Indigenous students research life in the lab
01 September 2009
By Josh Mallet
Healthy insight ... Innisfail's Angela Ott and Gympie's Tanya Noble at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.
A group of Indigenous high school students from regional Queensland put science and health careers under the microscope on a recent tour of major science and medical institutions in Brisbane.
Mareeba State High School community educator Elma Lingard who, along with Bundaberg teacher Paul Olsen, accompanied the 14 students said the trip was a highlight of the Spotlighting Careers in Science and Indigenous Health program.
Ms Lingard said the five days of science placements and workshops gave the students from Harristown in Toowoomba, Gympie, Bundaberg, Mareeba, Innisfail and North Bundaberg state high schools valuable hands-on knowledge.
'This is a great experience for the students,' she said.
'They have the chance to engage with professionals in the field, see up close what goes on in the lab and hopefully it will inspire them to further science studies.'
Mareeba State High School students Dellas Walker and Hannah Gutchen were pleased to do 'real lab work' at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) laboratory at Herston.
'We were able to see real experiments like flushing and separating animal bone marrow to excise the cells for further research,' Hannah said.
'This program could help my future career choices because it showed the many opportunities available in the fields of health and science. I'm interested in sports science in particular.'
Other students were considering careers in midwifery, paediatrics and veterinary sciences.
As well as QIMR, the students visited the University of Queensland, Southbank Institute of Technology, the Queensland Museum Sciencentre and CSIRO's Indooroopilly education centre.
The Spotlighting Careers in Science and Indigenous Health initiative aims to encourage students to undertake further training and education that may lead to a career in research with an Indigenous health focus.
Since 2002, 69 students and 12 teachers have participated in the program.
QIMR is about to expand its training of high school students through the establishment of a designated school lab thanks to a recent $27.5 million donation by American philanthropist Chuck Feeney.
For more information, visit the website 
Other languages