The Girls Advancing in STEM (GAINS) Initiative connects girls and women with a passion for STEM subjects to support, encourage, teach and inspire one another!
@gainsnetwork
The GAINS Network

The GAINS Network is a school-based virtual community for high school girls interested in STEM.                                   

 

Interested in volunteering?

Click here to learn more about becoming a GAINS mentor and role model. 

Follow GatorExpedition 2017 to Croatia

Notes From The Field!!!  

June 27

From Izzy: 

Today was an incredible day. We started the day off by getting on a boat at 8:30 am in an effort to do a marine mammals survey. After a couple hours of scanning the Adriatic Sea, we were over the moon to spot the dorsal fin of a bottlenose dolphin. As we got a little closer, we realized it was in fact not one but six dolphins, including two babies!! We even got to see 4 of them leap out of the water as they played in the waves. After seeing the dolphins we headed off to a slightly more sheltered area where all 8 of us went for a swim, culminating in a rendition of the Academy song yelled at the tops of our voices. When we returned to base camp, we had a few hours to eat lunch and relax before we walked to another beach and did a sea urchin survey. All things considered, today was one of the most memorable days of this trip, and easily one of my favorite experiences so far. - Izzy

 

 

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Thank you to all those who made GAINS 2017 a success!

Go to the conference page to check out the photos!

Interested in becoming a GAINS School and starting a GAINS group!  email us at gains@greenwichacademy.org for more information.  Sign up is easy!  

The GAINS Conference

2016 GAINS Conference from GAINS Network on Vimeo.

The GAINS Conference is an annual event for high school girls interested in STEM fields. 

  • Explore STEM careers and STEM mentors.
  • Connect with other high schools girls interested in STEM.
  • Tour STEM facilities.
  • Meet and connect with women working in STEM fields.
  • Hear about cutting-edge research being conducted by women in STEM fields and engage in hands on activities.

Click here for more GAINS Conference Information

 

From the GAINS Network
Bacteria, Bow Clips and Circuit Boards 

Bacteria, Bow Clips and Circuit Boards 

· Antoinette Decker
I spent the first part of my morning in the engineering and design lab with high school students who were working on their second semester projects. One was designing in 3D for fabrication, another was pouring silicone to make a mold and many were soldering circuit boards. Next, it was off to meet with our 4th grade students who had been studying bacteria. As part of their microbiology unit they compared the effectiveness of several household cleaners in reducing the amount of bacteria on a surface. They swabbed surfaces before and after treatment with a given cleaner, incubated their agar plates overnight and counted the CFUs (colony forming units) that had grown. They analyzed the data

Bacteria, Bow Clips and Circuit Boards 

· Antoinette Decker
I spent the first part of my morning in the engineering and design lab with high school students who were working on their second semester projects. One was designing in 3D for fabrication, another was pouring silicone to make a mold and many were soldering circuit boards.    Next, it was off to meet with our 4th grade students who had been studying bacteria. As part of their microbiology unit they compared the effectiveness of several household cleaners in reducing the amount of bacteria on a surface. They swabbed surfaces before and after treatment with a given cleaner, incubated their agar plates overnight and counted the CFUs (colony forming units) that had grown. They analyzed the

Want to inspire? Tell your story.

· Antoinette Decker
This past week several students had the opportunity to visit Dr. Ward, a surgeon who specializes in breast surgery/surgical oncology. During our time with Dr. Ward she shared her story – how did she decide to become a surgeon? Why breast surgery? What was her biggest challenge? What did she study in college? It was a candid and honest conversation.   She introduced us to a couple of her colleagues, a radiologist and a medical oncologist who explained their role in patient treatment. So, what can a small group of high school girls learn from spending just a bit of time with women (and men) working in a STEM field? A lot! On our way back to campus we talked about the commitment, dedication and

Trends

· Antoinette Decker
Trends in STEM and Trends in Fashion. Today we move into our new mircrobiology lab! We are wearing our favorite sneakers.....#lovingthesneakertrend #girlsinstem #fashionandsciencetogether #ibelonghere stemtrends001 from GAINS Network on Vimeo.

Introductory post

· Antoinette Decker
  I'm Ann! I teach science, love STEM topics and am the director of the GAINS Initiative.  My love of science stared in high school biology class - I loved the cell!   I studied biology and chemistry and then genes that regulate cell division.  I have been teaching high school for almost 20 years. This picture is of the PCR machine I built  @ the WAAG in Amsterdam this summer! I think biohacking is cool.  Hope to hear from you soon.