Let's Talk Science at UOttawa and CarletonU

We had a clean sweep of the awards this year! Congratulations to Ose, Dalia, and those volunteers and coordinators who were involved with our Equity Award initiative! uOttawa Science uOttawa - Faculté de médecine, Faculty of Medicine

Congratulations to our award winners!

As we come to an end of our National Outreach Conference, we are proud to recognize members of our amazing outreach community for their outstanding contributions to STEM education and outreach.

Congratulations to:

• Dalia Ibrahim, University of Ottawa — recipient of the David Colcleugh Leadership Award

• Ose Okonowele, University of Ottawa — recipient of the National Volunteer Award

• Jeunes Noirs en STIM (Carleton University and University of Ottawa in partnership with the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario) — recipient of the Equity Project Award

These individuals and teams exemplify leadership, collaboration, and a strong commitment to creating meaningful and inclusive STEM learning experiences for youth.

We also extend our sincere thanks to all outreach volunteers for their continued dedication to inspiring the next generation through STEM engagement and education.

View our full article highlighting our amazing award winners and nominees https://bit.ly/4eadCUC

Thank you for the difference you make in our communities every day. 💙

We had a clean sweep of the Let's Talk Science national awards recognizing our volunteers and coordinators uOttawa - Faculté de médecine, Faculty of Medicine, uOttawa Science, Carleton University Faculty of Science! What a year!

Congratulations to the National Volunteer Award recipient, Ose Okonowele; the David Colcleugh Leadership Award recipient, Dalia Ibrahim; and the Equity Award recipient team supporting our Jeunes Noirs en STIM initiative, especially our coordinator Maimouna Fall, as well as those volunteers and staff who had a significant role with the initiative in 2026: volunteers: Evan Hong and Tessia Odubella, and staff - Amaal Abdi, Layla Farhat, and Sue McKee.

Announcing the 2026 National Award Winners We are excited to announce the 2026 recipients of the David Colcleugh Leadership Award, the National Volunteer Award, and the Outreach Equity Project Award - individuals and teams whose impact, leadership, and commitment to equity continue to strengthen and expand STEM learning for youth.

We have 12 amazing students from the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne visiting us for a few days this week! Yesterday we spent a day at Carleton University Faculty of Science with Jayne Yack and Chad Danyluck sharing their love of entomology and psychophysiology, respectively. Today we had the research fair presentations in the morning in the BioScience building at uOttawa Science where we were honoured to have Elder Simon Brascoupé join us and speak to the youth. After lunch we had an afternoon at the uOttawa - Faculté de médecine, Faculty of Medicine where Luc Brisebois had arranged for the students to be in the anatomy lab and visit the Indigenous gardens, among other things. Tonight it's some social time at the Escape Manor and tomorrow a morning at the Museum of Nature before catching their bus home at noon. Thanks to all our staff and volunteers who helped with each of the days and the judging!

Daniel and Ezana brought our VR machines to the Prospective Medical Professionals (PuMP) conference for high school and undergraduate students interested in being in the medical profession. Thanks Daniel and Ezana!

At our party we also recognized our volunteer award winners. Shown in the photos are Kam Wong presenting the Anjulia Wong Volunteer of the Year award to Gabrielle (online); Annabelle presenting dedication awards to Brian and Elyse for volunteering for more than 35 activities over the year, and to Mariam for 5+ years of volunteering with us; and an honourable mention award to Noah Lachance. Not shown in photos: Barbara Vanderhyden presenting the Barbara Vanderhyden Leadership Award to Farabi.
Other winners include Ose (Sue McKee Spirit Award); Wilson and Kathleen (dedication awards); Colin, Elise, and Emma (honourable mentions). Thank you to all our volunteers who went well above and beyond inspiring youth and supporting and exciting fellow volunteers! Carleton University Faculty of Science uOttawa Science uOttawa - Faculté de médecine, Faculty of Medicine

We've had an amazing year thanks to all our volunteers and our coordinating team! It's also the 25th year of Carleton University Faculty of Science being partnered with Let's Talk Science and our program running jointly with Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. There's so much to celebrate this year and here are a few photos from our end of year celebration. A huge thanks to all our volunteers!

Our volunteers and coordinators are FINALISTS! in all three of the Let's Talk Science National Awards! Winners will be announced in June. Congratulations to Dalia Ibrahim (David Colcleugh Leadership Award finalist), Ose Okonowele (National Volunteer Award finalist), and to the volunteers and coordinators involved in our Jeunes noir en STIM initiative (Equity Project Award finalist) - Maimouna Fall, Amaal Abdi, Evan Hong, Tessia Odubella, Layla Farhat, and Sue McKee. Congratulations too, to all the volunteers and coordinators from sites across Canada! uOttawa Science Carleton University Faculty of Science uOttawa - Faculté de médecine, Faculty of Medicine

Announcing the 2026 Let’s Talk Science National Volunteer Award Finalists Join us in celebrating the finalists of this year’s Let’s Talk Science National Volunteer Awards, honouring volunteers who inspire Canadian youth and strengthen communities.

A couple of photos of our volunteers from our Let's Talk Science Challenge last week. We had 175 Grade 7 and 8 youth attend in 48 teams. 62 volunteers helped make the day an amazing experience for the youth. Thanks to all our volunteers and a special thanks to the committee volunteers who have been working on this for months - Marrissa, Colin, Daniel, Deborah, Romina, Kynaat, Mariem and Madi! Thank YOU all!

We had 4 large events in 3 days this week - this one, in 4 hours, we had students design, paint, shape using sandpaper and rasps, pine cars to try to make the fastest car. Ben and I built the track and it worked! :) Thanks Ben and Chen Chen for volunteering with this one! Let's Talk Science