The Abstract: September 2020
Welcome to The Abstract - your monthly round up of all the latest news from Youth STEM Matters, our youth-led scientific journal.
September saw Youth STEM Matters team members do a very exciting interview, participate in an inspiring panel session, and celebrate the life of Dr Ida Noddack!
An Interview with Professor Rana Dajani
This month, Youth STEM Matters Volunteer Team members, Lucy Chen and Zainab Khan got the chance to have an exclusive interview Professor Rana Dajani! Rana is a Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Hashemite in Jordan, and is the Founder of We Love Reading. They spent a little over an hour talking about a range of topics, from gene editing, to the importance of reading, to youth in STEM, to scientific ethics, and more!
You can read the full interview here, and read on to find out what Zainab, a Science Communication Editor, thought about the experience...
“When I first joined Youth STEM Matters, I expected to have a great experience, but I never thought that I would be able to have such amazing opportunities like interviewing Professor Rana Dajani!”
Zainab said: “When I first joined Youth STEM Matters, I expected to have a great experience, but I never thought that I would be able to have such amazing opportunities like interviewing Professor Rana Dajani or partaking in a worldwide summit! Before the interview, we had a wonderful time learning more about Professor Dajani’s past, and were constantly discussing the different questions we could ask her, so it was a great bonding experience as well! As soon as I met her, I immediately felt so comfortable with her and absolutely amazed by her wise insights. Whether talking about gene editing, or youth in STEM, she constantly provided some great food for thought. She answered all our questions with such in depth, and thoughtful responses. I can’t wait for the upcoming opportunities!”
Youth STEM Matters Volunteers Feature in Unconference by
Global Changemakers
Three of the Youth STEM Matters Volunteer Team also got the chance to feature as part of Youth STEM 2030’s session at ‘Unconference’ by Global Changemakers. This 5 day virtual event saw changemakers from around the world become the teachers, and the panel included Reviewers Lucy Chen & Alvina Mishra and Science Communication Editor Tashinga Mutemachani! You can read more about our session in our article, but here’s what Alvina had to say about being part of the panel…
“As a young person with limited experience in STEM panels, it was unexpectedly enjoyable to discuss such a wide range of topics. While all the panelists were young people who share a common goal of scientific development, the panel taught me a lot about the different journeys people take into STEM. Working with such a diverse group of people each with their own stories taught me about very new and niche areas of science.”
Remembering Dr Ida Noddack
Art can help us communicate what words can’t, and at Youth STEM Matters, our Volunteer Team isn’t just made up of young people whose interests lie in STEM - we also have a very talented group of Artists! Anne-Rosa Bilal (Managing Editor for Life Sciences) and Moses Joy Onohoomhen (Artist) started a short project to help share the Artists’ talents with the rest of the Volunteer Team, which was also contributed to by Nokutenda Sengwe (Copy-Editor).
After Anne-Rosa realised that the anniversary of the death of German chemist and physicist Dr Ida Noddack was coming up, this was included as part of a poll for the wider team to pick the subject of the artwork, and won by a landslide!
The finished piece can be seen here, and Anne-Rosa and Moses Joy shared their experiences of being part of this project. On the choice of subject, Anne-Rosa said:
“Dr. Ida Noddack was not only the first person to suggest the existence of nuclear fission, but her work in this regard was also essentially dismissed at the time by other major chemists, so it is more crucial than ever to celebrate her achievements.”
And Moses Joy shared some behind the scenes insights on what went into creating the amazing portrait of Dr Noddack:
“I made use of charcoal, as it gives a natural look to the portrait, making it bold and realistic. I also used a large sized paper, because I wanted all her features to show as much as possible. Creating the portrait was time consuming and it took a lot of commitment as this was my biggest work at the time!”
