Meet the U of T student headed to Ghana to inspire a new crop of astronomers

University of Toronto student Margaret Ikape vividly remembers the first time she looked into a solar telescope.

She was a participant at the West African International Summer School for Young Astronomers in Nigeria, started three years ago with help from U of T astronomers to expose more young West Africans to the field.

"In Nigeria, we didn't have access to solar telescopes," she remembered on CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "I could actually see the sunspots."

At the time an undergraduate at the only university in Nigeria that offered astronomy, the summer program made Ikape feel like a true scientist, encouraging her to continue her studies at a graduate level at the University of Toronto.

It's a feeling she's hoping to pass on.

This week, Ikape is making the long journey to Accra, Ghana to return to the summer school, this time as an instructor.

"It's my wish and my passion to bring up young ones in the study of astronomy and show them how cool the universe is," she said.

Ikape will teach cosmology, helping participants understand the evidence that supports the Big Bang theory.

The school began when U of T astronomers met a Nigerian astronomer at a conference and decided to collaborate.

The first two iterations were held in Nigeria, where Ikape originally comes from and hopes to return to one day as a professor, and this year's program will be held in Ghana.

Beyond looking forward to teaching, Ikape is excited to return to a favourite sight: the West African sky at night.

"So beautiful!" she said. "You look up and you see so many stars smiling back at you."