While most Year 12 students were enjoying a break from the books, Hills Grammar student, Claire Shi was wading through swamps, examining microscopic specimens, arguing the case for an amendment to a nuclear power plant bill and listening to a variety of experts in the STEM subjects. Claire was one of 200 young adults from schools around Australia chosen for the 12 day residential National Youth Science Forum in Canberra. With the support of Kenthurst Rotary, the NYSF corporate team and her school, Claire feels “…immense gratification, triumph and appreciation for [her] experiences.” Claire’s interest group studied Sustainability, Ecology and Environmental Science, which took her to Lake Ginninderra, workshops, laboratories, lectures and Parliament House.
“At the NYSF Science Dinner…I was able to speak with scientists from a wide range of disciplines and listened, in awe, to the keynote speaker Dr Megan Clark AC, head of the Australian Space Agency.” Claire commented that she has formed life-long friendships with other participants and “NYSF has helped expand my breadth of thinking, opened my eyes to the possibilities of future careers in STEM and reaffirmed how difficult it is to understand astrophysics!”
