National Youth Science Forum

On Thursday November 9th, I had the privilege of attending a reception for the Nation Youth Science Forum (NYSF) candidates for 2024 which was held at Governor House in Melbourne. NYSF is a forum running for 8 days in either Canberra or Brisbane for incoming Year 12 students to encourage the continued pursuit of STEM in youth. The reception was hosted to allow us to meet and begin to form connections with fellow participants. The reception was also an opportunity to introduce past candidates and their NYSF experiences and how it was instrumental in shaping their professional pathways as leaders in STEM. This was a remarkable opportunity as it was the first event hosted in Melbourne where NYSF participants like myself could finally meet other like-minded people with a passion for STEM. During this event, we were fortunate enough to meet the Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, who gave us a very inspiring speech about future young leaders in STEM. The Minister for Youth, and a NYSF representative also addressed the reception reinforcing the message of the importance of STEM in shaping the future across all areas of science. The events hosted in preparation for NYSF in 2024 have been amazing and have helped not only to establish valuable connections for the 2024 event in Canberra but has also sparked curiosity of what the future may bring. I am very excited for what NYSF bring next in January.

Catherine Anderson Yr11