News

By Mandi Wilson

Studying engineering on the Truro campus combined Jennifer Ladipo’s (Class of ’16) love of math and science while enabling her to be closer to her older brother.

“I was there with my brother, and it was one of the few times we were in school together,” said Jennifer.  “I really enjoyed the campus and town. I enjoyed how small it was. I didn’t realize how cool it was to have such small classes,” she recalls.

While studying in Truro, Jennifer also found confidence in her creativity and writing ability. Combining her love of math and science and her ability to think and act creatively, Jennifer created TheSTEMGirl website. STEM encompasses science, technology, engineering, and math and TheSTEMGirl site aims to encourage young girls to view themselves as both feminine and scientific by telling representative stories.  In addition to writing most of the content, Jennifer also runs the day-to-day operations of the site.

“I don’t think I could say I’m doing traditional engineering but, in the content creation, I use a lot of my engineering background in a non-traditional way” she elaborates.

Jennifer’s online story telling has since led to five published books aimed at representing young women in STEM. Her first book, The Red Elephant was started as an assignment in a required writing course on the Truro Campus.  Jennifer not only enjoyed the required writing course taught by Deborah Stiles but was inspired to write.

“I wasn’t confident in my writing; you don’t know many Black authors,” she explained.  “To be honest, I didn’t know any off the top of my head. I didn’t know if I could write. And then Professor Stiles told me ‘You have a gift for dialogue’. And I heard that, and I was like if this professional lady thinks that I trust her. I come back to that a lot, so if I am not confident in my writing or am freaking out, I think of her,” Jennifer extolls.

Jennifer continued her work in engineering outreach during her Industrial Engineering studies on the Sexton Campus taking part in Imhotep's Legacy Academy, an organization working to increase access for youth of African heritage to higher education in science and engineering.

Her career continues to embrace creativity and outreach, helping female and Black youth to see themselves in engineering and science careers.  Jennifer is now the National Program Manager for Black Youth and Girls at Actua.  She works tirelessly with 43 network members across Canada, including SuperNova at Dalhousie, creating content to bring engineering and science to life.  Drawing on her course experiences, she creates hands-on activities like labs experienced during engineering studies in Truro.

“She's a true inspiration to the profession, and a testament to the idea that anything is possible with hard work and a little bit of magic,” said Engineering staff member Mandi Wilson.

A signed copy of Jennifer’s book, Tess Makes a Mess, a story of two young Black girls and the first robotics robot they build, is on display in Banting Building on the Truro Campus. Her continuing efforts to motivate a generation of young woman and Black youth will no doubt help to build the next generation of engineers.

https://www.thestemgirl.com/