As students prepare to wrap the 2023-2024 academic year for summer, the Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS) concludes its second popular season of STEM Saturdays.
Presented by the NNSS, Clark County School District Career and Technical Education, and the Atomic Museum, STEM Saturdays feature presentations by NNSS subject matter experts who facilitate the connections between STEM and their chosen career path. Through interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities, students and families get a first-hand look at how STEM directly integrates with the work performed at the NNSS. Nearly 600 members of the community registered for this season of events, held the first Saturday of each month at the Atomic Museum in Las Vegas.
“STEM Saturdays help us ignite the spark with students for how applying their current science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies in the classroom can lay the foundation for an exciting future career with the NNSS,” said NNSS Outreach & Engagement Manager Jennifer Morgan. “While some career paths are clearly defined in STEM, this forum also allows us to shed light on how STEM plays a not-so-obvious role in other fields. It’s especially inspiring to have our subject matter experts share their road to the NNSS, define how their work impacts national security and engage students in those early conversations about the possibilities offered through a STEM-related career.”
The 2023-2024 series spanned diverse career paths: NNSS Fire & Rescue operations in October; the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Nevada program’s work with groundwater in November; NNSS geologists’ geophysics studies in December and geologic modeling in February; NNSS scientists’ Artemis Moon mission collaboration with NASA in March; and NNSS industrial hygienists’ work to protect employees from health hazards in April.
“At the NNSS you get to exercise a wide variety of STEM knowledge to a multitude of operations,” said NNSS Industrial Hygiene Technologist Andrew Anderson. “We receive daily opportunities to learn and grow as scientists and technicians, creating a working environment that never seems stagnant or boring. Compounding that with the pride of doing our part to protect our great nation solidifies the NNSS as the most unique and interesting place to start a career by a wide margin.”
STEM Saturdays return this fall. Look for registration information on the STEM Saturdays page and NNSS social media this September, and see NNSS demonstrations back on display at the Las Vegas Science & Technology Festival Giant Expo, sponsored by the NNSS, Saturday, May 4.
