Taryn Roske is the fire jet bore operator at Cameco's Cigar Lake uranium mine. (submitted photo/Taryn Roske)

By Derek Cornet

mentorship

First female jet bore operator at Cigar Lake encouraging Indigenous girls to join career in STEM

Jun 5, 2023 | 4:27 PM

Taryn Roske, a La Ronge resident who is the first female jet bore operator at Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine, participated in a recent event last month as a mentor encouraging Indigenous girls to join a career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Roske was one of 10 Canadian and international mentors taking part in an event called the Nuclear Energy Agency International Mentoring Workshop in Canada 2023. It was held May 7-10 at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. and it involved 40 Indigenous girls between Grades 7-12.

“A couple of years ago, Cigar Lake had to do relicensing for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) so they can continue mining and I was asked to present to the president of the CNSC, who was doing the interviews at the time. I kind of just told her my story of my career with Cameco and being an Indigenous woman, who lives in a northern community who is impacted by mining and she just really liked my story,” Roske explained about how she was invited to attend.

“I started when I was 20. I was a radiation technician for 10 years and then kind of within that I did a few other jobs. In the last three years, I actually got the job as the first female jet bore systems operator on site, so I run the drill underground that extracts the ore.”

During the event, the mentors spoke to student about where they came from, how they grew up and how they got to where they are in mining. Roske noted it was an interesting process because a lot of the international mentors didn’t understand much about Indigenous history, what it is like growing up on reserves and how Indigenous Peoples see themselves.

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“The young girls were having a hard time connecting with the international mentors. They are all amazing women, I would never discredit them for that, but they just had it a lot easier and their pasts were a lot different than what ours were like growing up,” she said.

Taryn Roske was one of 10 national and international mentors who attended the event. (Submitted photo/Taryn Roske)

“I broke it down. I talked about my kokum (grandmother) going to residential school and how that affected her and then how being in residential school kind of made her a tough, hard woman. When she started having her own kids, that really affected her own kids. I talked about my mom’s path and her dropping out school, eventually going back and furthering her education. She was always forced to work hard, but didn’t get to have a straight and narrow path.”

Roske added a lot of what her mother and grandmother went through also affected her. She said she never really enjoyed attending school, but she always worked hard and that’s how she found the success she enjoys today.

For the students who participate, Roske mentioned they were exposed to a lot of information and career options while attending the event at Trent University. For herself, she was able to connect with Indigenous mentors and she has since been asked to partake in a webinar on Tuesday talking to people in Australia about nuclear energy.

“A big thing that a lot of us agreed on is we want to see this more done throughout all of Canada because we think it was really beneficial for everyone involved,” Roske said.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno