Leaning against Chris Brus’ desk is a framed image of “WISE Words,” which orbited the globe with astronaut Peggy Whitson in the International Space Station. Beside it is a photograph of mission control crammed with all the women who worked on the expedition.
These are fitting decorations for the director of UI Women in Science and Engineering, a program designed to promote women in the traditionally male-dominated fields.
The program oversees many different groups, including peer mentors, living-learning communities, and ambassadors.
Most of these maintain a steady level of members, but this year the ambassadors received a shock at their first meeting when a large number of people responded to invitations.
“We were surprised,” Brus said about the turnout, which was more than double previous years’ figures. “We had to change rooms, change our pizza order. We were scrambling.”
Ambassador President and UI senior Amber Meyer speculated that one reason for the increased attendance may be the increased number of activities and opportunities for students to get involved.
“Last year, we started getting a lot more involved in the community,” she said, and more activities are planned for this year, including field trips to some of the program’s sponsors.
Brus backed this idea, noting that the program hopes to be reinstated as a UI student group. The group stopped being recognized after membership dwindled.
The ambassador program is responsible for organizing K-12 programs, including the annual Girl Scout Badge Day.
The badge day involves roughly 60 third- and fourth-graders and helps them apply some of the lessons they learned in the classroom.
“We looked at the color spectrum,” said Brus, describing activities at previous badge days. “The girls all looked hysterically funny with these big glasses on, and all you hear is ‘ooooh’ and ‘ahhh.’
The best way to help girls stay interested in science is to let them see people who are really excited about the field.”
The group works on other activities, including organizing blood drives, volunteering, and getting a glimpse of the fields they study.
“Last year, the girls wanted to go into a pathology lab,” Brus said. “They got to examine parts of the human body right after the pathologist had taken them out.”
Activities such as these and the chance to meet people with similar interests are some of the reasons students become involved, Meyer said.
“There are so many opportunities to get involved,” she said. “It is a great way for students to learn more about their fields.”