The Consulate welcomed Dr. Mary Ellen Weber, a former NASA astronaut, as part of a State Department-sponsored coast to coast visit across Canada to promote youth engagement in science and technology.
During her time in Vancouver, Dr. Weber spoke to hundreds of students of various ages from around the region. At Princess Margaret Secondary School in Surrey, she had lunch and spoke with a group of grade 11 and 12 students who became the first Canadian team to win NASA’s International Space Settlement Design Competition at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after qualifying for three years in a row. The students asked Dr. Weber about her education in various scientific fields, her career, and her experiences in space, which gave them important insight into creating future winning space settlement designs. The Consulate also partnered with the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre to present an interactive and innovative space talk in their planetarium star theatre, where they projected the International Space Station behind Dr. Weber as she spoke to a full house of elementary school students. She also addressed groups of students at Goldstone Park Elementary School in Surrey and Templeton High School in Vancouver.
Aside from engaging youth and promoting the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields of education through her various school presentations, Dr. Weber appeared on the local Shaw TV show “The Rush,” where she answered questions about her life as an astronaut and shared stories of her two separate shuttle missions to space, and encouraged kids to follow their dreams.
