67. Project Scientist - The Girls' Story - Two 11 & 12 Year Old Girls Share Their Experiences in Project Scientist

Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

Siena (12) and Ilyana (11) are two girls that are in Project Scientist. Project Scientist is a program designed to inspire young girls to consider STEM careers. Project scientist aims to nurture these future scientists to be tomorrow’s leaders and be change makers. Project Scientist's founder, Sandy Marshall, was previously a guest on Episode 60. This episode brings the girls (a.k.a. scientists) perspective on this wonderful program.
Episode Notes

Ilyana and Siena have had some amazing experiences thanks to Project Scientist. They have met a female astronaut, seen space ships, visited SpaceX and JPL, and more. Project Scientist focuses on expeditions to different companies where they can meet and interact women in various STEM careers at the companies they work at.

We discuss confidence and all girls schools vs. co-ed schools and what they want to do when they grow up and how Project Scientist has shaped this. They also share their perspectives on climate change and their hopes for the future - both theirs and our planets.

Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio

Acronyms, Definitions, and Fact Check

Project Scientist: https://projectscientist.org

JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the city of Pasadena in California, United States. Founded in the 1930s, JPL is owned by NASA and managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The rover has a drill to collect core samples of Martian rock and soil, then store them in sealed tubes for pickup by a future mission that would ferry them back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perseverance will also test technologies to help pave the way for future human exploration of Mars. (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview/). It landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It left earth on July 30, 2020. (wikipedia)

Virgin Galactic - an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 18% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, USA, and operates from New Mexico. (wikipedia)

In order to climb into such a spacecraft people are required to wear so-called "bunny suits" which prevent items such as hair, skin flakes, etc. from contaminating the inside of the spacecraft. (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=968)

Hyperloop - a proposed high-speed transportation system for both passenger and freight transport. The term was invented to describe the modern open-source project. Hyperloop is described as a sealed tube or system of tubes with low air pressure through which a pod may travel substantially free of air resistance or friction. (Wikipedia)

The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry downslope winds that originate inland and affect coastal southern California and northern Baja California. They originate from cool, dry high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin. Santa Ana winds are known for the hot, dry weather that they bring in autumn (often the hot