MilliporeSigma Virtual Volunteering: Remote Water Filtration Workshops in the U.K.

Jul 31, 2020 10:00 AM ET
Life Science employee Alexandra Nicolier led a virtual hands-on water filtration workshop with her son for a "Year 4" class from the Telford Junior School in Leamington Spa in Central England. Forty children attended the two workshops.

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, is helping its employees give back while socially distancing and working remotely. Through virtual volunteer opportunities available on MilliporeSigma’s online SPARK™ portal, employees can dedicate their time, expertise and passion to a community organization.

In Watford, U.K., employee Alexandra Nicolier, executive assistant supporting Milli-Q® lab water solutions within the Applied Solutions business unit, organized two virtual hands-on water filtration workshops for 8- and 9-year-old students from the Telford Junior School in Leamington Spa, where her children are schooled. She left the experiment materials in kits outside her home, and the children came to pick up their individual kits for the lesson. Forty students attended the virtual workshops.

“The virtual workshops were so fun,” said Nicolier. “Even though I am not a scientist, it was really easy for me to teach the children about water filtration and microbes, and the students enjoyed them so much, they could have lasted for two hours!”

Want to do a similar activity with your kids or students? Check out MilliporeSigma’s Curiosity Labs™ at Home series for easy, at-home science experiments.