The Abstract: February 2022
Welcome back to The Abstract - your monthly round up of all the latest news from Youth STEM Matters, our youth-led scientific journal.
Change comes quickly in the new year and we didn’t slow down in February. We had three new appointments within the journal, held our first ever Journal Development Day, and several of our team members spoke at the Global Student STEM Conference!
New Appointments
We’ve had roles continue to move around within the journal this month, and we’re especially thrilled to be announcing three new team leaders: Josh Heng, Lucy Mbochi, and Julia Gardiner.
Josh will be taking on a new role within Youth STEM Matters and joining the Executive Team as Head of Digital and Data. In addition to working on the production of events & videos, Josh will be building a knowledge base for the team, analysing data so we can give our authors the best experience possible, and working on projects that will create tools that help the journal work efficiently.
“I’m very excited to be in this new role and to help find and implement ways to make things easier for everyone. In particular, I’m looking forward to starting to move the team onto using Coda, a new platform that will help us keep all our information more organised!”
Lucy is moving to the role of Physical Sciences Managing Editor and will lead the Physical Science part of the Research Team alongside Aayush Shrestha.
“I’m looking forward to working with the Reviewers a lot more directly, in terms of giving them feedback, as well as overseeing the Editors and guiding them in the same way I was guided. It’s very exciting to have this responsibility, and to help Youth STEM Matters push forward with its vision for the journal as a whole. Working with Aayush is great; we worked together as Editors before so now this is a new context with the same dynamic.”
Sadly, after almost 2 years on the team Katie Molyneux decided to move on from Youth STEM Matters to focus on her studies. To Katie, we say a massive thank you & we wish you all the best! Julia Gardiner has taken over from Katie as the Lead Copy-Editor. Here are her thoughts on becoming Lead Copy-Editor:
“Being Lead Copy-Editor is an exciting experience because it allows me to communicate closely with everyone in the team and to get involved in leadership; however, it is also challenging as it requires a lot of responsibility and critical thinking. I am looking forward to making a positive change in the Copy-Editing Team, working with more young people worldwide, and progressing towards the SDGs!”
A massive congratulations to all of them!
Global Student STEM Conference
On 20th February, Youth STEM Matters had the opportunity to host a virtual panel at the Global Student STEM Conference, and some of our volunteers shared their stories and experiences as speakers on the panel. The event focused on young people driving change through STEM and addressed a global high school audience. This is what Ruvarashe & Riya, two of the speakers at the panel, had to say about the opportunity…
“Speaking at the Global STEM Conference was enlightening as it allowed me to reflect on my journey in STEM. My favourite part was getting to learn more about my teammates and gaining an appreciation of the challenges they had to overcome in their STEM journeys.”
“The Global STEM Student Conference was an inspiring experience and I was so grateful to be a part of the panel! I learned so much from my fellow panellists about the far-reaching impact of using STEM to change the world!”
Youth STEM Matters Journal Development Day
To close out our fantastic month, Youth STEM Matters had its first ever Journal Development Day! The Volunteer Team gave up their Sunday to spend half a day on Zoom engaging in team building discussions and activities as well as watching presentations on the future of Youth STEM Matters.
This first Journal Development Day focused on the future for Youth STEM Matters, networking amongst the team, and finding ways to grow the sense of community within the team through Q+A styled prompts.
The new Editor-in-Chief, Yara Obeidi spoke on her vision for Youth STEM Matters which included:
Expanding our outreach
Spotlighting youth and their achievements
Focus on the SDGs
and much more!
Volunteers also had a chance to contribute their ideas of what they would like from the experience of volunteering at Youth STEM Matters in terms of career and skills building. Our future Journal Development Days will include talks by people working in STEM, and skills development opportunities for the whole Volunteer Team.
Journal Development Day is an important part of Youth STEM Matters because it allows for the collective growth of the Volunteer Team in terms of skills and community building. Journal Development Day is set to happen 4 times throughout the year.
Volunteer of the Month
Congratulations to Kimberly Anindo who is the Volunteer of the Month for February 2022!
Having been nominated by another member of the Volunteer Team, Kimberly was recognised for her initiative and enthusiasm, Kimberly has done outstanding work for the Journal, proving herself a very dependable person. As a Copy Editor, she stepped up to be The Abstract Writer for the Journal, providing monthly updates on our progress. Moreover, on very short notice, she stepped up for the Journal Development Day to speak about the next upcoming Research Conference.
Well done, Kimberly!
“I’m honoured to be the volunteer of the month! I’m so proud to work alongside youth who are as determined and passionate as I am in their respective fields. It’s all thanks to them that we are able to accomplish so much as an organisation!”
