SciGirl Extraordinaire | Alexis McAdams

This summer, Alexis McAdams entered the Digital Open contest (DigitalOpen.org), which encouraged youth ages 17 and younger to submit projects demonstrating the transformative power of open technology. All projects submitted--including text, photos, and videos--were created from free and open software licenses.

Alexis' project was the "Dioractive," which raises awareness of global issues through the creation of physical dioramas that can be shared, reproduced, and remixed. Alexis said: "I was inspired to create this because I want people to reach out into their community and make a difference! If someone can pass by my diorama and continue to think about that issue for the rest of their day and decide to take action, then my job is done."

Watch Alexis explain the "Dioractive" on youtube!

SciGirls Extraordinaire | iTwixie.com

Check out iTwixie.com--a new website for tween girls.

Turns out the iTwixies have a lot in common with SciGirls. They know that tween girls are full of curiosity, smarts, ideas and beauty--and that girls have the power to change the world!

iTwixie is where girls get together and empower each other. And iTwixie challenges girls to express their unique talents, creations, natural beauty and true interests--including, yes, of course, science!

Check out the iTwixie posts on: Strong, Healthy Teeth, snow monkeys, and their book club top choice--Island of the Blue Dolphins. You go, girls!

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Kate Moore, texting queen

Yesterday a 15-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, won the national texting competition, sponsored by LG Mobile Phones. Press reports suggest Kate has only had a cell phone for 8 months, but rose to the top of the teen heap through good old-fashioned practice. Evidently she texts some 14,000 messages each month.

Feeling ambivalent about whether this is actually an accomplishment? You're not alone! Adult attitudes about kids' use of technology can be murky. ("Turn off that video game!") But there's more to the story.

Kate won $50,000 for her efforts, using skill, accuracy, and nerves of steel. And new technologies can help kids understand the power of STEM. After all, someone has to invent, design, and program the many goodies that fill--and enhance--their digital lives.

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Baby Helen

Check out this SciGirl, spied recently at her big brother's kindergarten concert. Not yet a year old, Helen is a true digital native who clearly has her fingers on the pulse of new technology. Her parents say her interests lean toward the big "T" in STEM, including mobile technologies. And although she hasn't decided on a college just yet, there's no doubt that it's never really to soon to encourage a girl in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics!

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Imagine That! Engineering Innovation Essay Contest

The results are in! The Imagine That! engineering innovation essay contest, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering's "Engineer Girl" website, asked young people to consider one of three images on their site and discuss its potential purposes and function--using nothing but their imaginations and engineering creativity.

Decreasing the amount of space junk, magnetic levitation transportation, and organic light-emitting diodes, were the winning topics for the grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 categories respectively. Impressed? (We were, too!) So if you're looking for a little STEM inspiration, check out the winning essays.

SciGirl Extraordinaire | Eden Maloney

Meet Eden Maloney. Eden volunteers twice a week at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. We think she's the quintessential SciGirl!

Since 1975, the Marine Mammal Center has rescued and treated over 12,000 elephant seals, sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, fur seals, dolphins, harbor porpoises and the like at its hospital facility. While the Center’s mission is to save as many animals as possible, sometimes their patients are too sick to recover. These animals play an extra special role. When doctors look inside them, they find clues and information about how they died and how they lived. This helps the docs understand how to prevent other deaths. Sometimes they can even use a former patient’s bones, teeth or organs to educate others about the importance of caring for these wonderful creatures.

Here's the deal: Eden volunteers in the specimen preparation lab. This particular task (one of the smelliest around!) entails preparing skulls, whiskers, pelts, and other parts for teaching and research. Eden’s dissects and cleans specimens, preserving the bones and putting them back together again -- no easy task. While many other youth volunteers choose to work in animal care or teaching, Eden chose specimen preparation over all other departments! No wonder we're so impressed!

Know any other great SciGirls like Eden? Tell us about them and we'll try to feature them on the blog and maybe even the TV show!

SciGirls Extraordinaire | The Shem Group

No doubt about it, SciGirls around the world are up to some serious science!

In Qinghai, China, The Shem Group is training young women to test for bacteria contamination in their water using petrifilm, which identifies coliform, an indicator for bacteria that may make you sick. In this image, girls place a 1ml sample of water onto the center red circle of petrifilm, under the plastic cover, using a pipetter. They are careful not to not touch the red circle or the bottom side of the protective film, as this could contaminate their sample and give the wrong results.

The Shem Group empowers Tibetan women and their communities through grassroots development to provide people with access to basic needs such as water, fuel, electricity, health care, and basic education. They train educated Tibetan women to design, implement, and manage sustainable grassroots development projects that will successfully alleviate the problems their communities face.

SciGirl Extraordinaire | Melissa Rey, 2008 "America's Top Young Scientist"

Meet Melissa Rey, America's Top Young Scientist for 2008! Melissa won the honor at the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a program that targets middle school students in the years when research indicates their interest in science begins to wane and encourages them to explore scientific concepts and creatively communicate their findings.

Participants were challenged on their knowledge of space related themes including jet propulsion, repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, Martian topography and how to simulate lunar gravity on Earth.

No doubt about it, Melissa was up to the challenge: "Whenever I solve a scientific problem, I can think of a dozen more questions about where to go next. Science questions are the most exciting because I have the chance to think of something that no one else has thought of before and I have the opportunity to make a new discovery that could change the world."

Know any other great SciGirls we should feature on TV? Send us your thoughts.

SciGirl Extraordinaire | Nadia Studnicka

With a little help from her mom and older sister, this ambitious SciGirl raised $7,100 by selling origami cranes to support conservation efforts protecting endangered Whooping Cranes. It took them 7 full months to fold all the tiny paper cranes! They received donations from all across the United States (including Hawaii!) and from as far away as Australia. Nadia and her family drove from their home in Illinois to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, where the baby cranes are raised, to deliver the money in person. Awesome job, Nadia!

While touring the refuge, Nadia saw hawks, deer, kingfishers, eagles, and her first wild whooping cranes! She says of the experience, "What I have learned from this project is that anyone can make a difference. Even if it's just one small thing, it is still helping. By doing our crane project we not only hope to save the cranes but to inspire other people to make a difference as well. If kids start trying to help animals and the environment now, then maybe someday our world will be a better place to live for everyone.

Know another SciGirl with a story to tell? Talk to us!

SciGirl Extraordinaire | Lani Lazzari, Simple Sugars

Meet Lani Lazzari, creator and founder of Simple Sugars, a company that creates and distributes an all-natural product line of face and body scrubs. Did we mention that Lani is 14 years old and currently navigating the 9th grade? It's true—and we were impressed, too!

Lani first got into product development when her mom insisted she and her brothers make homemade Christmas gifts. So this SciGirl rolled up her sleeves in the kitchen, devising two scrubs, which she gave out to friends and family. Three years later, she sells her wares online (at simplesugarsscrub.com) and continues to research aromatherapy and natural ingredients to expand her product line.

Know any fabulous SciGirls like Lani? We want to hear from you!