Free In-Person Event | Limited Space | Registration Required
Hosted by the University of Waterloo’s Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, in collaboration with the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI) and Women in Mathematics (WiM), this event marks Waterloo’s first celebration of Florence Nightingale Day on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
This free event is open to high school students in grades 10–12 from across the Waterloo Region. We especially encourage girls and students from underrepresented groups to join. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to the first 30 participants.
The day will feature faculty-organized hands-on activities, interactive games, and a panel of professional speakers, along with networking and free lunch. Students will have the opportunity to explore career paths in statistics and data science, participate in fun statistics-related activities, and connect with academic and industry mentors.
Florence Nightingale Day is an international celebration named for the founder of modern nursing, who was also a pioneer in data visualization. The organizers of the initiative envisioned a day of activities that would introduce girls and members of traditionally underrepresented groups to educational and career opportunities in statistical sciences. The vision is to inspire a diverse group of young people to become future leaders in data-related disciplines.
Questions regarding this event can be emailed to Chelsea Uggenti.
| Date: | Saturday, February 28, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 9:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. |
| Location: | M3, University of Waterloo |
Event Schedule
9:30 a.m.
Arrival and Check-in
Location: M3, University of Waterloo
10:00 a.m.
Introductions and Welcoming Remarks
Speakers: Chelsea Uggenti, Changbao Wu (Department Chair), Yu-Ru Liu (Women in Math Director)
10:30 a.m.
Hands-on Activities
12:00 p.m.
Lunch
Provided by the FND Organizers
12:45 p.m.
Panel Discussion
1:30 p.m.
Campus Tour (Optional)
Panelists
Cecilia Cotton
Dr. Cecilia Cotton is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Waterloo whose research connects statistical theory with real-world health and medical challenges. She collaborates with researchers on projects improving patient care and public health while mentoring graduate students in causal analysis. A Waterloo alumna and PhD graduate from the University of Washington, Cecilia is also an advocate for the Biostatistics undergraduate program and an award winning instructor.
Allison Hill
Dr. Allison R. Hill is a Senior Data Scientist at Wealthsimple, where she drives growth initiatives and builds analytics pipelines to support marketing, sales, and product decisions. She began her industry career at Shopify, applying data science to revenue and e-commerce analytics, and later helped build the data team at the startup SkyWatch. Allison holds a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Leiden University and has a strong background in statistics, physics, and end-to-end data workflows.
Lan Wen
Dr. Lan Wen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on developing and applying statistical methods for causal inference in observational studies, addressing challenges such as time-varying confounding, missing data, and incomplete follow-up. A Waterloo alumna who earned her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Cambridge, Lan is particularly interested in collaborative projects that connect statistical methods with real-world health and medical applications.
Katrina Wohlgemut
Katrina is in her final year of Data Science at the University of Waterloo. She enjoys applying statistics to real-world problems with co-op experiences ranging from data analysis at Environment and Climate Change Canada to software engineering at a healthcare software company. Katrina has been actively involved outside of school and work including writing for the Impact Alliance newsletter, completing a research project through the Women in Mathematics Directed Reading Program, and participating in the TechNova and Impact Challenge hackathons.
Organizing Committee
This event is presented by
