Alberta Innovates- Health Solutions

Productive and instructive may not be the words to describe the average high school student's summer, but they are an accurate description of the six weeks Eva Cheung just spent at the University of Alberta. While most of her friends may have whiled away their time-off from school hanging out at the lake, cruising the malls, or working part-time jobs, Eva was busy finding out what her future may hold.

The Grade 12 student at M.E. LaZerte High School in Edmonton spent a good part of her summer working in the lab of Heritage researcher Dr. Linda Reha-Krantz as part of the WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology) program. The six-week program gives young women the chance to test their interest in science. "When I talk to my friends who didn't get into the program and compare our summers, mine just seems so much more productive. I learned so much, and I learned things that I wouldn't have learned in school," she comments.

"The whole experience really focuses you on your future."

In fact, until she donned a lab coat, Eva thought her plans for university were firmly in place. She was slated to go into the engineering program. Participating in the WISEST program has caused her to consider options that, until this summer, she didn't know she had. "I am still interested in (engineering), but I had the opportunity to look around other labs and there's a lot more out there than I thought."

Under Dr. Reha-Krantz's tutelage, Eva received a crash course in genetics, studying the different mutations in DNA. "Genetics is so intriguing because (genes) make us what we are," she says. For her part, Dr. Reha-Krantz says she's always been impressed by the level of understanding the young women bring to her lab. "The students work on projects that are directly relevant to my research," she explains. "They are very challenging projects that go well beyond the students' high-school experience."

The Heritage researcher has been involved in WISEST since 1991. She continues to be a keen supporter of the program. "When I was in Grade 11, I had a similar opportunity one summer," she says. "I was going to be a high-school biology teacher. I'm not sure I would have thought about the opportunity to do research without having had that summer experience." Most of the students Dr. Reha-Krantz has mentored through the program have gone on to careers in science.

For more information on the WISEST program, check the following website: http://www.awsn.com/WISEST/wisest.php