Left to right: Shaw, Scheff, Reid, Clark-Sarr, Hanley

Renee welcomes a panel of guests to discuss the Kentucky Girls STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Collaborative Project on the next Connections. The guests provide an update on the project that they introduced to Connections viewers in January. The program airs Friday, June 5 at 4/3 p.m. CT on KET2 and Sunday, June 7 at 1:30/12:30 p.m. CT on KET1.

The panel includes Carol Hanley, director of education and communications at the University of Kentucky's Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment; Doris Clark-Sarr, director of Adventures in Math and Science at Murray State University; Caroline Reid, assistant professor of social work at Eastern Kentucky University; and Sue Scheff, coordinator of the Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors program at the University of Kentucky.

The guests discuss the collaborative's upcoming events designed to promote girls' involvement in STEM fields, including forums around the state and the first annual Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative Conference. The panel talks about the workshops, discussions and speakers scheduled for the conference, including keynote speaker Jo Sanders, a national recognized gender equity expert.

The panel describes the vast array of STEM career and degree options -- everything from entomology to roller-coaster design -- and reviews some of the barriers preventing girls and minorities from entering STEM fields. They also discuss Kentucky's poor national ranking in math and science performance, among other topics.

Connections with Renee Shaw is a KET production, produced by Shaw and Carolyn Gwinn. More information about Connections, including streaming video, is available at www.ket.org/connections.