Georgina Wilcox

NASA Aerospace Engineer, Dr Camille Wardrop Alleyne, was the keynote speaker last week at the annual University College of the Cayman Islands’ STEM conference.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and the conference was held in collaboration with the University of the West Indies.

Based at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA, Ms Alleyne is the Assistant Programme Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS), which is NASA’s only human space flight programme since the closing of the Space Shuttle programme. She is responsible for communicating the scientific and technological accomplishments of the ISS and the benefits to life on Earth to the top leadership at NASA, the US Congress, the general public, and scientific, research and educational communities. She also leads an international education task group, which identifies ISS educational activities that can inspire students and attract them to the fields of STEM.

Dr Alleyne has also served in several technical management positions both at NASA and US Department of Defense.

She was awarded a Caribbean Woman Icon in Science and Technology by the National Institute for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Alleyne was born on 12th October, 1966 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. She grew up with an innate curiosity about the wonders of space and the workings of airplanes. Her parents nurtured these interests by encouraging her to take things apart and reassemble them. As a child, she would sit on the trunk of her dad’s car, star-gazing and thinking about outer space and how she could get there.

She advises students to embrace their talents and become future leaders and innovators. To further this cause, she founded and heads The Brightest Stars Foundation, which encourages young women around the world to be future leaders through the study of science, mathematics and technology. The organisation’s mission is to create a network of learning institutions dedicated to educating girls in scientific and technological fields. It is working on establishing the first-ever Space and Science Academy for Girls in Kenya.

She told her audience that coming from the Caribbean should not be a barrier to success. If you believe in yourself you can do anything, she said, and “science is not just for the boys.”

“What we have to think about is moving from where we are, which is a lot of rote memorization of scientific concepts to more hands on activities in the classroom, that is what is going to make the difference. We have to evolve our STEM education to incorporate those things.

“The key is that it is not just about throwing out facts and figures and memorizing formula, it’s about how do these math concepts relate to the real world, how can we relate it to every day life.

“When students see that, it doesn’t become a chore any more, it just becomes something they love to do.”

Dr Alleyne’s message on the website Caribbean icons in Science, technology & Innovation is:

“When we empower and inspire girls to believe in themselves and dream big dreams … they will be the catalyst for positive and lasting change in their environment, country and world.”

PHOTO: Red Moon Chronicle