This program is intended for Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Engineering Design Teams, and Industry professionals. For high school students looking to get involved as a volunteer, click here!
Why Become a Guest Speaker or Mentor?
By participating in outreach programs, you have the power to spark curiosity and help elementary and high school students see what their path in STEM could look like. Whether you host a lab tour, visit a camp to inspire participants, guide a leadership project, or wow students with a science demonstration at our Science Show, your presence helps students see what’s possible!
This is an exciting opportunity to highlight unique career pathways, spotlight lesser-known fields, and amplify diverse voices in science… all while inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders. Read on to explore our guest speaker and mentorship opportunities and find a role that’s right for you. Whether you visit just once or become a recurring cast member, we’re excited to work with you!
Program Objectives
Our goal is to help young people see that they belong in STEM, and allow them to explore different career pathways in the field. By connecting students with real-life scientists and engineers, we make STEM feel attainable, relatable, and within reach. With the help of guest speakers and mentors, we aim to have every student — especially those who haven’t always seen themselves represented in STEM fields — leave our programs feeling confident and excited about what their future could hold.
Guest Speaker & Mentorship Opportunities
Time Commitment: 45-90 mins per visit
Grades: 8-12
Location: UBC Vancouver
Do you have a lab or testing facility that would spark curiosity and inspire the next generation of Scientists and Engineers? Our high school campers would love to come visit and experience what it might look like to study or work in a real-world setting. The tour would ideally involve a short lesson, activity, or demonstration led by your staff, as hands-on engagements have the highest positive impact on young students.
Time Commitment: 45-90 mins per visit
Grades: 8-12
Location: UBC Vancouver, South Surrey
Dangerous lab? No lab? No problem! Visit one of our camps and introduce our campers to your realm of work. Help us provide students with real-life examples of where STEM education may lead them. Tell the campers about your pathway and your work. If you're up for a challenge, bring a hands-on activity or learning experience for the youth! We'd love to work with you to create an experience that is informative and engaging for our campers.
Time Commitment: 30-45 mins per visit
Grades: 4-7
Location: UBC Vancouver, Richmond, South Surrey, North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam
Early intervention is crucial to inspiring passion for STEM. Our campers benefit greatly from meeting mentors in the field who can talk about the exciting work they do. In an elementary camps visit, we're looking for a short presentation on yourself and your STEM journey, the work you focus on, and a Q&A. We recommend a short slideshow with pictures alongside an activity or game related to your field (encouraged but not required). The Geering Up team is always happy to work with you on developing hands-on activities for the kids.
Time Commitment: 5-10 hours over July & August
Grades: 10-11
Location: UBC Vancouver
Geering Up's STEM Leadership Program is a cohort-based initiative that brings together 30 passionate grade 10 & 11 students who exhibit high levels of leadership and STEM motivation. Each summer, the Leaders-In-Training work on a Social Development Project involving a world issue, and it's up to them to use the engineering design process to come up with a solution. The program involves skills-building through weekly workshops in topics such as CAD, 3D printing, Arduinos, circuitry, and more.
The 2026 Social Development Project themes include Biomedical Engineering and Sustainability.
Time Commitment: 45-90 mins per visit
Grades: 8-12
Location: UBC Vancouver, Richmond, South Surrey, North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam
Each summer, Geering Up runs an entire week dedicated to promoting STEM pathways for girls*. Because women* and girls* are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields, it's our mission to spark a passion in and create a sense of belonging for young girls* before they close the door to STEM pathways in university. We're looking for lab tours, in-camp engagements, and other exposure opportunities from anyone who'd like to help us help cis and trans girls*, genderqueer, non-binary, and other gender minority youth see themselves in STEM. Our 2026 All-Girls* camp week is June 20-24th!
* We use the words “girls” and “women” with an asterisk (*) to intentionally include students and stakeholders who are underrepresented in STEM fields. Cis girls/women and trans, genderqueer, or non-binary people are welcome at our All Girls* programming. For more information, visit our All Girls* page on our website.
Time Commitment: 30-120 minutes
Grades: 1-9
Location: UBC Vancouver
Calling all scientists! Geering Up hosts a weekly Science Show at our UBC Vancouver location that features exciting chemistry and physics experiments. From roaring flames to sub-zero conductors, the goal of our Science Show is to spark excitement about STEM and showcase the WOW factor that makes science so amazing. We’re looking for enthusiastic presenters to share something exciting with an audience of around 200 campers in Grades 1-9. Science shows run Thursdays from 11:15-12:15 and 12:45-1:45 at a lecture hall on campus.
Frequently Asked Questions
You do not! We welcome mentors from all science backgrounds and careers. For in-camp sessions, we suggest a short presentation paired with an exciting demonstration or hands-on activity!
Our Vancouver camps are held in various classrooms across the UBC campus. Our team will email you 1-2 weeks before your visit to confirm the room number. If you are doing a lab tour, the campers will come to you!
If you are visiting one of our offsite locations, we will send you information on where to go. Our camp locations can be found on our information page.
For elementary campers, aim for 30-45 minutes. For high school classes, your visit could be anywhere from 45-90 minutes.
Our team is always happy to help you brainstorm age-appropriate demonstrations or activities. Feel free to shoot us an email once you are confirmed into a camp.
Some examples:
- Playing a game with the class that features a scientific concept you use in your work
- Bringing in a (camper safe) tool you use in your work and letting the campers try – such as design drafting sheets, water testing strips, a testing apparatus, etc
- Doing a demonstration for the class such as a physics demo, chemistry experiment, or showing them a product your lab or company makes
Our camps have anywhere from 18-27 students, depending on age and camp theme. Our team can confirm the number of attendees prior to your visit.
Yes! We have four offsite locations located in Richmond, South Surrey, North Vancouver, and Port Coquitlam. If one of these locations is more convenient for you, please let us know and we can arrange your mentorship visit accordingly.
It depends on the camp theme and student age! Once you are assigned a camp to mentor, we can provide more specifics about what students are learning.
No, you do not need any prior experience working with children or youth. Our trained staff will be present during the session to help with any classroom management as needed. Our team is also happy to provide tips and input on your presentation prior to your visit!
Most classrooms are equipped with a projector and either a whiteboard or a chalkboard. If you have any specific equipment requests, please let us know and we’d be happy to accommodate!
Yes! At Geering Up, we strongly encourage hands-on learning. If you’re planning to run an outdoor activity with a camp group, we kindly ask that you let us know in advance so we can prepare and support you as needed.
