It’s not often that a career blends both professional and personal passions. High School physical science and chemistry teacher Blaire Volbers feels fortunate that this is the case for her. Thanks to her professional ties with a STEM project and connections with a professor at Case Western Reserve University, Ms. Volbers has had two opportunities within the last year to combine her passion for teaching and research with her desire for the growth experiences that come with international travel.
Last month, Ms. Volbers traveled to Ethiopia for one week as part of her work with the Gelfand Global STEMPower Initiative at Case Western Reserve University. The program, envisioned by philanthropist Mark Gelfand, is a collaboration with schools in Ethiopia to develop innovative engineering curricula for high school students. This project has created a network of more than 30 high schools and STEM centers in Ethiopia and neighboring countries. Ms. Volbers serves as a project lead alongside Dr. Daniel Lacks, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at CWRU, and Daniel Ducoff, Vice President for Engineering and Global Development at CWRU. “The vision is to build STEM centers that target high school students and then inspire them to become scientists and engineers,” says Ms. Volbers. “A lot of the motivation for the program is to encourage Ethiopia’s young people to industrialize their raw, natural resources in ways that stimulate the economy there. This idea to help the country through science education is really exciting.”
While in Ethiopia, Ms. Volbers shared some of the curriculum she’d developed for the program and piloted a lab lesson (making soap from vegetable oil) with groups of students. “The experience was amazing,” Ms. Volbers explains. “Here at Shaker, I have time to prep the students with a pre-lab work, but in Ethiopia, I had one shot to explain the lab work to them. And I was explaining it in English, which isn’t their first language. All the students not only understood me, but they were so engaged and so enthralled in the lesson.” In some cases, students followed up with questions for Ms. Volbers 45 minutes after the lessons ended.
Last summer, Ms. Volbers traveled to China to research triboelectric charging in desert sandstorms, which are common in northern China. The research she conducted will help scientists better understand the behavior of electric charges on Mars, where strong dust and sandstorms are frequent and often result in dramatic discharges of electricity.
“Traveling abroad is something where you have to be flexible and understand that things may not go as planned,” Ms. Volbers explains. “I keep putting myself in uncomfortable situations because I think that’s how we grow as human beings. It’s important to me to collaborate with people who have been raised in other environments and have a different perspective because I always learn from them. And if I can tie science into those situations, then that’s awesome.”