LEXINGTON, Ky., — Organizers of Expanding Your Horizons are looking for University of Kentucky students who are interested in being workshop leaders for the 2019 conference. Expanding Your Horizons is a one-day conference on April 13 for middle school girls from across Kentucky. The purpose is to expose them to the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics by taking part in hands-on science workshops.

Women make up only 24 percent of the STEM workforce, and women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees.

“Many times, girls lack role models in those fields, so they may not realize the variety of career options and opportunities that exist for women,” said Ellen Crocker, a conference organizer and postdoctoral scholar in the UK Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Expanding Your Horizons addresses that problem by introducing young students to women who are either currently pursuing a STEM degree or who are working in one of the fields. UK undergraduate and graduate students will receive course credit to design and lead one-hour long hands-on, inquiry-based workshops, in fields such as physics, natural resources, chemistry, microbiology and engineering. Groups of up to four people may apply. Faculty mentors will help the students design their workshops.

“It is a great opportunity to hone your leadership and teaching skills, while giving back,” Crocker said.

Those who are interested in leading a workshop should submit a brief application at https://goo.gl/GUJgWL by Dec. 20. Email Carmen Agouridis at carmen.agouridis@uky.edu with questions.

Expanding Your Horizons is presented by the UK colleges of Agriculture, Food and Environment; Arts and Sciences; and Engineering.