Headlines/June 28, 1996 Four science promoters win Outstanding Achievement award They’re women, they’re scientists, and they love to spread the word that science is fun and can offer an exciting and rewarding career. Aileen Ablog, Diane Burton, Shawna Dyck, and Astrid Opsetmoen are lab technicians in the Chemistry and Biology departments at the University College of. the Fraser Valley, and they are also this year’s recipients of the UCFV Outstanding Achievement award. All four women have § made numerous visits to | Fraser Valley schools and hosted school children in UCFV labs for “magic shows”, or demonstrations of biology and chemistry in action. “We do a lot of: interactive 4 demonstrations, and then let the students try their own experiments,” notes Ablog. The children and their teachers invariably enjoy the sessions. “They all say they want to become scientists afterwards,” Ablog says. Expenses for the visits are funded through the federal/provincial Scientists and Innovators in the Schools program. The scientists schedule their sessions during less busy times in spring and - summer, and at mid-term when students are writing exams and the UCFV labs aren’t in use. Along with sparking an interest in science, the visits serve to blow away some Stereotypes. “A lot of kids have misconceptions about what scientists do. They think that biology only involves dissecting animals, and that chemistry is just making bombs or poison,” says Dyck. “They don’t think about the plant side of biology, or the fact that it’s the study of living things. On the chemistry side, we show them that everything is made of chemicals, and that many chemicals are good for you.” “The greatest misconception is that all scientists are male,” notes Ablog. “Not just the students, either — the teachers are sometimes surprised when two women walk in. They definitely learn by the end that women can be scientists too.” Bottoms up! Diane Burton, Aileen Ablog, Shawna Dyck, and Astrid Opsetmoen toast their award with beekers. The collective work history of these four award winners is living proof that there are a lot of career options for people who study science. All are now lab technicians in either biology or chemistry at UCFV. They set up labs and assist students with their lab techniques in some courses. All four earned bachelor of science degrees. Jobs they have held before coming to UCFV include floor staff scientist at Science World, food and drug inspector, lab researcher testing horse urine, lab researcher studying yeast for Molson’s Breweries, pulp and paper lab technician, and hazardous waste quality control technician. Their reasons for deciding to pursue science as a career are varied. “I fell in love with the purple colour of potassium permanganate in Grade 10!” quips Ablog. “I was fired on my first day as a waitress for spilling coffee on a customer and ended up washing beekers at a lab at the racetrack that did urine analysis,” notes Burton. “That got me interested.” “T was an ecology freak,” says Opsetmoen. “My family joked that I wanted to live in the wilderness 50 feet from a library!” “T knew that I wanted to be a scientist in Grade 7,” says Dyck. ‘All four of them love spreading the message that science can be fun and and didn’t expect a special award for their efforts. “For me it’s gratification enough to see the sparkle in the eyes of students when they like our demos and to get their cards ‘of thanks afterwards,” says Ablog. “TItis nice, however, ‘to know that when everybody at the college is so busy doing their own thing our colleagues still took time to nominate us in recognition of what we’re doing,” adds Dyck. Runners-up for the Outstanding Achievement award were the Virtual Classroom project, which saw the Child and Youth Care programs of UCFV and UVic test out an electronic link which allowed students in Abbotsford and Victoria to take classes simultaneously.. UCFV’s Dean of Applied Programs Dick Bate, and Linda Matwichuk and Ted Dunlop of the ECE/CYCprogram were nominated. The other runners-up were agriculture instructor Tom Baumann and nursing lab coordinator Joanna Hirnschall, who worked together to launch a horticulture therapy program at Heritage Village Multi-level care facility in Chilliwack. The two instructors, other faculty, and students worked with residents at Heritage Village to create and tend small container gardens on the patios at the new care facility. ry