{"id":4211,"date":"2025-02-10T19:18:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T00:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=4211"},"modified":"2025-02-10T19:18:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T00:18:50","slug":"students-forge-their-futures-at-the-science-in-society-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/students-forge-their-futures-at-the-science-in-society-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Forge Their Futures at the Science in Society Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Benjamin Hong, Co-Editor-In-Chief<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 1st, students from across Howard County gathered at Glenelg High School for the 2025 iteration of the Science in Society conference. Founded in 2015, the conference is an annual celebration of real-world applications of science topics, with particular emphasis on inspiring a love for STEM in students from all across Howard County. Speakers from a vast array of disciplines ranging from ecology to metrology led workshops discussing their specialties and how students can get involved in them, creating a truly inspiring atmosphere that spurred scientific inquiry and intellectual development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event would not have been possible without the hard work of the large team of students responsible for making it happen. At the helm of the project was River Hill junior Sophia Chudnovsky, one of the conference executives for the event. Having had an overwhelmingly positive experience at the event in her freshman year, she was particularly motivated to get involved in its organization because of the effectiveness with which it offered her \u201cinsight into specific careers and opportunities that I wouldn\u2019t otherwise have known about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detailing the process of sorting out the logistics of an event on a scale such as this, Chudnovsky described it as a \u201clong-term effort,\u201d beginning last spring but kicking into high gear around mid-October. From organizing promotions to handpicking workshop topics and making sure Glenelg was fully decorated in preparation for the conference, that this daunting list of tasks was executed so effectively is all the more impressive given the near-total autonomy the student organizers were given in tackling each line item. John Ballentine, a science teacher at Glenelg High School and the conference\u2019s faculty sponsor, described his involvement in the event as being limited to \u201c[supporting] the committee with what they need to independently plan for, organize, and execute the conference\u201d (mostly tackling communications with Glenelg\u2019s administration to handle scheduling), focusing on operating \u201cmostly [as] a sounding board for the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most workshops followed a general pattern in their overarching outline, establishing clear connections between the speaker\u2019s own professional journey and the opportunities available to the students in attendance. Dr. Birthe Kjellerup, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering of the University of Maryland was one such speaker whose workshop highlighted the crucial role environmental engineers play in disaster response, citing real-world examples such as \u201cthe Key Bridge collapse (Baltimore), the North Carolina flooding, [and] the California wildfires.\u201d She also discussed how engineers contribute to forward-thinking sustainability initiatives, particularly focusing on \u201cproviding sustainable solutions for water use for cooling systems in data centers.\u201d Dr. Kjellerup emphasized the importance of curiosity and adaptability in career paths, noting, \u201cI didn\u2019t expect or even plan for a position as a professor at a large university in the US. I just knew that I liked environmental engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Andrew Baldwin, another speaker, echoed these sentiments, reminding students that \u201cit is so hard to know what an area of study or work is about until you actually do it.\u201d A wetland scientist and professor at the University of Maryland, Dr. Baldwin emphasized in his workshop the inherently interdisciplinary nature of his field, which integrates plant and animal ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecological engineering, and policy. \u201cMany other areas of science are also multidisciplinary,\u201d he noted, encouraging students to recognize the interconnectedness of all STEM fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Barb Glenn, who helped coordinate the conference’s first-ever workshop on agricultural sciences and serves as the vice president of the Howard County Farm Bureau, similarly placed heavy emphasis on the interplay between seemingly disconnected fields in modern science. Dr. Glenn underscored how modern agriculture integrates innovations like \u201cautonomous tractors, precision applications of crop and animal inputs, and efficient food safety, processing, and distribution,\u201d with cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and shared that her primary goal in playing a role with the conference was to raise awareness that \u201cagricultural sciences are a part of STEM!\u201d to inspire students to consider exploring careers in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides encouraging students to explore different fields and providing insight into the role of science in the modern day, the conference also offered concrete career opportunities for attendees. Dr. Kavita Hegde, a physician-scientist and researcher at Coppin State University, not only shared insights on her field of study during her workshop \u201cOphthalmic Research Laboratory: Coppin State University: Towards early diagnosis and treatment of blinding eye diseases,\u201d but also made sure to \u201cinform students about the research opportunities in [her] lab, especially summer internships.\u201d Following in the same vein, Dr. Fan Zhang, a career scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology who spoke at the conference about \u201cthe significance of metrology\u201d and its real-world applicability to \u201cfields like fentanyl detection and advanced manufacturing,\u201d made sure to highlight the conference\u2019s importance in connecting students to potential career paths. \u201cWe live in an era of rapid technological advancement,\u201d Dr. Zhang stated. \u201cThese developments bring exciting opportunities, but also uncertainty. Events like this give students a chance to gain insights that can help them make informed career decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next year\u2019s conference is already entering its planning stages, and for students looking to get involved, Chudnovsky shares that \u201capplications to join the SiS planning committee for the 2025-26 school year will be out shortly.\u201d Joining the planning committee comes with its own unique set of career-oriented benefits. Dr. Hegde praised the conference\u2019s organizers for making use of an opportunity to develop essential soft skills (teamwork, professional communication, event coordination, etc.) emphasizing that \u201cno matter what areas of study the conference is about, such skills are in demand universally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year after year, the Science in Society conference continues to be a valuable resource for students, providing a platform to efficiently explore the breadth of career options STEM offers and network directly with professionals. In a time when students are beginning to transition into the period of immense uncertainty that is young adulthood, events like these are critical for students to develop a sense of clarity about where they want to end up and how they plan on getting there. \u201cIt is so hard to know what an area of study or work is about until you actually do it,\u201d Dr. Baldwin explained. \u201cThe more information you can get about the details of different career paths, the more likely you are going to be able to find what excites you and which path will have meaning for you,\u201d and the Science in Society conference serves as a stepping stone for many students towards just that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Benjamin Hong, Co-Editor-In-Chief On February 1st, students from across Howard County gathered at Glenelg High School for the 2025 iteration of the Science in Society conference. Founded in 2015, the conference is an annual celebration of real-world applications of science topics, with particular emphasis on inspiring a love for STEM in students from all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":4212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1120,1117,1118,1121,1122,286,1119,281,269,211,285,1114,1115,1116,1123],"class_list":["post-4211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-baldwin","tag-career","tag-glenelg","tag-glenn","tag-hegde","tag-journalism","tag-kjellerup","tag-news","tag-rhhs","tag-river-hill","tag-river-hill-high-school","tag-science-in-society","tag-sis","tag-stem","tag-zhang"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_4618.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4213,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4211\/revisions\/4213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}