Summer jobs for teenagers usually involve malls or movie theatres, but for three young women from St. Albert the summer has been anything but routine.
The trio – Sarah Wettlaufer, Jennaye Bellerose and her twin sister Grace Bellerose – are among 60 Grade 11 students taking part in special program at the University of Alberta.
They are spending six weeks in different research labs working on blood cells, braces for teeth and tenderizing meat. The work is being done through the summer research program of WISEST, meaning Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology
Sarah Wettlaufer of Paul Kane High School along with twins Jennaye and Grace Bellerose of St. Albert Catholic High School are among 60 grade 11 students selected to participate in the U of A’s 28th Annual Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) Summer Research Program.
Denise Hemmings, chair of WISEST said, “the central goal is to encourage young people – both guys and girls – to get involved in what we’re calling less conventional careers. Like for the girls, math, sciences, engineering, technology. For the guys, nursing ... things they don’t normally pick or choose for a career.”
Though most of the students in the program are young women, Hemmings said three young men are enrolled this year.
The 17-year-olds were selected from a pool of over 150 applicants based on a combination of marks and an explanation of why they wanted to be a part of the WISEST program. It’s a unique opportunity for the girls to combine summer employment with a hands-on educational experience.
“There are lots of programs across Canada that do similar things, but this I think is one of the more unique programs that offers a six-week paid ability to get involved in research on campus – world-renowned research,” Hemmings said.
“A lot of these students are in labs that are publishing in high-impact journals and doing high-impact research which is very valuable to them, and obviously to the lab themselves.”
Jennaye Bellerose, of St. Albert Catholic High School, has been working in Dr. Jason Carey's mechanical engineering lab studying the design of equipment that can simulate braces on teeth using a metal dowel in place of the tooth.
“My job is to create a device that would fit into the brace and position it in the centre of the dowel every single time so I’ve been trying to do that with a 3D modelling program,” said Bellerose.
Bellerose laughed when she said it was just a coincidence that she has braces on her own teeth.
Along with meeting all of the really nice people in the program, Bellerose said her favourite part of the experience has been “learning about all the different careers available because I didn’t really know what different types of engineering there were. I was interested in it, but I didn’t really know what all the different types could do and we got to go on a whole bunch of tours like robotics, nano and lasers. It’s really fascinating seeing it all.”
Twin sister Grace Bellerose, also of St. Albert Catholic High School, lit up when she described her project working with Dr. Jason Acker's team in laboratory medicine and pathology. Bellerose is investigating the effect of cholesterol drugs on red blood cells.
“The research aspect is really interesting to me and especially working with blood and stuff that can help people,” Bellerose said. “I think I might go into medicine even, like it’s really opening doors for me.”
These science-loving teenagers aren’t sitting on the sidelines or simply pushing a broom in the labs, they are making valuable contributions as part of their respective research teams.
“I love the people I work with and the research is also fun,” Grace said. “Compared to any other situation, they expected the most of me and that kind of pushed me to push myself, so I get to work a lot by myself and it’s really exciting.”
Sarah Wettlaufer, of Paul Kane High School, is spending her lab time in agricultural, food and nutritional science with Dr. Heather Bruce.
“Right now I’m in a meat science lab so we’re dealing with how to tenderize beef, specifically with fruit enzymes, so it’s a lot of specific processes to figure that out,” Wettlaufer said.
She hasn’t chosen a career path yet, but Wettlaufer knows that it will be in science or engineering. She set her sights on the WISEST program two years ago after first hearing about it and thinks it’s a great opportunity for students to consider.
“I would definitely encourage them to apply,” Wettlaufer said. “It’s a great experience and even if you’re uncertain if you want to do it it’s still a paid job either way and you do get a lot out of it no matter what.”
