As part of its mission to nurture the scientific leaders of tomorrow, TRIUMF recently welcomed 16-year-old Taylor as part of a four-week placement from the Emerging Aboriginal Scholars summer camp. The camp, which is designed to inspire and strengthen the skills of bright young Aboriginal students, takes place every year at the University of British Columbia’s Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and the Long House, which is UBC’s First Nations House of Learning.
During the course of the summer camp, the students complete supplementary math and English courses, after which they are paired with a member of the university community in their chosen area of interest.
As a self-professed science enthusiast, Taylor was excited to learn about the inner workings of a laboratory. Though she admits that she didn’t know much about TRIUMF before arriving, she is now excited by all of the academic opportunities she has been exposed to through her placement.
“I’ve been texting my friends at home about this place and that we should all try to work here!” she says.
Having started her placement with TRIUMF’s Dr. Keerthi Jayamanna who works with ion sources, Taylor transitioned to learning about Remote Handling with Grant Minor, and operations with Violeta Toma in the ISAC facility. Next week she will learn about nuclear astrophysics under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Fallis and the DRAGON experimental group.
Though she is still unsure of her direction for university, she has taken a particular interest in TRIUMF’s proton therapy facility and medical applications of the physics that she is learning in school.
Jennifer spoke of the benefits of bringing high school students to experience TRIUMF on a first-hand basis, “Often students think the laboratory will be white coats and a pristine, regimented environment. When they come to TRIUMF they really get to see that science doesn’t have to be like that, which makes it more accessible to them so that they want to learn more.”
Grant Minor echoed Jennifer’s thoughts, saying, “Taylor was able to experience a broad spectrum of what goes into the daily life of a lab—that it involves many types of staff, such as technicians, engineers and physicists, working in a variety of environments, including machine shops, chemistry labs, control rooms, and offices. Taylor was prepared to learn everything she could about TRIUMF, and has great potential for success in science or engineering."
In the meantime, Taylor is excited to start Physics 12 to learn more about the fundamental science that goes behind Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics—and to finally graduate high school in the spring, of course!
-- By Ariane Madden, Communications Assistant