STEM Day provides an opportunity to gain a broader understanding of current issues and career pathways in the STEM fields.
See below for highlights from STEM Day 2023.
Dates for STEM Day 2024 will be announced in the fall.
PRESENTED BY: Harford Community College | FREE to attend
STEM Day offers prospective and current students, employers, and anyone with an interest in STEM a chance to see how STEM applies to relevant, real-world learning experiences. The day consists of scientific sessions as well as presentations of both professional and undergraduate research projects. Hear about Harford's many STEM programs of study and the unique internships and research opportunities available to our students.
STEM Day 2023
Overview
More than one hundred people, including Harford students, high school students, faculty and community members participated in STEM Day 2023. The keynote address, Data Science as a Super Power with Amelia McNamara, PhD of the University of St. Thomas, MN, was well-researched and thought-provoking. Audience members were challenged to consider the potential ramifications of their daily “data exhaust” and to consider what happens when supposedly “neutral” computer algorithms frequently inadvertently perpetuate systemic racism and bias. Breakout sessions were given by Harford students and faculty members. There were also presentations regarding STEM career opportunities by personnel from Aberdeen Proving Ground and the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as presentations regarding internship and scholarship opportunities. Seventeen Harford students presented research talks or posters during the event. The day concluded with an engaging panel discussion with current students and alumni.
Harford offers the students of Harford County a superior undergraduate experience, typically found only at more expensive, four-year liberal arts institutions.
“Participation in an undergraduate research experience is known to be a high impact educational practice. Engaging students in undergraduate research has become an emerging best-practice at community colleges in the last decade. Harford faculty across multiple disciplines embed research experiences into traditional lab courses. For example, our biotechnology students participate in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. For STEM Day 2023, multiple students from the biotechnology program displayed posters describing the bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) they had isolated from Harford County. Several posters contained images of viruses from a scanning electron microscope (SEM), done in collaboration with the University of Maryland. Another student presented original findings from an environmental DNA (eDNA) meta-barcoding project conducted at Otter Point Creek and will be presenting her work at an upcoming meeting of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Conference." ~Pamela Pape-Lindstrom, Dean of STEM
PRESENTATIONS
These are a few of the accepted presentations from STEM Day 2023.
- Alexandra Fender and Kellie Simon: Discovery of ShaKen Bacteriophage
- Alejandro Satz: Quantum Entanglement: A Simple Explanation of a Bewildering Subject
- Thomas McCarty-Gibson: Experiences with the SMART Scholarship and Harford Community College
- Druscilla Darkwa, Benjaporn Perkins: Isolation and Discovery of a Bacteriophage from an Environmental Sample
- Izora Williams: Bacteriophage PierreOrion
Presenting at STEM Day
Harford Community College accepts proposals for 20-minute presentations or poster presentations from faculty, students, or professionals in a STEM-based program or profession.
Attending STEM Day
STEM Day is open to all prospective and current students as well as faculty, employers and anyone interested in the advancement of STEM programs and careers.