Wendy Hutchins
Making Connections
This educator is focused on reaching out to students and teachers through science outreach programs
Wendy Hutchins recently signed on to help coordinate the Alberta Women Science Network’s Aboriginal program, seeing it as a natural extension of her work with science outreach programs around the province.
The Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine, Hutchins is funneling her experience and enthusiasm into promoting science education to teachers and students.
“I am currently working part time with Alberta Innovates Health Solutions’ Education and Community Outreach program as well as serving as the University of Calgary’s faculty coordinator for Let’s Talk Science (a national charitable outreach organization that engages post-secondary student volunteers to turn kids on to science),” Hutchins says, explaining that her involvement in both organizations piqued her interest in working closer with AWSN.
“This opportunity with AWSN is a great fit for me. Through my association with Let’s Talk Science, I have been a mentor and have been involved in putting on past Operation Minerva events, so I am familiar with the program,” she says. “At the same time, Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) is also getting their Aboriginal program off the ground, so I saw this as one possible way we could start coordinating mentorship and outreach activities for Alberta’s Aboriginal community.”
Through AIHS, Hutchins has been part of health sciences workshops that travel to elementary, junior high and senior high schools, including those in First Nations communities such as the Blood Reserve in southwest Alberta.
“Some of the lifestyle topics we present have gone over very well, whether it’s showing young students the importance of proper hand washing or working with older students to discern the amount of protein, sugar and starch in packaged foods compared to organic foods,” she says. “I’d love to use this experience to help Operation Minerva delve deeper into the health sciences.”
From the interactions Hutchins has had with native students, she says that she can imagine Operation Minerva being a hit with them too. “We’ve done something similar with junior high students in Medicine Hat. In the morning, the girls work with their mentors, go for lunch break, and then return in the afternoon for more hands-on science activities.”
However, some cultural challenges remain, Hutchins says. Some introverted Aboriginal students may be uncomfortable participating in the give-and-take of a traditional mentoring relationship. Another issue is that the onus is presently on schools, both on and off the reserve, to maintain a lasting connection with the outreach program.
“We met one bright girl whose mother remarried and she and her stepfather had decided to take her out of the city school system and move to the reserve. Academically, she was far ahead of her classmates and as a result, she was teased and really unhappy. We would’ve loved to put her in touch with a mentor because she would have immediately benefited from that kind of connection. But because we were not invited to return to the school and they did not stay in touch with us, it just wasn’t possible to give her that kind of support.”
This is why Hutchins spends a great deal of time talking to teachers at conferences and workshops throughout the year, informing them of the availability of science outreach programs and the importance of making connections that span several years.
“Ideally, we need to find a way to make these programs sustainable so that we can stay in touch with students and really help foster relationships with them as they learn and grow.”
Hutchins’ own childhood curiosity was nurtured by her supportive family, including parents (her mother was an architect who became the first draftsman for Bell Canada) who always encouraged her to ask “Why.”
“I remember in Grade 2 or 3 pointing out to my teacher that it looked like South America fit into Africa; I also remember her telling me that I was full of you-know-what,” she laughs. “When I later found out about Pangaea on my own, I was like, ‘Yes! I knew it!’ That was a cool moment for me.”
While the science bug bit her early, a high school tour of a local hospital laboratory led to volunteer work, a summer job, and eventually, Hutchins’ first career as a medical technologist. When DNA technology was first being introduced into clinical microbiology, she decided to return to school to pursue her Bachelor Degree in Biology and eventually, get her Doctorate in Philosophy.
Today, Hutchins has left the lab and turned her attention to getting others excited about the world around them. She says that’s where the real fun is.
“I love seeing light bulb moments on kids’ faces when something suddenly clicks with them,” she says. “One time, I introduced the subject of genomics to a summer camp group and asked them, ‘What kind of solutions could we come up with by studying this area?’ And one boy, maybe 11 or 12 years old, shot up his hand and said, ‘Maybe we could compare the genomes in different bacteria and come up with new ways to kill them.’ Well, I could’ve kissed him because that’s exactly what we’re doing in microbiology to find new antibiotics. That was a big moment.”
Another of Hutchins’ goals is to break down any existing barriers between different outreach programs so that they can collaborate, not compete, for valuable resources such as volunteers.
“There is such a great opportunity to connect several activities together and accomplish much more for volunteers,” she says optimistically. For example, there are ongoing discussions about giving U of C students academic recognition for participating in Operation Minerva through the Let’s Talk Science chapter on campus.
“Instead of staying separate, we need to think about how we can get better connected and plan to work more closely together in the future.”
By Barbara Chabai