Maanasa Mendu is the winner of the 2016 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for 5-8th graders. As a result, she earned the title of America’s Top Young Scientist for her energy-harvesting invention. In addition to that flattering title, she won $25,000, a chance to work with a 3M scientist mentor and other prizes. I thought you'd all like to get to know her a bit better. Please note that this is not a sponsored post, but I'm a ... [ Read More ]
Meet Marine Scientist, Dr. Ellen Prager: It’s STEM Girl Friday!
I have once again joined forces with Dawn Dish Detergent to support their wildlife rescue efforts. I had the opportunity to connect with their accomplished and inspiring spokesperson, Dr. Ellen Prager, for this sponsored STEM Girl Friday post. I think it's more important than ever to promote women in STEM and shine a light on environmental issues and empower people to make positive change. So, without further ado... Meet Dr. Ellen ... [ Read More ]
Meet AnnMarie Thomas: It’s STEM Girl Friday!
I had the good fortune to connect with AnnMarie Thomas in real life a couple of years ago. It was a brush with fame! After all, this is the woman who co-created Squishy Circuits! (She did this with one of her undergrad students, but AnnMarie's infectious enthusiasm went a long way toward popularizing them.) Shortly after our meeting I purchased her book, Making Makers (affiliate link). Honestly, it sat on my nightstand for about a year, but I'm ... [ Read More ]
Meet STEM Girl Kristie Reddick of The Bug Chicks
The Bug Chicks are two women who are out to change the way the world thinks about insects. Collectively, The Bug Chicks are two entomologists who earned their advanced degrees in the topic from Texas A&M University. I was fortunate to interview one of them, Kristie Reddick. Meet Entonomologist Kristie Reddick Kristie Reddick has her Masters Degree in Entomology from Texas A&M University where she studied the solifuge arachnids of ... [ Read More ]
Meet App Developer Amy Kraft
One of the great things to come out of #STEMchat was a friendship with Amy Kraft. She's a game designer, writer, and producer, and co-founder of the Monkey Bar Collective, which you'll read about below. She's also mom to two cool kids and a champion of diversity in apps. Meet Amy Kraft You've worked in children's media for a long time. Did you start on the programming end? I started as an artist, actually. I moved to New York as a photographer ... [ Read More ]
Meet Climate Change Champion Madeline Goodwin
Madeline Goodwin is a 19-year-old Master's of Environmental Studies candidate, online STEM teacher, and policy wonk. If things go her way, we'll be calling her Madame President one day. So you’re working on your Master’s degree and you’re how old? Yes, I'm working on my Master's of Environmental Studies degree; I'm 19. I got my Bachelor's of Science at 17. How did you get so far ahead? What was school like in your younger years? I started ... [ Read More ]
Meet Delaney Rua, Creator of the Women in Tech App
A while back I told you about the second annual Congressional App Challenge and now I'm pleased to introduce you to one of the winners, Delaney Rua, a high school student from Gainesville, Florida. As is unfortunately common, Delaney found herself in a AP Computer Science class full of boys. She wanted to empower more girls to not only take the class, but to be open to pursuing careers in technology. She figured that exposing girls to role ... [ Read More ]