UWindsor Science Society welcomes Roberta Bondar

The University of Windsor welcomed Roberta Bondar as part of their annual Science Society Speaker Series.

A large audience enjoyed a free presentation on February 28, where Bondar spoke about her experiences as a member of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s crew in 1992 and as the first Canadian woman to fly into space.

“We’ve got this one life and we’ve got to figure out what to do with it. So you think, what will I become? What am I gonna be like? Well, I still don’t have that answer yet,” said Bondar.

Anshika Jain is a third year neuroscience student at the University of Windsor. As the vice president external of the Science Society, it was her responsibility to organize the event.

“The idea was, we wanted to engage students. As the science society we feel we have the opportunity to reach a lot of students and we want to give them the opportunity to see successful scientists and learn and interact with them,” said Jain. “So having those role models up on the stage helps us develop that vision of what we can do with the science degree we are getting here.”

The Science Society chose Roberta Bondar as this year’s speaker hoping she would inspire students to see the full potential of women in science, so they too can reach and inspire more girls to pursue a career in science.

“Woman in science is becoming a lot more prevalent. We think initiatives like this help students see the full potential that women can reach and seeing them in such accomplished roles turns that into the norm,” said Jain.

“You are seeing woman in those positions all the time and you think one day, I can get there too. Already we are seeing so many changes, woman are top researchers, they’re astronauts and we really want to showcase that.”