"Women in Science Day"

Suzanne Camilli: My name is Suzanne Camilli. I'm the lab manager for the Dardinger Laboratory in the Department of Neurological Surgery, and we are doing the Neuroscience Workshop and Lab Tour. Right now we're testing out our five senses and in a little bit we'll go into the lab where we have some stations set up and see what research is really about. We'll take a look at tissue culture, some molecular biology. One of the main focuses of our lab is brain tumors so they'll learn a little bit about brain tumors and some of the therapies, including oncolitic viruses.

Kathy Sullivan: I'm Kathy Sullivan. I direct the Patel Center for Math and Science Education Policy in the Glenn School here on campus. Women in Science Day is a movement really that began a quarter of a century ago, 25 years ago, and is put on and operated on a number of university and college campuses across the country, and the idea is to influence and reach middle school girls, typically that age range, and show them some of the gear, some of the gadgets, some of the stuff that is the work of science, some of the field sites, and at least equally important in my view probably even a bit more important I think is introduce them to real world working professionals, so from large animal vets on one hand to nanoscience or aquatic biology or medical technology, medical diagnostics anywhere in the incredibly broad space that is Ohio State. We've got talented women doing fabulous work, eager to make a contribution to the young gals coming along behind them by taking part of a day and inviting them into their lab and taking them out into the field.

Melissa Urban: My name's Melissa Urban, and I'm in sixth grade. I liked how we got to dissect the cow's eye. It was really awesome! I think Women in Science is important, because it shows you that women can do things that earlier they couldn't do.

Emily Stahl: My name is Emily Stahl. I go to Kilbourne Middle School. One of the things I want to be is possibly be a doctor, a pediatrician because I like kids. Being only girls here, and no guys, is kind of free, because there is no pressure to look really good, you can just kind of be yourself.

Chip Hawks: My name is Chip Hawks. I am the gifted intervention specialist for Stanton Middle School in Kent, Ohio. This is my twentieth year teaching, and I've always been a real advocate of getting girls interested in math and science, and the old stereotype that math and science is primarily for boys is something that I've always been against, and this is wonderful today, because I think whereas a lot of girls might not favor math or science particularly, this opens up new doors for them, because they not only learn new things, but they also get to experience with hands-on activities, so it's a wonderful opportunity for them.

Kathy Sullivan is a Astronaut Hall of Fame honoree who has flown in three NASA missions. She is the first American woman to have walked in space, in 1984. She is a captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve. And since 2006, she has served at Ohio State, as director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy.

But before all those professional accomplishments, Sullivan was a smart girl in a classroom.

"I remember my own experience vividly," Sullivan says. "Just like a light switch, my awareness in the classroom switched from, 'I think everyone wants to answer questions. It's fun,' to suddenly feeling very alone and exposed and stared at because my hand was in the air and I was eager to answer a question."

Sullivan says she was too stubborn to let the awkwardness stifle her interest in science.

“We've got talented women doing fabulous work, eager to make a contribution to the gals coming along behind them.”
— Kathy Sullivan, director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy

She hopes that's also true of the girls who recently came to campus to participate in Women in Science Day. The 25-year-old program brings hundreds of girls from across the state to campus, where they participate in workshops, tour labs, and meet female scientists on Ohio State's faculty.

"Anywhere in the incredibly broad space that is Ohio State, we've got talented women doing fabulous work, eager to make a contribution to the gals coming along behind them by taking part in the day and inviting them into their lab, taking them out to the field," Sullivan says.

"In the middle school grades in particular, it's very helpful for girls to have these moments."

Raquel Diaz Sprague, Executive Director of the Association for Women in Science of Central Ohio and the university's Women in Science Day program since 1999, hopes the program piques the interest of girls in physical and mathematical sciences, where women are underrepresented.

"Our goal is to see better numbers, better proportions of women and minorities in the science and engineering fields."