MY Camper Daša Robič: "To me science is not work but fun"
16-year-old Daša Robič is interested in medicine and travelling. In the future, she would like to combine these two and volunteer in Doctors Without Borders, but in the meantime she likes to think of ways to bring science closer to the people, like in her project plan Daša’s Flower Solution.
Daša Robič from Slovenia.
“To me science is not work but fun. I love doing research because I always find out something new, something I did not know before,” says 16-year-old Daša Robič, who lives in the small Slovenian town of Radovljica, and studies at the local secondary school called Gimnazija Jesenice.
Daša says she is particularly interested in chemistry and medicine. “It is fascinating to learn how things work in the nature and in our lives”, she says.
“Even before I started primary school, I knew I wanted to be something connected with medicine, and now I think maybe I will be a doctor or a scientist working in a lab and discovering new medicines,” Daša says and adds: “It would also be great to work as a doctor without borders.”
This June Daša will weave international networks at MY Camp, of which she heard about from her maths teacher over a year ago. “I immediately knew that MY Camp is perfect for me because it contains all my three biggest interests: research, making new friends and travelling.” She applied already for MY Camp 2011, but did not make it to the final 30. This year she succeeded and is now one of the members in Climate Change group.
“I’m definitely the most excited about making new friends from all over the world. I’m also thrilled to meet leading scientists, especially the winner of The Millennium Technology Prize 2012,” Daša says, and adds that she is also interested in improving her English skills, finding out is Finland as beautiful as she imagines it to be, and learning more about the topics she is interested in.
In her project plan, Daša designed a plant, which would react with the surrounding air and change colour as the concentration of CO 2 in the air changes. The plant would also emit a substance, which would help in reducing the effects of greenhouse gases.
“I came up with the idea while watering my fly catcher plants. I thought, if we have plants that catch flies, why can’t we have plants that react with the surrounding air? As an old Slovenian saying goes: ‘For every illness, a flower blooms,” Daša explains.
“With this plant, research would not be only in the hands of scientists but also in the hands of everyone. It would have a great impact on human mentality. Everyone would be aware of climate change and prepared to take action.”
Daša says that also her role model in science comes from the field of climate change research. “It’s Slovenian climatologist Dr. Lucka Kajfez Bogataj. Her ideas are simple and easy to understand, but extremely interesting and effective at the same time.”
Even though Daša has still two years before she’ll begin university studies, she already does research during her spare time. Besides that, she likes sports and outdoor activities like wakeboarding, surfing, jogging, biking, and walking in the mountains.
Have a look at Daša’s project plan: Daša’s Flower Solution.
Like during the previous years, MyScience will introduce each MY Camper and offer news, videos and photos during the Camp. Stay tuned, but in the meantime watch videos and photos from MY Camp 2010 and MY Camp 2011.
Read more about Millennium Youth Camp from Finland’s Science Education Centre LUMA’s website.
Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.