, must submit an essay along with teacher references.
“We are placing them into labs that they work in,” said Burke.
Cire is studying earth and atmosphere sciences and must complete an experiment and show results of her experiment. The young scientists are paid employees of the university for the summer and must present their findings at the end of their research.
“The point of the program is to expose them in fields where their gender is underrepresented,” explained Burke.
Cire’s project is to track arctic hurricanes. She says she has to look at wind speeds and weather patterns to determine if what she is looking at is actually a hurricane. Tracking storms has always been of interest to Cire and she feels lucky to have been picked for this assignment.
“This is definitely something I want to delve into,” explained Cire.
The program has also given her an idea of what university life is like and as she heads into Grade 12, Cire feels this has given her valuable experience. She is grateful to the supervisors and programmers at WISEST for their help and guidance.