NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher celebrates women in STEM

KURE BEACH (WWAY) — The leading ladies of science, technology engineering and math took over the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher as part of the “Femme in Stem” event on Saturday.

According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, around 35 percent of the people employed in STEM fields are women. However from 2011 to 2021, the number of women in STEM increased by almost 5 million.

Fiona Minarcine and Isabelle Kuhn are students at UNCW. They say it was great to both meet women who were working in stem and also see so many young girls take part in the activities.

“I think that one of the most important things is having that exposure and just being exposed to all of these different careers that you could grow up to do. Like, yes, I see these strong women going out there and kicking butt in all different science fields, so being able to know you can do that,” said Kuhn, who studies marine biology and biochemistry.

“Especially since we were kids, there’s been a lot more exposure and being able to have that awareness and to have those one-on-one opportunities, it’s really awesome and it’s really good for them,” Minarcine said.

Some of the activities available for kids to take in included looking at insects and germs under a microscope, a mini-tornado machine, and seeing the remains of local wildlife.