Kyra Hall, F’16, and another keynote speaker at IgniteSTEM.
Our own Kyra Hall, F’16, presented her Island School research as a keynote speaker at a conference at Princeton University called IgniteSTEM. The conference brings together leading educators who seek to “disrupt learning environments” and strives to create an environment for progressive thought leaders to brainstorm the “classroom of the future.”
After graduating from The Island School, Kyra returned to Princeton Day School with a drive to effect change. She started working with Princeton University graduate students on a greenhouse gas assessment of her high school. She spoke with professors about the chemical structure of plastic because of her persistence to better understand the problem our oceans face with marine debris. This intellectual curiosity caught the eye of graduate students and is the reason she was invited to speak at IgniteSTEM. Unsure of her qualifications to be a keynote speaker, Kyra quickly realized the novelty of her Island School experience.
As a passionate ocean advocate and a student champion for experiential education, Kyra presented her applied research experience through the marine debris research team at CEI. Kyra shared the research process and findings her team produced, and of which she was an integral part, to hundreds of educators ranging from elementary teachers to college professors.
Before attending The Island School, Kyra knew she was interested in STEM, but now she knows she wants to proceed with a research career. Her college search focused on access to conducting research and their science facilities. With a passion to bridge the gap in knowledge in environmental education in schools, Kyra plans to make a difference in her future. Kyra says, “because of my Island School research, when I see plastic in the trash I only see marine plastic.” For this reason alone we know this is just the first of many opportunities Kyra will have to share what she cares most about with a room full of educators looking to her for guidance.
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Check out Kyra’s teams’ scientific poster and learn more about IgniteSTEM here.