Volunteer Spotlight
Oaklen Kalinichenko
How did you first learn about the Youth Advisory Board?
I first learned about the Youth Advisory Board through an email sent to me by the Children’s Science Center Lab letting me know of programs and internships available.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am currently a junior at South Lakes High School. I immigrated to the United States over 3 years ago and now live with both of my parents. I used to have a pet turtle and two pet parrots growing up, but currently have no pets. I love reading, mostly dystopian or post-apocalyptic literature, and listening to horror podcasts like The Magnus Archives.
Which STEM field is most interesting to you?
I am mostly interested in the Science aspect of STEM, more specifically biochemistry. I find it really fascinating how big living organisms are composed of the tiniest elements like cells and atoms, and how all the tiny elements work together, making those big organisms function as perfectly and as methodically as they do.
What scientist do you admire most and why?
Alice Ball. Apart from being the first African American and the first woman to receive a Master’s Degree from the University of Hawaii, she is also known for developing the first effective treatment for leprosy, a disease that has been affecting populations for centuries, when she was only 23 years old. She wasn’t even credited for her discoveries at first! I admire her because she was a brilliant scientist who saved many lives despite the difficulties she had to go through being an African-American woman in science.
How can we inspire young people to become interested in science?
I think it’s really important to show young people that science isn’t just textbooks and memorization like it often feels at school. Science is all around us at every moment in time, but when we are taught science, it often feels very distant. Not just telling, but showing young people how science affects their daily lives is one way to make it feel a whole lot more exciting to them.
What is one scientific question you would like to see answered in your lifetime?
What is dark matter really made out of? Dark matter makes up almost 30% of the universe, but scientists still don’t know for sure what it’s composed of. There have been theories, one of which being that it’s made out of weakly interacting massive particles, but none of the theories have ever been proven. It would be really interesting if I ever got the chance to know what such a large part of the universe consists of.
Oaklen is a second-year member of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and is serving as this year’s YAB New Member Coordinator. They have given 123 hours of their time to the Science Center in the last year! Interested in volunteering? Visit our website.
