National Youth Science Forum unveils world of possibilities for Charleze Girdler
Grafton Midday Rotary support helps Year 12 student realise opportunity of a lifetime at National Youth Science Forum.
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From devising an idea to tackle global climate change to learning about the latest advancements in human gene editing and 3D printers, the National Youth Science Forum opened Charleze Girdler's eyes to a world of possibilities she barely knew existed.
The McAuley Catholic School student attended the annual program aimed at giving Year 12 students a broader understanding of the diverse study and career options available in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects over a three-week period in January.
It consisted of in-person sessions in Canberra including a tour of the Australian National University campus, as well as Zoom calls from her home in Grafton.
"I saw Dr Karl (Kruszelnicki) on a Zoom call," she said.
"He is such an inspirational person, and he talks like the general public.
"That was pretty awesome and scary at the same time, because his topic was the future in science, and I didn't realise how close we were to many different science breakthroughs.
"3D printers could be able to print any element on the periodic table, not just plastic or titanium.
"We didn't realise how close we were to being able to change our appearance from editing our genes, and the only thing really stopping us at this point is ethical reasons, and that's terrifying and exciting at the same time."
Earlier this month the science whizz relayed her experience to the members of Grafton Midday Rotary, who had sponsored her to be able to attend the forum, and were equally astounded by some of Girdler's learnings.
"It was just awe-inspiring for us who don't know half of what she's talking about," Grafton Midday Rotary youth director Leila Thompson said.
"Rotary has a lot of youth programs and something like this really can make a difference to their future, and Charleze has said it's just opened up avenues that she never realised were there. She's so excited about it, and it's just given her some direction of where to go from here, so it's been really marvellous."
Girdler described to the members the giant carbon capture fan that her workgroup had devised in a challenge to come up with ideas to tackle global climate change.
"It's a bit of a costly one, but places around the world have already done it actually," she said. "The fans capture the CO2 out of the air, compress it under the earth, and then it can be extracted and used to make anything you want, really.
"Some other ideas were interesting, such as feeding cows seaweed, and planting plants on roofs of cities. There are many, many diverse ideas out there. It's just about getting together and getting it done."
Girdler first heard about the science forum, which was attended by more than 600 other students across Australia - from her Year 11 chemistry teacher Miss Bell in 2020.
"It was presented to the class as an idea, and I was like 'yes, please'," Charleze said.
"I have always been fascinated by science. I question how the world works and am drawn to the answers that science can provide."
Girdler has since dropped Chemistry from her Year 12 workload, instead focusing on her favourite subject Physics, with her heart set on studying astrophysics.
"I'm planning on a gap year, then I plan to go into space science, specifically astrophysics is my goal," she said.
"But the National Youth Science Forum opened my eyes to many different spaces sciences that I didn't even know existed, from cosmology to meteorology. I'm still focused on astrophysics, but I'm open to anything."
Originally published as National Youth Science Forum unveils world of possibilities for Charleze Girdler
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