Category: K-12

How Studying the Brain Transformed my Brain

Lori Saxena: "I began to understand that I didn’t love neuroscience because of the medals and acclaim it gave me, but because of its universality. Because it can be studied and tested and corrected—an ever-expanding, ever-improving existential philosophy."

/ February 17, 2020

Iridescence in a World of Noir

Parin Shaik: "I sacrificed my hobbies and interests for the sole purpose of becoming the epitome of perfection. I became afraid that if I couldn't live up to their expectations, I would be nothing but a failure."

/ July 14, 2019

Lima Beans: An Epiphany

Dr. Mages: I look down at the seedlings in my hands.  Then I say, “These seedlings are a bit like the children you’ll teach.  Each will develop a little differently and each at a different pace.”

/ June 5, 2019

Keep Pushing Forward

Hello! My name is Barakat Oyiza Abubakar. I am a 14 year old girl from a family of 6. I live with my mum and 5 siblings in Abuja, Nigeria. I would tell other girls that no matter the situation...

/ March 8, 2019

But You Are A Girl!

Sophie Farr: "In a society where most famous celebrity women are known for makeup and fashion, most girls think they can’t get anywhere as a woman unless they want to do fashion or art. I want that to change."

/ January 8, 2019

Barriers Are Meant To Be Broken

Taylor Richardson: "But here I am and what I know is that I want to be, no scratch that, I will be a scientist, engineer and an astronaut. I know that everything that has happened to me in my past...

/ June 24, 2018

Debugging The Girl Code: My Journey in Computer Science and Confidence

Anagha Krishnan: Days later, my mind was reeling. How could she say something like that? My mother, who couldn’t attend the conference with me, was very angry when she heard the story. “That’ is absolutely ridiculous,” she said, “You can...

/ June 2, 2018

Moments: My Daughter’s Journey in Science as a Father

People always ask me how my daughter Amoy got into science.  My first thought typically: "Is there an actual event that I can pinpoint?" Was there one particular thing I could isolate and say, "this was the moment." There were definitely several defining moments I can think back to.  Moments like...

/ January 3, 2018

Everything Starts with a Dream

In this camp, there were students from different ages and nationalities. We were trained for an international competition, called Rover Challenge, organized by NASA, for which we had to build a Rover and drive it on a road with obstacles...

/ December 16, 2017

Perseverance to Passion

In my life, perseverance is growing up in the inner city of Flint, Michigan. Gangs, violence, and drugs were part of everyday life. I’ve seen someone being run down by a car, shot in the head, and been shot at...

/ November 25, 2017

From Pond Scum To A Pinnacle of Paleoanthropology

 John S. Mead   – Master Science Teacher –  As a Life Science teacher, I have a deep and passionate love for microscopic life (protists in particular), and was able to rig up a primitive camera to my microscope in the...

/ October 2, 2017

Forever a scientist: How I found my career niche

– Julia Bates –  “No Julia, you are still a scientist. You will always be a scientist”. Those were the words spoken by my mentor Professor Jenny Martin, as we sat drinking coffee in a sunny café in my hometown...

/ August 21, 2017

Better Get Used to Me

– Taylor Richardson | High School Student | The Bolles School –  Speech below was delivered at the 2017 March for Science in Washington, D.C.  My name is Taylor Richardson, I live in Jacksonville, Florida where I attend The Bolles...

/ July 23, 2017

The Courage to Say No

by William Yakah | Undergraduate Student (Neuroscience) | Michigan State University | Like many others in middle school, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be in the future. In 6th grade, my class had a group of college students talk...

/ May 17, 2017

A Ride of a Lifetime

by John Kropowensky | Curriculum Coordinator at Harvard University | The relationship I have had with science has been one of many ups and downs, a roller coaster ride speeding up, stopping suddenly, and revealing the beautiful world at its peak....

/ May 11, 2017

Ordinary Folks Doing Extraordinary Things

by David Denlinger | Department of Biology | Utah State University Everyday when we wake up, whether we recognize it or not, our lives are inspired by science: not being crippled by polio or smallpox, the food we eat, the vehicles...

/ April 27, 2017

Take a Chance On Me

by Jessica Okoro | TEDxLeicester Jessica Okoro the founder and director of BeScience STEM. Their mission is to “bring STEM to communities that do not currently have the opportunity to experience different aspects of STEM and to explore career choices, explore...

/ April 25, 2017

To Be or Not To Be

Fanuel Muindi and Juan Carlos Escobar   Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were 12? I sure do! Well, I recently asked my Little what he wanted to be when he grew up.  I can’t believe...

/ February 26, 2017

A non-linear path to the career I never knew I always wanted

By Valerie K. Haftel Ph.D | Associate Professor of Biology, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA I was always fascinated by animals, and how they work in nature.  I had a fondness for playing in streams with friends, catching frogs, collecting buckets of...

/ February 18, 2017

Just Don’t Tell Me

Don’t tell me not to ask questions. Because I won’t shut up.

/ February 12, 2017

An expedition across the Atlantic Ocean

Stephanie Fiedler, PhD Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg An alarming sound rings through the ice-cold air as a giant crane lifts my heavy boxes. I quickly search for a way through the maze of steep staircases. My adventure on...

/ January 28, 2017

A Lab-Coat AND Hiking Shoes

I've spent my professional life juggling two careers.  First, as a lab neurobiologist, I study rats and cultured neurons, trying to understand how stress damages the brain.  Second, as a field primatologist, I study the effects of social stress and social subordination...

/ January 22, 2017