WISE Receives $10,000 from Freeport-McMoRan Sierrita Operations to Extend STEMM Programming in Sahuarita
Tucson- February 19, 2015
The Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) Program at the University of Arizona has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Freeport McMoRan Sierrita Operations. This grant will enable WISE to extend innovative STEMM programming into the Sahuarita area with the goal of increasing student interest and diversity in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine) fields.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to extend our STEMM programming into the Sahuarita area,” said Jill Williams, WISE Director. “This generous grant from Freeport- McMoRan will allow us to offer two conferences for middle and high school students in the Sahuarita School District in 2015. These conferences will bring UA students and researchers and local professionals to Sahuarita schools to offer hands-on STEMM workshops and demonstrations free of charge.”
The first Expanding Your Horizons conference will be held on Saturday, March 7th at Walden Grove High School and is open to all high school students in the Sahuarita School District. The conference will feature 13 different workshops sponsored by organizations including: the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Sustainable Nations, Reid Park Zoo, Intel, and the UA Laboratory of Tree Ring Research. A second conference will be offered in the fall of 2015 and target middle school students.
According to the Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America, overall US demand for scientists and engineers is expected to increase at four times the rate of all other occupations over the next decade. Increasing middle and high school student interest in STEMM fields is a first step in ensuring that we foster the development of a workforce capable of filling these positions.
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For additional information contact: Jill Williams, Director, Women in Science and Engineering Program, jillmwilliams@email.arizona.edu, 520-626-9152