Reflections on the McGill Outreach Site Launch with Kevin Little

Kevin Little remembers the start-up mentality that fuelled the early development of McGill’s Let’s Talk Science Outreach site in the late nineties, “It was fun. We just had to roll up our sleeves and go and make things happen.”

And they did make it happen! Together with Debbie Allan, Audrey Nguyen, Rick Marcotte, Nathalie Richard, Barbi Gould and Cindy Solomon, and with the support and direction of Dr. Gerald Price, Department Chair of Experimental Medicine, Kevin helped launch a site that is now one of the organization’s most vibrant Outreach communities.

Kevin was first drawn to Let’s Talk Science because it offered him a teaching opportunity that wasn’t available in his PhD program in molecular biology. He was excited to engage with lots of different audiences and share the excitement about the world of science and the essence of the subject for him.

“It’s the mystery around how these people – these scientists – formulated the right questions. It’s about how they designed experiments to try and answer those questions. It’s really a detective story and that’s what made me realize that discovery is possible and really anybody who comes up with the right question can make a discovery.”

The chance to share this story was exciting and rewarding. “It’s about engaging kids in the discovery process. So whether you’re doing hands-on activities making a volcano or doing something with insects, they’re not just memorizing something. It’s that act of discovery. That’s where you see the learning spark.”

Kevin is now a Senior Director, Alliances at Novo Nordisk, where his primary roles are to connect science with purpose and build strategic alliances. He has long believed that science as a vocation means making it accessible and the communication skills he honed at Let’s Talk Science have helped frame his career and his determination to always learn more.

“I think if you have a good background in STEM, you get tools to keep learning. And I think…whether you’re studying science in grade school or you go to graduate school, you get that humility of there’s always more to learn that helps fuel the excitement of being a lifelong learner.”