Bethanie Statler
EYH Chicago would like to introduce you to organizing committee member Lucas Beaufore! Lucas is from Columbus, Ohio. He always knew he wanted to be an experimental physicist since he participated in the FIRST Robotics Team in his high school. He studied engineering physics at the Ohio State University because he loves “learning about how the universe works.”
Lucas loved physics so much that he pursued a PhD in physics at the University of Chicago. There, he works on project that will soon “fly a superconducting magnet on a high-altitude balloon over Antarctica to study the composition of light cosmic rays.” #Wow #Supercool! We don’t have a lot of physicists on our committee and we are glad to have him. He strives to conduct physics research as a professor someday.
Outside of achieving his goals, Lucas has been volunteering with students in STEM since high school. He mentored robotics/technology challenge teams in high school, mentored a FIRST Lego League, and mentored FIRST robotics for… 5 years! Lucas has some extensive experience in mentoring. On top of that, Lucas mentored a women and gender minority robotics team and worked as a camp activity leader for Girls Reaching to Achieve Sports & Physics because he believes in inclusion.
Lucas wants physics to be “accessible to anyone with an interest in exploring our universe!” He realizes that underrepresented minorities face systemic barriers to STEM fields and that engineers and scientists should seek to remove these barriers. Lucas volunteers with EYH Chicago because our organization “does amazing work in making STEM accessible to those who have not had the same privilege” that he has had. He hopes to see the organization expand and reach an increasing number of girls in Chicago.
Lucas is a prime example of someone who recognizes their privilege and uses it for good! He is also an example of one of the few men on our organizing committee; Know that we welcome people of all genders to help organize our STEM symposium for middle-school girls. We want to expose our girls to the diversity of role models in STEM. Lucas had role models on his FIRST Robotics team, and continues to have role models that do fascinating research. He believes a good role model can “provide concrete examples of people doing the things you want to do with your life and give you an idea of how to get there.” Keep being a role model, Lucas!
Expanding Your Horizons Chicago 