NORTHGLENN, Colo. — The first-ever “Reverse Science Fair” in Northglenn is challenging University of Colorado Boulder graduate students to present their research in a way that’s engaging and understandable.
A partnership between Northglenn High School and the CU Boulder encourages graduate students from the university to teach high school students about their research, and it flips the dialogue as high school students get to critique the graduate students on their presentations. T
“Part of the work that I do is really challenging our scientists on campus to think about what they could do to help connect the public with their science,” said Alex Rose with CU Science Discovery. “It’s a really big challenge for a lot of scientists to take a step out of the lab and think about their work from this kind of outsiders perspective, and I think that a really neat thing that this opportunity offers to the scientists is to think about who they were in high school and try to make those connections with high school students.”
Rose had the idea in conjunction with associate professor Dr. C. Wyatt Shields IV. The science fair was held in the high school’s STEM labs where grad students presented their research and high schoolers served as the judges.
Scientists showed their work in fields like arctic and alpine research, possible cures for cancer and chemistry in the atmosphere. Rose said the goal is to get high school students to make a connection with scientists in STEM fields and discover the various fields of science.
“The earlier that we offer these opportunities for high school students to discover the diversity of scientific fields and careers out there, the better,” Rose said. “And for them to understand that they are just as valuable and worthy of contributing to the scientific process as anybody else.”
The high schoolers get to serve as judges to evaluate "clarity, correctness, and coolness" of each presentation. Rose said the idea is to give high schoolers the power to critique and inspire their curiosity in science and engineering.
“These scientists are here today because they’re really passionate about helping the next generation of scientists,” Rose said. “Focusing on graduate students who are early in their career and still remember what it was like to be in high school, and maybe also remember what they were and were not interested in high school, and how they used that as a steppingstone to get into the research that they’re into now.”
Nicole Day is a third year PhD candidate at CU Boulder who was talking to Northglenn high school students about her research in bioengineering. Her research is about a drug delivery vehicle for skin diseases like cancer, and she said the science fair is more about giving back.
“We are trying to work on our science communication and be able to disseminate our research to an audience that hasn’t heard about this kind of stuff before,” Day said. “Women in particular are underrepresented in STEM so that’s something that I’m eager to show, too. That I’m here and having a great time and hopefully students can see that, too.”
Northglenn High School senior Isaiah Sanchez was one of the judges for the event. He said he liked the experience.
“I like the fact that us high schoolers are able to engage in and be able to participate in stuff like this,” Sanchez said. “People are always jotting down notes on us, so us being able to jot notes on other people is nice and useful.”
The grand prize is a $500 travel award to the best presentation, and CU Boulder is also offering two $250 prizes for honorable mention. Rose said the goal is for both high schoolers and graduate students to make a connection that can lead to more scientists making innovative discoveries.
“I think also empowering them early to realize that about themselves and understand that they can have an impact on other scientists work just by turning on their brains and asking questions is a really important goal in this too,” Rose said.
For more information about the “Reverse Science Fair”, click here.
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