Emily Willette (L), Talia Santarossa (C), and Yifan Yang (R) welcome campers to the 2019 Science Summer Camps. Photo credit: John Ulan
Science Summer Camp instructors are passionate and enthusiastic about sharing their love of science with our camps of future scientists. Meet the instructors of this year's Chemistry summer camps.
Emily Willette
Program: BSc, honors pharmacology
Interests: Movies, spending time with family, reading, golfing, baking, and playing video games
What do you love most about science?
What I love most about science is how experiments help to visualize how the world around us works-whether those experiments occur in a lab, or everyday life.
Why do you think it is important to promote science to young people, and what makes you a good science mentor?
I think that it is important to promote science to young people so that we can engage their interest in science and introduce them to the limitless possibilities that a person can discover. What makes me a good mentor is my ability to engage with kids through not only teaching, but my own science experience as a former Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) summer research student.
Why did you want to work with Science Summer Camps?
I wanted to work with Science Summer Camps because I love working with kids and I also love science, so I wanted to find an opportunity that combined the two together.
Can you tell us a fun fact about your favourite scientist or scientific discovery?
My favorite scientist is Marie Curie, and a fun fact about her is that she is the only scientist to win the Nobel Prize for her work in two different fields: physics and chemistry.
Tell us a fun fact about you!
I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and I was able to go down to Orlando in May to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.
Talia Santarossa
Program: BSc, honors pharmacology
Interests: Watching and refereeing volleyball, cooking, reading, and exploring the city
What do you love most about science?
Every day we're surrounded by natural phenomena that we often take for granted: the sun rising and setting, flowers blooming, thunderstorms, and the northern lights, just to name a few. Science gives us an avenue to explore the "why?" behind these events and learn just how amazing and intricate our world is.
As a returning instructor to Science Summer Camps, what did you find fulfilling about the position in previous years/what made you want to return?
Working with the campers and seeing them make their own discoveries is so cool. It's also really rewarding to be able to answer questions, to help them to potentially find a passion for science, and to be challenged to broaden my own horizons.
What is your favourite memory from instructing camps in previous years?
My favourite memories all involve the funny things that campers would say out of the blue. Kids are hilarious and I often recall my favourite quotes from campers whenever I need a pick-me-up.
What was one of your favourite camp projects/activities to share with campers?
Making terrariums with the Nature camps last year was definitely my favourite camp project. I got to do it six times, so I count myself pretty lucky.
Tell us a fun fact about you!
I am currently working on reducing my personal carbon footprint by adopting a low-waste lifestyle.
Yifan Yang
Program: BSc, honors chemistry
Interests: Going for walks in the River Valley, acrylic painting, chemistry research
What do you love most about science?
I love asking questions and doing chemistry labs. Science is very versatile and allows you to discover answers to many different questions and work with talented people.
Why do you think it is important to promote science to young people, and what makes you a good science mentor?
Young people are our future scientists and if it wasn't for all the amazing mentors I have had throughout my journey, I would not be doing what I am doing. Young people are creative and I want to fuel that spark by answering questions to encourage curiosity and help guide them to their answers.
Why did you want to work with Science Summer Camps?
These camps are an amazing program that reaches out to the community and gets children excited about science. The leaders are all filled with energy and ready to teach, and I wanted to be a part of an amazing program so that's why I applied. I wanted to have a role in inspiring future scientists.
Can you tell us a fun fact about your favourite scientist or scientific discovery?
The Miller-Urey experiment was a chemical experiment that produced amino acids and other complex organic compounds using inorganic precursors simulated with the environment on the early Earth. It's my favourite scientific discovery because it shows that chemistry can create completely different products from simple reactants!
Tell us a fun fact about you!
I speak three languages fluently.