Keynote Speakers and Themes

Social Justice

Dr. Jules Maitland

Dr. Jules Maitland is an experienced researcher, designer, and strategic thinker. She is the founder and Managing Director of All In, a human-centred design agency that helps community and public sector changemakers design public services with dignity and address social issues with compassion and creativity. She has a multidisciplinary background in nursing, human-computer interaction (HCI), digital health, and social innovation. Originally trained as a Registered Nurse at the University of Manchester, she has a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering and a PhD from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Glasgow, where she examined the design of health-related behavioural change technologies and associated ethical implications.

Discovering Your Passions

**Cathy Simpson**
Cathy Simpson is an Atlantic Canadian IT leader who has dedicated her career to building the region's tech capacity. Most recently, she was the Vice President, People and Culture with T4G Limited, one of the largest privately held IT firms in the region with clients throughout North America. In 2015, she decided to follow her own advice and create her own company, a social initiative called Up+Go, delivering leadership and self-discovery programs for high school girls and introducing them to New Brunswick women who are doing extraordinary things, particularly in the areas of STEM, entrepreneurship, and leadership. She currently works as the CEO of TechImpact.

Being Bold: A Science Odyssey

**Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal**
Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal currently holds the position of the NSERC Atlantic Chair for Women in Science and Engineering. Through a program called WISEatlantic she empowers young women to pursue a career in STEM and provides professional development opportunities for junior STEM professionals. Dr Franz-Odendaal received the Mount Saint Vincent *Research Excellence Award* *in 2015 and the Mount’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. She is the lead Ally and co-founder of the Canadian Black Scientists Network, was named a fellow of the* *American Association of Anatomy, and was also named the 2022 Professional of Distinction by the Discovery Centre.*

Breakout Sessions and Speakers

Sustainability Through Collaboration at Port Saint John and Beyond

Though sustainability initiatives might only be in one person or a small team’s job description, reducing your company's impact on climate change touches every department. Jane will be sharing what’s been going on at Port Saint John, a point of contact for international cargo shipping and cruise ship visits and the largest port in Atlantic Canada by volume. She will speak to her experience in leading sustainability projects. The multidisciplinary nature of making change is a challenge, but if viewed as an opportunity, the outcomes can have a higher success rate.

**Jane Burchill**
With almost 10 years in the environmental space Jane now leads the sustainability and decarbonization efforts at Port Saint John. She is passionate about collaboration and communication as a means to help accelerate efforts to mitigate climate change and is a strong believer in data-based decisions. Jane is working towards her Sustainability Excellence Associate designation with the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and has also completed training on the Global Reporting Initiative through LEAD Canada. She was recognized with the Rising Star award in 2021 by NB Power as a young leader who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to energy efficiency and conservation through advocacy, volunteerism, research, education or projects. Jane has held various positions in the green economy from climbing mountains in Cape Breton doing plant surveys to promoting energy efficient products in hardware stores to introducing New Brunswick students to electric vehicles. Through those experiences, she has gained a holistic understanding of the challenges presented by climate change and how collectively, we can work together to solve them.

Science and Women: Towards A More Accessible Future

Historically, women have constantly been making groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in the sciences. Their value in the STEM fields is indisputable, but their access to opportunities and careers has been limited when compared to that of their male counterparts. Although much has been achieved over the last few decades to open up the fields of STEM to women, there is still more work to be done. To make the sciences more accessible to everyone, it is important to recognize the value that women bring to the sciences. We must celebrate the headway that women have made and continue to make to bridge the gap for more women to enter these fields. Finally, we must understand how we can continue to ensure the sciences can be pursued, enjoyed, and pushed forward by all.

Melina Paz Galeano
Melina Paz Galeano came to Canada for university from her home country, Honduras, in 2017. She graduated from the University of New Brunswick with her Honours B.Sc. in Biology-Chemistry in 2021 and her M.Sc. in Chemistry in 2022. After university, she joined Chinova Bioworks as a Research Technician for the Product Development and Innovation Team. In her free time, Melina loves to read, volunteer, and play the piano. She also enjoys the more practical and tasteful sides of chemistry through cooking and baking!

Inspiration in STEM

According to the Cambridge Dictionary (2022), “Inspire” means “to fill someone with confidence and desire to do something”. We will explore what it means to be inspired, how to inspire others, and how to weave that inspiration into a career in STEM.

**Dr. Katy Haralampides**
My name is Katy Haralampides, and I am a Civil Engineering professor at UNB interested in helping the environment and society through my work. I teach and research in a field called ecohydraulics, which combines biology and engineering, understanding the movement of water and sediment in rivers and streams, and the impact on the animals that are part of the aquatic ecosystem. I love to spend time outdoors paddling and hiking, and this career allows me to do that as part of my job. I also have an interest in helping to increase the diversity of people who choose engineering as a profession, and an interest in shaping the profession as a whole towards one that is positive and ethical. I hope that those attending Girls STEM Up will want to be part of this revolution, using their creativity and brains to tackle today’s important issues with a new lens.

Cultivating The Right Mindset to Grow Your Collaboration Network

In this interactive session, Sandy and Eloho will share their years of experience working in the STEM field, being in academia, research institutions, government, NGOs, and corporations. What are the obstacles and common pitfalls for women in STEM? They will discuss some win-win strategies that can help grow your collaboration network to bring your success to the next level.

**Eloho Ifinedo, PhD**
Dr. Ifinedo is the Research Associate for Educational Technology at the Applied Research and Innovation Unit of NBCC. Through her work, she has provided invaluable research expertise to educational technology start-ups, educational game developers, and not-for-profit organizations delivering science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming for K-12 learners as well as for community organizations with education mandates such as Black Lives Matter New Brunswick (BLMNB). She has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology, a Master's in Mobile Technology and Business from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), and a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Benin (Nigeria). Before joining NBCC, she was a member of the Innovative Learning Environments at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, with a research focus on user experience and design, learning technologies and environments and their impact on well-being, and assessment of innovations in educational technologies and practices.

**Sandy Liu**
Sandy Liu is currently the research program manager for the Mobile & Ubiquitous Computing program at NBCC. Sandy has a master's degree in Computer Science and a bachelor’s degree in business information system. She has worked as an IT professional in both public and private sectors, from SMEs to large corporations, for over 25 years. Sandy moved to Fredericton as a research scientist in 2002 when the National Research Council (NRC) opened its Institution for Information Technology. She now calls Fredericton home. Sandy has many interests outside of work, including yoga, reading, crafting, and hiking. Sandy has a strong sense of community. She is enthusiastic to share her experience and offer her service to the community via various volunteer work. Sandy is currently the president of the Multicultural Association of Fredericton (MCAF).

A new and better approach to engineering

By changing what and how we do things in engineering, we can help increase the diversity of people who choose engineering as a profession. I invite you to take on this challenge with me, and use your curiosity and questioning nature to imagine a new and better approach to engineering.

**Dr. Dawn MacIsaac**
My name is Dawn MacIsaac, and I am a professor at UNB. I work in both the Engineering and the Computer Science faculty because I run the software engineering program. I apply my software engineering skills to biomedical applications, like using AI to help users control a prosthetic device, and I teach and research in both of these areas. I love to spend time on my computer, but I rarely play games or use social media – instead, I love to build software applications. I also have a passion for teaching and learning, and especially love watching others learn to code. But I also have an interest in helping to increase the diversity of people who choose engineering as a profession, and believe that we can do that by changing what and how we do things in engineering. I invite you to take on this challenge with me, and use your curiosity and questioning nature to imagine a new and better approach to engineering.

Designing Your Future in STEM

There are so many possible careers in STEM, and more are being created every day. How do you find the future(s) that are the right fit for you? In this session, Nat Perry shares key questions to ask yourself as you move through school, your life and your career, so you can navigate future choices with greater confidence and a sense of curiosity. You will also receive practical tools and tips to build an understanding of what careers are available to you - it's a lot to explore!

**Nat Perry**
Nat Perry has a Master of Education (Counselling), is a Canadian Certified Counsellor, has certification in Life Skills Coaching and is also a New Brunswick certified Career Development Practitioner. With over five years of experience helping students in various roles here at UNB Fredericton, Nat's passion is assisting post-secondary students uncover and communicate their skillset, develop strategies to over come challenges and reach their academic/career/life goals.

Highschool Panel

Choosing STEM

This panel will consist of three current undergraduate students from UNB across different STEM disciplines: Eve MacDonald (electrical engineering), Kianna Bear-Heatherington (environment and natural resources), and Casey O'Neill (computer science). This breakout session is geared towards high school students who are curious about post-secondary education in STEM fields. Panellists will be asked a number of questions relating to their experiences as female undergraduate students and will host a Q&A period for the delegates to ask their own questions.

**Casey**
Casey is a fifth-year student at the University of New Brunswick. She is working to concurrently complete a Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy. Casey has completed four work terms through the Faculty of Computer Science co-op program and now works part-time at VeroSource Solutions, a Fredericton company, as a full stack software developer.
Casey is interested in human-computer interaction (HCI) research. In summer 2022, she was awarded an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, which allowed her to work at the UNB HCI Lab investigating personality for robots. In her BCS honours thesis, she is exploring the role of backstories in human-robot interaction. After graduating from UNB, Casey plans to complete a Master of Mathematics in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.In her spare time, Casey enjoys playing games, intramural sports, and spending time at her parent’s dairy farm in Belleisle Creek, NB.

**Eve MacDonald**
Eve is currently completing her final year of Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick. Next year, she will be beginning her Master’s at Queen’s University in the field of Cybersecurity. During her time as an undergraduate student, Eve has been a varsity athlete playing for the women’s soccer team. She has also been involved with student government, organizing conferences such as Women’s Stem Up and the Canadian Engineering Competition, and running tutorials for 1st and 2nd year courses.

**Kianna Bear-Hetherington**
Kianna is a proud Wolastoqey woman from the beautiful community of Sitansisk located in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Being proudly of the Wolastoqiyik “People of the beautiful and bountiful river”, she grew up with a special relationship with the land and all living things in it. A deep spiritual connection to nature and a burning desire to help Indigenous communities thrive drove her to complete her final year of a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Natural Resources with a major in Water Resource Management at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). She currently volunteers her time as the Indigenous Representative for her faculty at UNB, focusing on advancing efforts that improve the experiences and opportunities offered to Indigenous students through a culturally safe lens. Kianna’s activism reinforces the beliefs and values that she intends to bring forward in her chosen career path – to be a voice for communities facing injustices caused by environmental racism and to encourage Indigenous youth to use their voices.

University Panel

What comes next?

This panel will consist of three women who have completed undergraduate degrees from across STEM disciplines. They will speak on their journey to pursuing careers/academia after undergrad. The panel will feature Hannah Boucher (long term care researcher), Hannah Haynes-MacDonald (MS candidate in environment and natural resources), and Brittany Rioux (PhD candidate in kinesiology). Panellists will be asked to speak to current undergraduate university students who show keen interest in pursuing academia or further studies in STEM beyond an undergraduate degree.