The event encouraging young women to go into STEM

A group of Winnipeg scientists got up on their soapboxes at The Forks Saturday, encouraging young women and non-binary people to pursue a career in STEM.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math, all traditionally male-dominated fields of study.

Soapbox Science is an initiative aimed at promoting the visibility and accessibility of women in STEM fields. The annual event provides a platform for female and non-binary scientists to engage the public in an informal and interactive manner.

The free event took place at the Oodena Circle Saturday, featuring 12 female and non-binary scientists in different STEM fields, literally standing on wooden soapboxes and sharing their research with the public.

"The dual mission of Soapbox Science is to promote the visibility of female and non-binary scientists, as well as the research they do," said organizer Manisha Ajmani.

The event had a somewhat informal setup, with presenters standing on their boxes around the circle, using props and visual aids to talk about their scientific research.

"How climate change is affecting our city, how new technologies are being used for different applications – for example, robots, machine learning, drone systems. How genes connect with natural products," said Ajmani, listing some topics.

Any visitors to The Forks were free to listen to the scientists and ask questions. "You can just pop in and stop by," said Nisha Ajmani, Manisha's sister and co-organizer. "Why not bring science to the street?"

Nisha is a biologist who earned her Masters in Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba and has been a part of various outreach programs. Nisha works in the field of bioinformatics, which uses computer tools to analyse biological and genome data.

Her sister Manisha is a project manager with the University of Winnipeg, currently working on plant recognition software to help farmers spot weeds in their crops. Manisha is a project manager with the University of Winnipeg, currently working on plant recognition software to help farmers spot weeds in their crops.

Manisha has her Bachelors, Masters and PhD in Electronic Engineering, and first attended a Soapbox Science event in Edinburgh, Scotland while completing her PhD in 2017.

Manisha absolutely loved the event, so when she moved to Winnipeg, she decided to bring it here.

Soapbox Science had a good turnout Saturday, as people spoke with PhD scholars, post-doctorates, and assistant professors in a variety of fields. Manisha said there was a lot of interest in newer research areas, and visitors were able to get contact information from the scientists if they thought of further questions.

She hopes the event will encourage more young women to take an interest in STEM as a career.

"Soapbox Science aims to increase gender diversity in the scientific community by trying to reduce gender bias, by encouraging more young women to take up STEM fields," Manisha said.

The group plans to hold a junior Soapbox Science event in the fall aimed at high school students.

More information can be found on the Soapbox Science website.