Podcast appearances and mentions of bonnie schmidt

In this podcast episode, we engages with Bonnie Schmidt, CEO from "Let's Talk Science" to discuss the significance of STEM education. Bonnie shares her journey into science education, inspired by a passionate high school biology teacher, and the founding of "Let's Talk Science." They highlight the organization's mission to provide free STEM resources and programming for educators and students, emphasizing the importance of teacher-student relationships and real-world learning applications. The episode also touches on challenges within the Canadian education system and initiatives like Canada 2067 aimed at shaping the future of STEM education.https://letstalkscience.cahttps://www.cmec.ca/docs/pcap/pcap201...https://www.weforum.org/projects/cana...

MindShareTV Podcast in convo w/ Dr. Bonnie Schmidt @LetsTalkScience on receiving $28.5M over 5 yrs from the Feds to boost STEM education! This investment will enhance skills & competency development in youth across Canada

This Week in Canadian EdTech MindShareTV with Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, Founder & President of Lets Talk Science, on celebrating 30 years of impact on science & STEM learning in schools, what's next? Looking ahead to the 14th Canadian EdTech Summit Nov 2-3

C21 Canada Podcast Series featuring Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, Founder and President Lets Talk Science, Spotlight on STEM Learning: Snapshot of a Decade

How did Let's Talk Science (LTS) begin? Who is Dr. Schmidt? What's in store for the future of Let's Talk Science? Join us as we answer these questions and dive into the history of LTS and get to know the president and founder of LTS, Dr. Bonnie Schmidt!

Bonnie Schmidt from Let's Talk Science explains:How she started Let's Talk Science during her PhD 27 years agoHow funding for science research has expanded compared to the 1990sHow the rules around science communication have shifted compared to 15 year priorWhy the focus has shifted during COVID-19 toward STEM at homeHow Let's Talk Science continues its digital transformation to offer more resources onlineThe next Let's Talk Science event with Bonnie Schmidt and Scholar's Choice will be online:WHEN:Thursday, May 21, 20205:00 PM PDT8:00 PM ESTLet's Talk Science: Bringing STEM Learning HomeSIGN UP:https://event.webinarjam.com/register/69/3vmx3fn1--Rate this podcastPlease share your feedbackBest way to reach Gordon Ruby:LinkedInSci Comm and Civic Tech on Social:TwitterLinkedInYouTubeInstagramFacebook

Children are natural born scientists, with an insatiable curiosity and desire to experiment – but studies have demonstrated that somehow, through years of formal education, most teenagers lose their enthusiasm for science. By the time they are applying to college, less than a quarter say they remain very interested in science, which they consider “complicated” and “difficult” rather than “fun” or “inspiring.” (See the findings of the CFI’s “Canadian Youth Science Monitor” at https://www.innovation.ca/sites/default/files/news_items/Jun-7-2010-ipsos.pdf).   This week, Ken chats with Bonnie Schmidt, founder and president of Let’s Talk Science, about the importance of keeping young people engaged in STEM fields, and some recommendations for science teaching at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.  She emphasizes that “what’s happening at K-12 is actually THE most important economic driver for this country.”   Since 1991, Let’s Talk Science has mobilized more than 26,000 college and university students to bring experiential, hands-on STEM activities to some 5 million elementary and secondary school students.  LTS provides web tools, governance, resources, guidance and support for the student teams at no charge. “We love bringing science to life!”  (For more information, check out http://letstalkscience.ca)   LTS has been leading Canada2067, an ambitious initiative examining international trends in STEM education, and mapping future directions for the next 50 years.  (Check out their resources at https://canada2067.ca) Canada2067 brought together Grade 9/10 students, millennials, parents, teachers, industry and non-profit organization leaders, and policy makers across the country, and there was considerable agreement on some general principles, including:   RELEVANT: To keep students of any age engaged with course content, it has to be clearly relevant to their daily lives.     EXPERIENTIAL:  Hands-on, group activities have been a key component of the Let’s Talk Science program for decades.  (We explored the importance of experiential learning in this episode: https://youtu.be/DU1gRLZeEIo).   INTERDISCIPLINARY:  Bonnie emphasizes that the best way to create relevance for students is to move towards “an interdisciplinary, issues-based” approach to teaching, addressing big global challenges from multiple perspectives. In Saskatchewan, for example, there are some interesting experiments in multidisciplinary senior-level science courses. But colleges and universities will need to accept those interdisciplinary credits, and higher ed instructors need to revisit the tradition of “teaching how we were taught.”   TEACHER PD: “We’re not investing enough in our teachers,” Bonnie laments, at any level of education. Teachers need resources, training, and time to develop lessons and share best practices.   PARENTS: “Parents are the #1 influencer of the students taking optional credits at high school,” and it’s crucial that parents urge their children to persist in STEM subjects even when they are challenging, to keep higher ed doors open.  Parents also need to keep an open mind about non-traditional teaching approaches, such as experiential or inquiry-based learning.   “The world is undergoing such transformation right now,” Bonnie says, that we need to reconsider how we teach STEM in primary, secondary, and tertiary classrooms. Memorization is a far less important part of learning. We need accelerated ways to upskill and reskill displaced workers, and more pathways between universities and colleges.  “We’re all recognizing that change is needed,” Bonnie says. “I have never actually seen the stars align with a desire to change in education at all levels that I’ve seen in Canada over the last 5 years.”   Bonnie Schmidt holds a PhD in Physiology from Western University, was identified as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She has chaired numerous national science education committees and task forces, and served on the board of governors of Ontario Tech University and the board of directors of the Ontario Genomics Institute.   Special thanks to Let’s Talk Science, who hosted Ken as keynote at the Digital Literacy Summit in Toronto in late January 2018, and provided the videographers for this interview.   Next time, 10K travels to Mount Royal University in Calgary, to check out the latest in makerspaces and immersive VR at the Riddell Library and Learning Centre. To be sure you don’t miss it, take a moment to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/    And if you would like to host 10K at your campus, more information is available at http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/  

Children are natural born scientists, with an insatiable curiosity and desire to experiment – but studies have demonstrated that somehow, through years of formal education, most teenagers lose their enthusiasm for science. By the time they are applying to college, less than a quarter say they remain very interested in science, which they consider “complicated” and “difficult” rather than “fun” or “inspiring.” (See the findings of the CFI’s “Canadian Youth Science Monitor” at https://www.innovation.ca/sites/default/files/news_items/Jun-7-2010-ipsos.pdf).   This week, Ken chats with Bonnie Schmidt, founder and president of Let’s Talk Science, about the importance of keeping young people engaged in STEM fields, and some recommendations for science teaching at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.  She emphasizes that “what’s happening at K-12 is actually THE most important economic driver for this country.”   Since 1991, Let’s Talk Science has mobilized more than 26,000 college and university students to bring experiential, hands-on STEM activities to some 5 million elementary and secondary school students.  LTS provides web tools, governance, resources, guidance and support for the student teams at no charge. “We love bringing science to life!”  (For more information, check out http://letstalkscience.ca)   LTS has been leading Canada2067, an ambitious initiative examining international trends in STEM education, and mapping future directions for the next 50 years.  (Check out their resources at https://canada2067.ca) Canada2067 brought together Grade 9/10 students, millennials, parents, teachers, industry and non-profit organization leaders, and policy makers across the country, and there was considerable agreement on some general principles, including:   RELEVANT: To keep students of any age engaged with course content, it has to be clearly relevant to their daily lives.     EXPERIENTIAL:  Hands-on, group activities have been a key component of the Let’s Talk Science program for decades.  (We explored the importance of experiential learning in this episode: https://youtu.be/DU1gRLZeEIo).   INTERDISCIPLINARY:  Bonnie emphasizes that the best way to create relevance for students is to move towards “an interdisciplinary, issues-based” approach to teaching, addressing big global challenges from multiple perspectives. In Saskatchewan, for example, there are some interesting experiments in multidisciplinary senior-level science courses. But colleges and universities will need to accept those interdisciplinary credits, and higher ed instructors need to revisit the tradition of “teaching how we were taught.”   TEACHER PD: “We’re not investing enough in our teachers,” Bonnie laments, at any level of education. Teachers need resources, training, and time to develop lessons and share best practices.   PARENTS: “Parents are the #1 influencer of the students taking optional credits at high school,” and it’s crucial that parents urge their children to persist in STEM subjects even when they are challenging, to keep higher ed doors open.  Parents also need to keep an open mind about non-traditional teaching approaches, such as experiential or inquiry-based learning.   “The world is undergoing such transformation right now,” Bonnie says, that we need to reconsider how we teach STEM in primary, secondary, and tertiary classrooms. Memorization is a far less important part of learning. We need accelerated ways to upskill and reskill displaced workers, and more pathways between universities and colleges.  “We’re all recognizing that change is needed,” Bonnie says. “I have never actually seen the stars align with a desire to change in education at all levels that I’ve seen in Canada over the last 5 years.”   Bonnie Schmidt holds a PhD in Physiology from Western University, was identified as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She has chaired numerous national science education committees and task forces, and served on the board of governors of Ontario Tech University and the board of directors of the Ontario Genomics Institute.   Special thanks to Let’s Talk Science, who hosted Ken as keynote at the Digital Literacy Summit in Toronto in late January 2018, and provided the videographers for this interview.   Next time, 10K travels to Mount Royal University in Calgary, to check out the latest in makerspaces and immersive VR at the Riddell Library and Learning Centre. To be sure you don’t miss it, take a moment to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/    And if you would like to host 10K at your campus, more information is available at http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/  

This week, Ken gets a “taste” of social innovation at Simon Fraser University’s RADIUS incubator, speaking with co-director Shawn Smith and social entrepreneur Dylan Jones about their work. We learn how innovation requires bureaucratic flexibility, and Ken winds up at a loss for words with his mouth full of crickets!   For decades now, higher education has embraced the entrepreneurial incubator to promote the commercialization of software developers and research breakthroughs in engineering, chemistry and medicine. (10K covered the movement broadly in this episode on “Campus Incubators and Accelerators” https://youtu.be/kwMooswS_C8, and visited the University of Waterloo’s “Velocity Garage” https://youtu.be/lj1AnCfYRMk). But in recent years, a wave of incubators has begun appearing to support social enterprises, launched by a new generation of altruistic entrepreneurs and “changemakers,” focused on the so-called “triple bottom line.”    SFU’s Beedie School of Business established the RADIUS social innovation hub in 2013. (The name is an acronym for “Radical Ideas Useful to Society.”) Every year, RADIUS Fellows hosts emerging leaders in the social economy, and RADIUS ChangeLabs deliver extracurricular activities to SFU students. RADIUS’s Local Economic Development Lab (LEDlab) is working in Vancouver’s downtown eastside to build a more dynamic and inclusive economy (www.LEDLab.ca). They helped turn an informal group of wastepickers and recyclers into The Binners Project, with its own brand, marketing, and business model for R&D, cartsharing, and event services. (Learn more at www.binnersproject.org).   RADIUS Ventures delivers incubation support to startups at the business model validation stage, and acceleration support to growth-ready companies ready to attract venture capital. These social-purpose companies have potentially profitable business models, but also aim to improve society by addressing environmental sustainability, homelessness, and other social challenges. RADIUS “co-entrepreneurs” with the ventures, going deep and ensuring they provide a meaningful change in trajectory for the entrepreneur and the company.   One RADIUS venture was Zero Waste Market, Canada’s first package-free, zero-waste grocery store. (They changed their name literally days after this episode was completed, to Nada Grocery. Learn more at www.nadagrocery.com).   Another great example of a social enterprise incubated at RADIUS is Coast Protein, a sustainable energy bar and protein powder company (see www.coastprotein.com). Their products are all-natural, with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, and very few ingredients – primarily Canadian-farmed cricket flour.  Cricket protein is far more sustainable and nutritious than beef or chicken, explains CEO Ryan Jones: per pound of protein, cows take 13x more land, produce 100x more greenhouse gases, and require 2,000x more water. And instead of 30% protein by volume, crickets are 65% protein, while also being high in iron, calcium, and B12 – an essential vitamin often missing in vegetarian diets. It’s still “the wild west of crickets right now,” Ryan explains, and most of Coast Protein’s marketing budget goes to consumer education. People don’t realize that the insect protein market is already about $200 million annually in North America, and expected to grow to about $1.5 billion by 2023. Or that crickets taste like “burnt roasted almonds with a hint of roasted mushroom.”   Shawn observes that innovation can sometimes be challenging within a bureaucratic environment like a major public university. Entrepreneurs need to respect boundaries and structures, while remaining adaptive and responsive in an emergent space. RADIUS functions like a “skunkworks” at SFU, where risks can be taken, failures go quietly, and lessons can be learned. Academic innovators need their “pockets of innovation” to be protected from needless bureaucracy, and depend on “bridging innovators” in a wide range of departments, particularly in finance, to make their innovation work possible. Shawn emphasizes that SFU has a lot of these people, but that “they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.”   On the upside, though, a university setting provides a wealth of expertise and cutting-edge researchers in a wide range of disciplines, and an endless supply of enthusiastic students who deeply care about social issues and want to make the world a better place. Social incubators like RADIUS need to bring people together from disparate perspectives, to “bite off problems that people haven’t quite figured out yet,” and universities are an ideal setting in which to do that.   Shawn Smith is Director of Social Innovation at Simon Fraser University, co-founder and co-director of RADIUS, and an adjunct professor in the Beedie School of Business. He earned an MBA in social entrepreneurship from the University of Oxford in 2010, and has spent 12 years working in social impact organizations, including Impacto Quito, Global Agents for Change, and Education Generation.   Special thanks to Shawn Smith, Dylan Jones, and the SFU videographers who made this episode possible. For more information about SFU’s RADIUS, please visit www.RadiusSFU.com.   Next week, Ken sits down with Bonnie Schmidt, founder of Let’s Talk Science, about how we can improve science education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. To be sure you don’t miss it, take a moment to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/    And if you would like to host 10K at your campus, more information is available at http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/

This week, Ken gets a “taste” of social innovation at Simon Fraser University’s RADIUS incubator, speaking with co-director Shawn Smith and social entrepreneur Dylan Jones about their work. We learn how innovation requires bureaucratic flexibility, and Ken winds up at a loss for words with his mouth full of crickets!   For decades now, higher education has embraced the entrepreneurial incubator to promote the commercialization of software developers and research breakthroughs in engineering, chemistry and medicine. (10K covered the movement broadly in this episode on “Campus Incubators and Accelerators” https://youtu.be/kwMooswS_C8, and visited the University of Waterloo’s “Velocity Garage” https://youtu.be/lj1AnCfYRMk). But in recent years, a wave of incubators has begun appearing to support social enterprises, launched by a new generation of altruistic entrepreneurs and “changemakers,” focused on the so-called “triple bottom line.”    SFU’s Beedie School of Business established the RADIUS social innovation hub in 2013. (The name is an acronym for “Radical Ideas Useful to Society.”) Every year, RADIUS Fellows hosts emerging leaders in the social economy, and RADIUS ChangeLabs deliver extracurricular activities to SFU students. RADIUS’s Local Economic Development Lab (LEDlab) is working in Vancouver’s downtown eastside to build a more dynamic and inclusive economy (www.LEDLab.ca). They helped turn an informal group of wastepickers and recyclers into The Binners Project, with its own brand, marketing, and business model for R&D, cartsharing, and event services. (Learn more at www.binnersproject.org).   RADIUS Ventures delivers incubation support to startups at the business model validation stage, and acceleration support to growth-ready companies ready to attract venture capital. These social-purpose companies have potentially profitable business models, but also aim to improve society by addressing environmental sustainability, homelessness, and other social challenges. RADIUS “co-entrepreneurs” with the ventures, going deep and ensuring they provide a meaningful change in trajectory for the entrepreneur and the company.   One RADIUS venture was Zero Waste Market, Canada’s first package-free, zero-waste grocery store. (They changed their name literally days after this episode was completed, to Nada Grocery. Learn more at www.nadagrocery.com).   Another great example of a social enterprise incubated at RADIUS is Coast Protein, a sustainable energy bar and protein powder company (see www.coastprotein.com). Their products are all-natural, with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, and very few ingredients – primarily Canadian-farmed cricket flour.  Cricket protein is far more sustainable and nutritious than beef or chicken, explains CEO Ryan Jones: per pound of protein, cows take 13x more land, produce 100x more greenhouse gases, and require 2,000x more water. And instead of 30% protein by volume, crickets are 65% protein, while also being high in iron, calcium, and B12 – an essential vitamin often missing in vegetarian diets. It’s still “the wild west of crickets right now,” Ryan explains, and most of Coast Protein’s marketing budget goes to consumer education. People don’t realize that the insect protein market is already about $200 million annually in North America, and expected to grow to about $1.5 billion by 2023. Or that crickets taste like “burnt roasted almonds with a hint of roasted mushroom.”   Shawn observes that innovation can sometimes be challenging within a bureaucratic environment like a major public university. Entrepreneurs need to respect boundaries and structures, while remaining adaptive and responsive in an emergent space. RADIUS functions like a “skunkworks” at SFU, where risks can be taken, failures go quietly, and lessons can be learned. Academic innovators need their “pockets of innovation” to be protected from needless bureaucracy, and depend on “bridging innovators” in a wide range of departments, particularly in finance, to make their innovation work possible. Shawn emphasizes that SFU has a lot of these people, but that “they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.”   On the upside, though, a university setting provides a wealth of expertise and cutting-edge researchers in a wide range of disciplines, and an endless supply of enthusiastic students who deeply care about social issues and want to make the world a better place. Social incubators like RADIUS need to bring people together from disparate perspectives, to “bite off problems that people haven’t quite figured out yet,” and universities are an ideal setting in which to do that.   Shawn Smith is Director of Social Innovation at Simon Fraser University, co-founder and co-director of RADIUS, and an adjunct professor in the Beedie School of Business. He earned an MBA in social entrepreneurship from the University of Oxford in 2010, and has spent 12 years working in social impact organizations, including Impacto Quito, Global Agents for Change, and Education Generation.   Special thanks to Shawn Smith, Dylan Jones, and the SFU videographers who made this episode possible. For more information about SFU’s RADIUS, please visit www.RadiusSFU.com.   Next week, Ken sits down with Bonnie Schmidt, founder of Let’s Talk Science, about how we can improve science education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. To be sure you don’t miss it, take a moment to subscribe at http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/    And if you would like to host 10K at your campus, more information is available at http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/

Bonnie Schmidt is President & Founder of Let’s Talk Science, an organization that seeks to engage children, youth and educations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).Let’s Talk Science has been operating since 1991 when Bonnie founded it while completing her PhD in Physiology at Western. Her success with the Let’s Talk Science has lead to several awards, such as being named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2018, and winning the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award.

Bonnie Schmidt, founder and President of Let's Talk Science, highlights some of the work the organization is doing.

While growth in many other professions have seen more balance in the sexes, this has not been true for nursing. Men still represent fewer than 10% of licensed RNs since 2000. AJN’s editor in chief discusses the issues with the authors (in photo, Bonnie Schmidt with Brent MacWilliams, and Michael Bleich), examining what factors might be barriers to more men becoming nurses and how might the professional change them.