They found damselflies, leeches and aquatic worms. They
measured the oxygen and pH levels in water samples. Some even ventured into
mountain streams and onto trails for the first time in their lives. These 20
female students from four middle schools in the Salt Lake Valley participated
in WaterGirls, a program to keep girls interested in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math (STEM) at a time in their lives when they’re most likely
to lose interest.
Girls collect water samples from a creek.
The excursion to Big and Little Cottonwood canyons was led
by SLCC geosciences Assistant Professor Maura Hahnenberger to teach the girls to conduct
hands-on research. She was assisted by volunteer female scientists from SLCC,
as well as scientists from the University of Utah and the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center. Hahnenberger
received a $6,500 innovation grant from iUtah that allowed her to supply
transportation, equipment and food for the girls as they visited the canyons.
Maura Hahnenberger.
They
learned to measure water samples for electrical conductivity and dissolved
solids while also collecting and identifying macro-invertebrates found in the
streams they visited. “They were really excited about actually taking
measurements and understanding what those measurements meant while being out in
the environment where so much was going on,” Hahnenberger says.
Life found in a water sample.
Hahnenberger and volunteers engaged students in analysis and
discussion of their findings before requiring them to make presentations. The
plan for this year and next is to expand the program to include afterschool
activities that focus on the Jordan River and possibly a river in the desert
southwest.
Hahnenberger says females coming out of high school might
not be as confident or prepared for a STEM pathway because of institutional
bias that sets them up to fall behind early in college, and to choose non-STEM
paths. She hopes WaterGirls will help change the course of that academic
current.
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