By Elizabeth Keane, staff writer
When junior Suzanne Harms noticed the Women in STEM program sponsoring countless female scientists, she knew it was something she wanted to be a part of.
“They have so many opportunities to take advantage of,” Harms said. “I love learning about different things happening in the STEM field.”
The Women in STEM program, or WiSTEM, is a low commitment program open to everyone at Prospect. WiSTEM is not a traditional club because they have no meetings, but all the members are a part of a Schoology group in which they receive alerts for presentations or speakers to attend if they so choose. For Harms, at least, she has found the astrophysicist speakers most interesting over the years.
The speaker today, Maddie Beattie, is a PHS alumnus who spoke about her experiences working in a STEM camp in Uganda and opportunities for students to do something similar.
Harms, having attended Beattie’s presentation, found her to be very inspirational.
“It was so cool to see how she combined science with helping people,” Harms said. “I hope I am able to bridge that in the future as well.”
Beattie has a degree in environmental science and international studies. She traveled to Uganda in order to encourage STEM education despite some of the complexities this brought on. She also lived on a boat for six weeks in college studying marine biology.
“It’s inspiring to see all that she has accomplished,” Harms said. “Seeing that makes me excited for what I could do in the future.”