Select 5th and 6th grade girls from Marquette-Alger Counties (150 participants) will attend the Young Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Conference on Friday, May 16, at Northern Michigan University’s Seaborg Center in the West Science Building. Media are welcome to cover the event. The goal is to demonstrate that young women are capable and can succeed in the STEM areas. Participants will meet with STEM professionals—from mining and biomechanical engineers to an architect, prosthetist and environmental scientist—who have faced and overcome challenges. In small-group settings, they will discover many different career options that are available and “try on” some of them, even if only for the day.

Kristy Gollakner, an educator at Gwinn Area Community Schools, will deliver the keynote address at 9:30 a.m. Separate sessions for the students and teachers/parents will follow from 10:10 a.m. to noon and 12:40-1:40 p.m. For more information, contact Chris Standerford at NMU’s Seaborg Center at 227-2092.