2nd Annual

Rapid City Women In Science
2008 Conference

SD School of Mines & Technology

March 18, 2008

Our goal is to help girls realize their potential as a scientist by providing them the opportunity to meet and interact with professional women who are in various science careers. By creating science-related career aspirations we are hoping to help increase the number of young women who will persist in science courses in middle and high school.

Key Note Speaker

Marlene Nelson, Boeing Director, Seattle

Guest Speakers

Wildlife Biologists Shelly Deisch & Laurie Root , SD Game Fish and Parks

Archaeologists Jaunita Garcia & Donetta, Forest Service

Meteorologist Intern Meagan Holm, National Weather Service

Physician's Assistant Sylvia Darlene Shafer

Service Hydrologist Melissa Smith, National Weather Service

Botanists Beth Burkhart & Chelsea Vollmer, Forest Service

Wildlife Researcher Cynthia Holt, Black Bear Research Center

Hydrology Civil Engineer Jessica Gould, Forest Service

Pharmacist Terri McRae, BH Surgery Center

Research Chemist Cabot Ann Christofferson, SDSM&T

Chemist Kristina Grinnell, SDSM&T

Wildlife Biologist Melissa Horton, Reptile Gardens/Wildlife Experience

District Forest Service Ranger Rhonda, Forest Service

Tech Prep Coordinator Russell Poppen

Exhibitors

Mammoth Site
National Weather Service
SD School of Mines & Technology
USDA
Western Dakota Tech
Forest Service
Black Hills State University
Army ROTC

Current Sponsors:

SD Epscor/NSF/NASA
Tech Prep
GCC Dacotah
BH Corporation
Heart Doctors
RC Medical Center
RESPEC

Committee Members

        Nancy Anderson-Smith, SDSMT
        Kelly Whitaker, National Weather Service
      Dr Nadene Greni, Eastern New Mexico University
        Russell Poppen, Tech Prep Coordinator Brenda Maabs, Western Dakota Tech
        Amy Ballard, Forest Service
        Dan Bergey,BHSU
        Marilyn Montgomery,Skyline Engineering

Other area WIS Conferences

Aberdeen, SD
Pierre, SD
Sioux Falls, SD
Wyoming

The 2007 conference was a big success!
There were almost 250 attendees from Rapid City, Box Elder, Hot Springs,
Wall, Lead, Deadwood and Belle Fourche.
A big thank you goes out to all who made this conference possible!
The girl’s comments about what they learned reflected their excitement about all they experienced during that day - “Science is fun and there are many different careers and pay scales”, ”Math is the universal language of science”, “You don’t have to have money to go to college”, “Math and science are really important”, “The importance of computers in science based careers”, “Advancements in technology are creating more scientific fields to explore”.

NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Rapid City Women In Science 2008 Conference