Three additional events added to McMaster Outreach site leads to Coordinator of the Year
Students in the Hamilton area have three new large-scale events thanks to the efforts of Megan Dodd, Let's Talk Science Outreach Coordinator at McMaster University.
Over the past two years as co-coordinator at the McMaster site, Megan has implemented three new events: a Rock and Mineral show with 12 new activities that she designed, a family science night, and a Science in the Media day. This year's 2nd Annual Science in the Media day saw the number of students attending double. While implementing these successful events, Megan also improved the infrastructure of the outreach site. She started a site newsletter, had weekly office hours, and conducted a personalized follow-up after each volunteer's outreach activity.
For all of Megan's hard work and dedication to science outreach, she was awarded the Let's Talk Science Coordinator of the Year Award for 2012. The annual National Site Coordinator Award recognizes an outstanding Site Coordinator who is passionate about science and science outreach and is committed to strengthening and developing his/her site locally, while thinking nationally. The recipient demonstrates excellent communication, administrative and volunteer management skills, while being a positive role model to volunteers and youth.
"I know there are a lot of coordinators who have really developed some unique and impactful initiatives, so I was truly honoured to receive the award," said Megan.
Megan began volunteering with Let's Talk Science in 2008. After two years as a volunteer, she took on a coordinator role at the McMaster University site.
"I thought there was a real need to provide youth with the opportunity to learn more about science through hands-on experience, and to hear directly from people who were conducting research themselves," said Megan. "It was an experience I wish I had more of when I was younger."
As a coordinator, Megan enjoyed the variety of responsibilities that came with the job while learning lessons along the way.
"Students at all levels are capable of understanding and retaining what we might perceive to be "high level" concepts, and detailed information on all aspects of science if it is presented to them in the right way," said Megan. "My experience with being a Let's Talk Science coordinator has opened my mind to what is possible with science education in Ontario. I think the incorporation of more hands-on science can really help to reinforce science concepts. After all, most of science research is hands-on and I think that should be mirrored in our education."
As outgoing Coordinator of the McMaster Let's Talk Science Outreach site, Megan is looking to finish her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the end of this year. In the future, she still intends to share her love of science.
"At this point, I am searching for a career that would allow me to stay involved with biomedical research while pursuing my passion for science outreach and science literacy."
