GEMS

March 14: Katy Payne: Bioacoustics Engineer

Katy Payne is a bioacoustics researcher who studies how animals like whales and elephants use sound to communicate. She discovered that humpback whale songs change over time and that elephants use deep, low-frequency sounds to talk across long distances. GEMS can explore her work by listening to real whale songs and drawing the patterns they hear, or by simulating elephant communication through vibrations and infrasound they can feel—just like elephants do with their feet!

Join the Emerald Coast Science Center for their Girls Empowered with Math and Science (GEMS) Workshops for girls ages 8-15. Studies have shown that most girls lose interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by age 15. Their GEMS Workshops are aimed at providing girls with hands-on activities and experiences to keep them involved in STEM. Each month, GEMS will study the work of a renowned female scientist while engaging in hands-on lessons. GEMS is a free drop-off program that is fun, educational, and shows the numerous ways STEM topics can be pursued both in their future educations and as potential career pathways. If we support a young woman in STEM, then she can change the world.