Lab Girls lays the groundwork for female scientists
Lab Girls held its first virtual meeting last Thursday with presenter Mirka Zapletal, director of education at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord. Traditionally held once a week over the course of six weeks in local middle schools, the virtual Lab Girls format is held once a month through June and is open to students in grades 5 through 12. Staff photo by Tim Goodwin
Lab Girls held its first virtual meeting last Thursday with presenter Mirka Zapletal, director of education at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord. Traditionally held once a week over the course of six weeks in local middle schools, the virtual Lab Girls format is held once a month through June and is open to students in grades 5 through 12. Staff photo by Tim Goodwin
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
Published: 1/12/2021 12:56:21 PM
When Mirka Zapletal was growing up, she knew of a few female scientists – Marie Curie and Jane Goodall to be exact. All the rest, she thought, were men.
“I just thought scientists were other people than me,” Zapletal, director of education at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, told the latest batch of Lab Girls participants Thursday night over the first-ever Zoom meeting of the program.
But then after embarking on her career as an educator, she realized she could be.
“I wasn’t a scientist until someone gave me the chance to realize I was,” Zapletal said.