iCRAG, the SFI Research Centre for Applied Geosciences, and international partners have launched registration for Virtual Girls into Geoscience 2021. This event encourages young female and nonbinary people across Ireland to consider a career in geoscience with a virtual event on 28th and 29th June 2021.
The Girls into Geoscience initiative, now in its seventh year of operation, aims to introduce young female senior cycle students to the wealth of career opportunities in the available in the geosciences.
Geoscience is the study of Earth’s past, present, and future. Geoscientists work on some of the biggest and most pressing problems facing society such as climate change, the energy transition, green technologies and water resources.
The Girls into Geoscience events bring together women from industry, government bodies, universities and secondary schools to highlight and promote geoscience and its potential as a rewarding subject and career for women to pursue.
This year’s event will be held online due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which offers new opportunities to expand the diversity of speakers along with the number of attendees. Girls signing up to take part this year can look forward to a varied selection of speakers from Irish universities and companies talking about their careers in the geosciences.
Q&A panels including Life in the field, careers, and University life, as well as choosing from a host of virtual fieldtrips (from the Himalayas in Nepal to Skye in Scotland) and workshops looking at Peruvian glaciers, natural hazards, microfossils, climate change and forensic geology.
Speaking at the launch of the event, Elspeth Wallace, iCRAG’s Education and Public Engagement Officer and Girls into Geoscience Ireland co-ordinator, said, “anyone can be a geoscientist, regardless of gender, ethnicity or disability. A key part of Girls into Geoscience is showing participants that the field of geoscience can be a balanced, safe place in which everyone is welcome. The brilliant line up of our role models from a diverse range of areas really goes to show that no matter what area of geoscience you’re interested in, there’s a place for you.”
To register for this free online event taking place June 28th and 29th please visit: https://gck.fm/whukp