Elnora high school student loves being a role model for Aboriginal kids

It’s not every day a teenager can explain the ins and outs of a computer program. Rarer yet, that a girl in her last year of high school gets the chance to design her own interactive virtual environment, complete with scents, that has the potential to be used in patient rehabilitation.  But Ashley Brown, a 17-year-old Métis student from Elnora, did just that.

Brown was one of 60 students chosen from applicants across Canada to take part in the University of Alberta’s Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology summer research program and specifically in the Advanced Man Machine Interface lab. She was completely at home in a field in which women have traditionally been underrepresented.

“My project was tricking the mind into smelling what you see. The same area of the brain that works with scents also works with emotions and memories. I built a 3D virtual interactive environment, a cottage scene with fruit trees, and I created something I dubbed Smell-O-Vision,” said Brown.

Using Tupperware containers with built-in computer fans, participants rode through the environment while Brown controlled which fans blew on which scent sources. When the participant selected a fruit tree, they were asked if the smell matched what they were seeing.

“From that we found out that there is a possibility to trick the brain. So the idea is that if we can trick the mind, we can bring scents into rehabilitation processes,” said Brown.

Such a process could help soldiers coming back from overseas, with scents used to trigger memories and emotions to help them through post traumatic stress disorder.

Brown cites her former math teacher as her role model. “The impact he had on me was just astronomical. He reached out to me, would go out of his way to challenge me, and showed me my full potential.”

Following in his footsteps, Brown speaks to students about WISEST and other science programs they can apply to. But she also speaks about being Aboriginal.

“I grew up for quite a few years where I was the loner in my school. I have sat there and listened to some of the most racist comments, so I make it my mission to go out and talk to kids, especially if someone looks out of place because I don’t want anyone to grow up as I did. I want Aboriginal kids to know that what other people say about them does not have to be their life. They can do what they want. They are just as capable as anyone else.”

Brown sets the example in another non-traditional woman’s role. “I try my hardest to get girls interested in non-traditional roles.  For example, I’m part of the fire department in my town, and got a girl younger than me to join, too.”

Besides finishing high school and applying to the U of A to do a computer sciences major, Brown has set other goals for herself.  “I want to try to get into the medical field, or maybe become a computer tech in schools, so I can help out in the education system because that is another one of my passions. But right now, the big thing is to learn French and become bilingual, so I can carry on my Métis heritage.”

Photo caption: Ashley Brown has worked with computers since the age of eight and feels at home in a field that is typically male-dominated.

Photo: supplied by Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology