Nishat Tasnim: The Science Whisperer

“Outreach…reminds me of what it feels like to be a young person who’s so curious and is so ready to understand and learn more about the world.”

Nishat Tasnim, BSc’15, MSc’18, always knew she wanted to be a scientist. As a child, she would conduct experiments around her house, once leaving a piece of bread by the toilet to see what would grow on it. Her mother wasn’t a huge fan of that one, she says, but her teachers—with whom she would share the vivid results of her experiments—never discouraged her blossoming curiosity.

Today, Nishat is a bona fide biochemist and volunteers her time to cultivate the same spirit of exploration and fun in children, most recently with UBC Okanagan’s branch of Let’s Talk Science, which runs engaging science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs for Canadian youth.

Nishat came to UBC Okanagan from Bangladesh in 2008 for her undergrad, and graduated with her MSc in Biochemistry in 2018.

“I was a first-generation university student and an international student to boot. So, when I got here, I just wanted to hit the ground running and find out as much about this new place as possible, so I could make the best use of my time at UBC,” she says.

One of the main ways she did this was through volunteering, first through UBCO’s community engaged learning programs, giving her time to serve at the Kelowna Food Bank and elsewhere. As she grew academically, she began working with outreach programs like Geering Up and Let’s Talk Science, both of which provide hands-on STEM learning programs to kids.

She remembers her first outreach event, where she talked to a classroom full of kids about the human microbiome (and, by extension, bodily functions). One child had a look of pure delight, while their seatmate looked like they were about to throw up. Either way, the kids were engaged.

As a graduate student, Nishat says that she could be so focused on the day-to-day grunt work of running experiments that she sometimes forgot about life beyond the lab. “And then, I was talking to kids about poop science and I thought, this is so cool,” she says. “It’s a great way for me to gain another perspective on the work that we do as scientists.”

Jacqueline Barnett is one of the site coordinators for UBCO’s Let’s Talk Science program, a PhD student, and a former labmate of Nishat. She speaks to how impactful it can be to introduce science at an early age.

“Probably the biggest mandate of Let’s Talk Science is to make science accessible and fun, and try to highlight the science of everyday life,” she says. “We want to make science less daunting and give the younger generation the skills to be able to critically evaluate things, and the tools to become activists for [clean oceans], for sustainability, and things of that nature.”

She notes that many Let’s Talk Science volunteers, like Nishat, are hooked by seeing the impact they can have on kids. “The thing that keeps so many of our volunteers coming back is that moment when you see a student and they’re struggling with a concept. And then they have that ‘a-ha moment’ where something you’ve said has made a concept make sense. That is just an indescribable feeling.”

Nishat remembers helping a young learner when working with Geering Up in a small community in BC’s interior. One little boy had begun the week-long camp hanging back, suspicious of the eager outsiders.

“By the end of the week, we were best buds,” Nishat says. “He was just so eager to participate and we could feel like we were making core memories with him. When you break through, it’s just the best.”

Jacqueline suggests this isn’t a unique experience for Nishat.

“She has that skill of making science accessible. She makes you excited, and brings so much energy and so much joy. She just makes you want to do science.”

Published April 16, 2021.