Meet a Space Professional - Earth and Climate Edition

Virtual Speaker Series featuring STEM Professionals who work on space, Earth, or in raising awareness around Climate Action.  

Come meet a STEM professional virtually every Wednesday!  This free program. Register here, tickets available until 12 pm of event date. Previous editions have included Space professionals, we invite you to visit our Youtube playlist to catch up on all conversations! This time, we are focussing our efforts towards taking action towards climate change as part of our Gen Action initiatives,  a national effort by multiple organizations to engage youth around climate action.

STEM professionals talk to K-12 youth about their careers, their experiences, a day in the job and more. This a frequent series that will feature a new climate perspective each session. Youth will be gaining new insights into potential future career paths. Come eagerly with all your questions! 

Sample Topics and Speakers

Astronomy & Indigenous knowledges | Dr. Hilding Neilson

Hilding Neilson is a CLTA assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto where he uses models and observations to understand the physics of stars and exoplanets. He works to include Indigenous knowledge and methods in the study of astronomy and space to build a more inclusive science. He is Mi'kmaw from the Qalipu First Nation Band of Newfoundland and has an obsession with Star Wars Legos

Boots on the ground: Using Earth to look for life on Mars | Dr. Allyson Brady

Dr. Allyson Brady is currently a researcher in the School of Earth, Environment and Society at McMaster University and is actively involved in astrobiology and space exploration research. Her main area of interest is in understanding how life can exist in harsh environments on Earth, and how we can use that information to help find evidence for past life elsewhere in the solar system. Allyson has over 10 years of experience working in analogue environments – settings on Earth that simulate conditions on other planets – to try and tackle these questions. Her work has taken her to field sites in the Antarctic, hot springs in Western Canada, volcanoes in Hawaii, and piloting single-person submersibles underwater in B.C. She hopes that by studying these environments we can help guide human scientists and explorers on Mars or other planets. Fun fact: She has a mission patch that has been to the ISS.

This free program. Register here, tickets available until 12pm of event date.