2018 Women in Science Conference Sets New Attendance Record

Attendance records were crushed on October 23 when over 1,470 6th-12th grade students and teachers from more than 60 Oklahoma schools gathered at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City for the 2018 Women in Science Conference. Attendees experienced the many wonders of the museum, plus a multitude of activities designed especially for the conference. Science and engineering concepts were applied to real-life situations during the prosthetic prototype challenge, drop-proof cell phone case design project, and at the fizzing bath bombs formulation station. More than 200 vendors, volunteers, and panelists provided students and teachers with hands-on science and technology experiences, insight into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career opportunities, and college/university information. Thirty-five recruitment booths, hosted by college, university, and business groups, engaged students in hands-on STEM activities and provided information about education and career opportunities available after high school. A special workshop session just for teachers provided training on four new STEM activities; take-home kits were provided to implement the activities in the classroom.

The 2018 Women in Science Conference was made possible by the National Science Foundation's Oklahoma Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (OK NSF EPSCoR), Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma Museum Network, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma INBRE, and NASA Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium/ NASA EPSCoR.

Pictured: Students engage in hands-on science activities presented by Oklahoma universities and businesses during the Recruitment Fair portion of the Women in Science Conference. 

2018 Conference Materials