Library of STEM Professionals
Explore the amazing STEM professionals who have empowered our students!May 2026
Quantitative Hydrogeologist,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
Hi! I’m Eric Moore. I study rivers, streams, and water underground to understand how we impact our waterways. I got my degrees in Geology and Natural Resources and spent a lot of time researching mining, agriculture, and water flow.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was the kid that loved to go down to the river and explore in the water
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy solving puzzles and working through complex issues about the land we live on
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I was originally going to study music but found my passion in water and rocks!
Additional Resources
https://ericmichaelmoore.weebly.com/
Hydrogeologist,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I study water hidden beneath the ground ; that makes me a hydrogeologist! Im also a geologist. I am currently still in school, just like all of you, because learning about things you enjoy is always exciting. I have a really cool job because not only do I get to travel and see rocks, but I also get to investigate how water moves through different layers underground.Sometimes I even fly drones to collect data and take aerial pictures. It’s like being part scientist, part explorer, and part pilot
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was inspired to go into STEM because of the great mentors who encouraged me along the way, and because I have always been the kind of person who wants to know why things happen and how things work. That curiosity helped guide me toward a career where asking questions is actually part of the job.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most about my STEM career is being able to help others by studying and protecting water, while also having amazing adventures along the way. I like that my work can make a difference for communities, and at the same time take me to interesting places where I get to learn something new every day
What is a STEM fact about your field?
That even though we all know water is essential for life, soil is just as important. Without healthy soil, plants could not grow, water could not filter properly, and we would not have stable ground to build on. I like to think of soil as the Earth’s skin — it may not always get much attention, but it holds everything in place, protects it.
Additional Resources
https://www.geosociety.org/
Sr Manager, Product Development / R&D,
Feastables
About Me
Emily Blake works in STEM as a Candy Scientist. She creates the recipes for fun new treats, and has made products for Trolli gummy worms as well as the chocolate candies for Mr Beast’s Feastables brand. She uses science and technology to help make food both safe and tasty.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved to cook with my family and didn’t realize I was doing science in the kitchen until I was older. Science helps us make predictions (a hypothesis) about what might happen when we make changes. Every time we are cooking, we are making little changes to make food tastier, so science helps me make better guesses about what to do when I cook.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Science can be tasty! I love learning something new and getting to put it into an experiment that you can eat. Once people taste my experiment, they can help tell me what was successful and what needs more experiments.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Almost every single food you can buy in the grocery store had a scientist help make it! Sometimes scientists do work that you might think a chef would do.
Additional Resources
Integrated Construction Technology Specialist,
PCL Construction
About Me
Hi! My name is Elizabeth Herr and I am an Integrated Construction Technology (ICT) Specialist at PCL Construction. I have been in this role for 6.5 years and have worked on a variety of projects such as airports, data centers, and laboratories.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I loved the challenge of figuring out how something was made, especially buildings. It was like solving a puzzle, but with giant 3D puzzle pieces.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love being able to introduce technology to project teams that will improve efficiency, solve problems, and create a safer work site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
When ICT is done right, the best work you ever do is fixing problems no one else ever sees.
Additional Resources
Research Engineer
About Me
Tina Ortega is a research engineer. Tina is originally from California and is the first person in her family to go to college. She studied environmental and renewable energy engineering, which uses math and science to find ways to keep the Earth healthy and free of pollution. Specifically, Tina researches marine energy- which is a way to create energy and electricity from the ocean. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors to hike, snowboard, play tennis, camp, and ride her bike.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Tina has always loved being outside, ever since she was a little kid. As she got older, she learned about all about different actions that can harm the environment- from little things like wasting food and littering, all the way to big things like driving gas-powered cars and using non-renewable energy sources. She learned that these actions could cause big problems, like wildfires, biodiversity loss (the loss of local plants and animals), and extreme weather events. Tina wanted to focus her work on finding ways to keep the earth clean and healthy so that everyone can continue enjoying the outdoors.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Her favorite part of her job is knowing that what she is doing is helping make the world a better place. She loves being able to use the STEM skills she learned in school to do research that has sometimes never been done before!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know that the energy we generate from the tides actually comes from the moon? The area of the ocean that faces the moon bulges slightly due to its gravitational pull. As the earth spins, the ocean goes up and down as the moon passes it, and we can use that movement from the ocean to create energy from it using a tidal turbine (similar to a wind turbine, but under water!).
Senior Technical Program Manager,
United States Navy
About Me
I am a Senior Chief in the United States Navy and a Senior Technical Program Manager who helps keep aircraft ready to fly safely. I have spent many years working with teams that fix and test important equipment. I enjoy solving problems and helping others learn new skills. I am also finishing a master’s degree in engineering management. I like showing students how STEM can lead to exciting careers.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was curious about how things worked, especially machines and electronics. I liked taking things apart and learning how to fix them. Joining the Navy gave me a chance to turn that curiosity into a career using science and technology.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy solving complex problems and helping teams succeed. It is rewarding to know my work helps keep people safe and missions moving. I also enjoy mentoring others and helping them grow in their careers.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Aircraft systems must be extremely precise. Even small measurement errors can cause big problems, so we use special tools to test and calibrate equipment. Accuracy and teamwork are critical in aviation.
Additional Resources
NASA STEM: https://www.nasa.gov/stem
How Stuff Works: https://www.howstuffworks.com
Code.org: https://code.org
Test Engineer,
Lockheed Martin
About Me
Mannie Canto is an award-winning engineer, motivational speaker, and resilience coach with over a decade of experience in the defense industry, where he’s worked on cutting-edge technologies from fighter jets to missile systems. But his story didn’t start at the top—it began with failure. After being academically dismissed with a 0.7 GPA, Mannie rebuilt his life, eventually graduating with honors in engineering, earning a Systems Engineering certificate from MIT, and an MBA from LSU.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My dad was into tech and I loved to take his stuff apart
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The process of figuring out a problem
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I repeated multiple grades and failed out of school and still became an engineer.
Additional Resources
Engineer,
GE Aerospace
About Me
Jordan has spent 25 years at GE working on everything from jet engine hardware design, to Lean Six Sigma, and now data science and analytics. He grew up outside of Chicago and lives there now with his family. He has an undergraduate and masters degree in mechanical engineering and a masters in business administration. He also holds an EMT medical license and works part time doing on-site medical for sporting events and concerts. His hobbies are woodworking, 3D printing and baking.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved taking things apart to learn how they worked.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Keeping up with new technology and thinking about how I can make people’s lives easier.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
STEM is knowing how to use the skills you learned and how to learn new skills, it’s not about studying for one job or one technology and memorizing math and equations. Learn how best you learn so you can keep learning new things even as an adult.
Additional Resources
https://swe-rms.swe.org/
https://www.sae.org/
https://www.geaerospace.com/
March 2026
Senior Engineer, Metals and Corrosion
Sirris
About Me
My name is Jérika Lamas, I was born in Brazil but I have Peruvian roots. I currently live in Belgium where I study metals and other materials to understand how they behave and how we can make them stronger and safer. I work on something called corrosion, which is what happens when metal starts to rust or slowly break down, especially in places like the sea. I help find ways to protect big structures, such as wind turbines in the ocean, so they can last a very long time.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My dad was the head of R&D and he was very proud to be an engineer.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Look clever and make the difference.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
It is not an easy environment, especially for foreign women. We have to stand together and show that we are not only capable of doing the job, but that we can truly excel in it.
Additional Resources
Video from WILLOW project: https://willow-project.eu/documents/
Groundwater Modeler,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
Hi! My name is Michelle, and I am a scientist and engineer who studies water underground. I help communities understand where their water comes from and how to protect it for the future. I grew up in Bolivia and now live in Texas, where I work and use science to solve real-world problems.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I loved nature and asking “why.” Growing up in Bolivia, I saw how important clean water is for families and communities. That made me want to study science and engineering so I could help protect natural resources and make a difference.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love solving puzzles that help people. My work protects water for cities, farmers, and future generations. I also enjoy teaching students and showing them how science can create real change in the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know most of Earth’s fresh water is stored underground? Scientists like me study these hidden water systems called aquifers. Some groundwater can be thousands of years old!
Additional Resources
https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/groundwater
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
I’m a project engineer at a construction company helping to manage the job to get the site built on time and under budget. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, mostly solar energy, power lines, and civil construction. I studied civil engineering in college.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always interested in STEM and hands-on learning, but did not decide that I wanted to become an engineer until I started college. I think it’s important to keep your options open and it’s never too late to get involved in the STEM industry.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that I work on sites across the country. I like the flexibility of spending my workday in both the office and outside on site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Civil engineering (roads, bridges, buildings, water supply, etc) is the oldest type of engineering – we’ve always needed it and will continue to need it for the future.
Principal, Technical (Americas)
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Meghan is a mining engineer who has worked in the mining industry for over 15 years. Meghan has used computer software to create 3D models of mines, figuring out where to drill and blast the rock safely. She was also a superintendent who managed crews of underground miners, making sure they are doing their jobs safely and following the plans. Now, she helps teams at mines around the world get better at what they do, and shares these improvements with company leaders and investors.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
As a kid, I was interested in everything from dinosaur bones to designing my ideal bedroom to designing technology like I saw on Star Trek! My hobbies included sewing and baking, so I learned very quickly how important math and chemistry were, whether making myself clothes or making a birthday cake!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy being able to solve problems as a team. As a mining engineering, I am often working with teams of very smart people to try to figure out how to mine valuable materials safely, quickly, efficiently, at the lowest cost and with the least impact on the environment – which can be quite a challenge!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The average modern electronic device (like your phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc.) has more than 35 minerals in it – and all of these come from mining!
Chemist and Soil Scientist,
SoilWise
About Me
I studied chemistry, how tiny molecules interact with each other in college and graduate school. I used to teach college students and now my job is outdoors. I look to see if the soil is healthy for people to live on or eat food from their garden
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always curious about how things worked or why things happened.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to combine different parts of STEM in my job: chemistry, biology, earth science. I also get to help out my local community to work with them to make their soil healthy for them to live in their homes and future homes.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I have a dog who understands 3 languages.
Research Engineer
About Me
Tina Ortega is a research engineer. Tina is originally from California and is the first person in her family to go to college. She studied environmental and renewable energy engineering, which uses math and science to find ways to keep the Earth healthy and free of pollution. Specifically, Tina researches marine energy- which is a way to create energy and electricity from the ocean. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors to hike, snowboard, play tennis, camp, and ride her bike.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Tina has always loved being outside, ever since she was a little kid. As she got older, she learned about all about different actions that can harm the environment- from little things like wasting food and littering, all the way to big things like driving gas-powered cars and using non-renewable energy sources. She learned that these actions could cause big problems, like wildfires, biodiversity loss (the loss of local plants and animals), and extreme weather events. Tina wanted to focus her work on finding ways to keep the earth clean and healthy so that everyone can continue enjoying the outdoors.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Her favorite part of her job is knowing that what she is doing is helping make the world a better place. She loves being able to use the STEM skills she learned in school to do research that has sometimes never been done before!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know that the energy we generate from the tides actually comes from the moon? The area of the ocean that faces the moon bulges slightly due to its gravitational pull. As the earth spins, the ocean goes up and down as the moon passes it, and we can use that movement from the ocean to create energy from it using a tidal turbine (similar to a wind turbine, but under water!).
February 2026
Water Resources Scientist,
Intera, Inc.
About Me
Peter Hunt is a scientist who studies and protects water. He works at a company called INTERA and has a degree in Earth Science from college. He helps many different people and places, like cities, farms, dairies, ski resorts, and even the government, make sure they have clean and safe water in states like New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always had an affinity for science. This combined with some great teachers and mentors inspired me to pursue a career in science.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love figuring out tricky but fun puzzles about water and the Earth. I use real information from nature and cool science tricks to solve them quickly. My work helps people get clean water for drinking, farming, and even playing every day!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Half of all the water used in New Mexico (for everything!) comes from groundwater, especially to help farmers grow food. Almost all the water we use at home for drinking, bathing, and cooking comes from underground too. We have to take good care of this underground water so there’s plenty for everyone now and in the future!
Additional Resources
https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/science/interactive-water-cycle-diagrams-kids
Project Manager,
PCL Construction
About Me
I am Texas born and raised. I have 3 younger sisters. I am a fur mom to 1 cat and 1 dog. I attended the University of Arkansas, obtaining a degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Geology. I now work for PCL Construction as a Project Manager at the airport and really enjoy seeing the positive impacts my team’s work makes on our Colorado communities. My favorite thing to do is go hiking with friends and family and challenge myself to new heights while enjoying nature’s beauties and wonders.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My fascination with bridges and trains. I googled ‘what profession builds bridges’ to complete a physics project in high school and that led me to Civil Engineers. After doing some research on CEs, I quickly decided I needed to be a part of that contribution to our society and wanted to learn more to make these incredible structures more tangible.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy strategizing solutions with those around me and finding win-wins for the project – that is success to me, when all parties at the table can walk away happy with how we overcame a hurdle. I also enjoy
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Thomas Edison held 49 patents related to cement manufacturing.
Principal, Technical (Americas)
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Meghan is a mining engineer who has worked in the mining industry for over 15 years. Meghan has used computer software to create 3D models of mines, figuring out where to drill and blast the rock safely. She was also a superintendent who managed crews of underground miners, making sure they are doing their jobs safely and following the plans. Now, she helps teams at mines around the world get better at what they do, and shares these improvements with company leaders and investors.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
As a kid, I was interested in everything from dinosaur bones to designing my ideal bedroom to designing technology like I saw on Star Trek! My hobbies included sewing and baking, so I learned very quickly how important math and chemistry were, whether making myself clothes or making a birthday cake!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy being able to solve problems as a team. As a mining engineering, I am often working with teams of very smart people to try to figure out how to mine valuable materials safely, quickly, efficiently, at the lowest cost and with the least impact on the environment – which can be quite a challenge!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The average modern electronic device (like your phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc.) has more than 35 minerals in it – and all of these come from mining!
Project Engineer, PCL Construction
About Me
Hi my name is Brandee, I have been working with PCL Construction for close to 2 years. I work with designers and builders to help turn a building drawn on a piece of paper into a real life building. I was born and raised in Colorado. Outside of work I like to go to the pool, play sports outside, and play with my dogs!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always enjoyed building things and I liked working in a group with other people. I have always loved roller coasters and was interested in how they were built, that lead me down the path of a career in STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy watching the project come to life. I am currently on an apartment building and it is amazing to know I am helping build something that people will call their home and enjoy being in every day. I like the idea that we are adding to the community and people are able to drive by a building and see everything the entire team accomplished.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are so many different jobs needed at a construction company! For example, a company may need: superintendent, financial manager, human resources, labor and craftworker, business development finding new projects, estimator, safety coordinator, and so much more!
Principle Underground Mine Engineer, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi, my name is Austin Powell and I am an underground mining engineer. I grew up with a fascination in science and technology and excelled in my math and science classes. I participated in Odyssey of the Mind, Space Club, and many other STEM based programs. I attended the Colorado School of Mines where I was able to become a mining engineer. I really enjoy working in the mining industry and all of the complex challenges it brings. I have been in mining for almost 15 years.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Growing up some of my favorite channels to watch were the Discovery Channel and the History channel. At that time, there were so many cool engineering shows that showed all the cool things that people have built. I have always enjoyed learning about how things work and still enjoy doing that as an adult with my job and my hobbies.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The thing that I enjoy the most is that I get to solve complex problems everyday. I enjoy the process of designing a mine and how we will get all of the ore out. I enjoy all of the new tools and technology that allows us to mine in ways we never have before. I also really enjoy working with coworkers who are from all over the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The average American now consumes 37mil lbs. of minerals, metals and fuel, over the course of a lifetime. That includes 2,000lbs of copper, 6,000lbs of aluminum, 1,000lbs of lead, 1,000 lbs. of zinc and 1.8 oz of gold per person. All of these minerals have to mined from the earth in some or fashion.
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
I’m a project engineer at a construction company helping to manage the job to get the site built on time and under budget. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, mostly solar energy, power lines, and civil construction. I studied civil engineering in college.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always interested in STEM and hands-on learning, but did not decide that I wanted to become an engineer until I started college. I think it’s important to keep your options open and it’s never too late to get involved in the STEM industry.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that I work on sites across the country. I like the flexibility of spending my workday in both the office and outside on site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Civil engineering (roads, bridges, buildings, water supply, etc) is the oldest type of engineering – we’ve always needed it and will continue to need it for the future.
Advisor, Sales & Marketing, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi, I’m Brittany Martinez, and I’ve been with Newmont for eight years. I’ve always had a strong passion for learning, particularly in math and science, which led me to pursue a degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Born and raised in Colorado, I enjoy cooking and spending quality time with my family.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I had amazing teachers who encouraged me to challenge myself academically. Growing up, I was curious about how things worked and was interested in solving problems
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love thinking critically and solving problems. It is really inspiring to see your idea come to life and have an impact. I also enjoy working with different people and learning about their point of view.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
It is amazing to see the many types of people who contribute to the mining process- geologists, mine engineers, metallurgists, environmental scientists, and more!
Lecturer,
University of Kentucky – Paducah extended campus
About Me
Dr. Gisella Lamas is a Brazilian/Peruvian environmental engineer. She teaches engineering at the University of Kentucky – Paducah Extended campus. Her experience has been in laboratory setting for pharmaceutical, dairy and wastewater treatment facilities. Dr. Lamas is actively involved in outreach opportunities with the Society of Women Engineers, a society which promotes and encourages girls in STEM. She has a dog named Moscow and a proud aunt to Helena and Victoria.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always liked video games and sci-fi movies. I wanted to be a scientist just like in the games I would play. Those games also had female lead characters. I did not have other role models who were scientists. My father was an engineer, which made the transition between science and engineering more interesting.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I like the way we think and how we integrate creativity with logical skills. I am not the fastest thinker or someone who can do math very fast. I like to think through a problem and try to solve it as a puzzle or a mystery novel. I also enjoy finding innovative ways of solving things. Engineers are problem solvers and that is what I love doing.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I am very involved with the United Nations and provide my expertise to many reports which are related to the environment. I have this side job of being a scientist diplomat and I like to teach my students about that. I plan to move to diplomacy in the future, but there is a lot to do by teaching.
December 2025
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
I’m a project engineer at a construction company helping to manage the job to get the site built on time and under budget. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, mostly solar energy, power lines, and civil construction. I studied civil engineering in college.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always interested in STEM and hands-on learning, but did not decide that I wanted to become an engineer until I started college. I think it’s important to keep your options open and it’s never too late to get involved in the STEM industry.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that I work on sites across the country. I like the flexibility of spending my workday in both the office and outside on site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Civil engineering (roads, bridges, buildings, water supply, etc) is the oldest type of engineering – we’ve always needed it and will continue to need it for the future.
Project Engineer, PCL Construction
About Me
Hi my name is Brandee, I have been working with PCL Construction for close to 2 years. I work with designers and builders to help turn a building drawn on a piece of paper into a real life building. I was born and raised in Colorado. Outside of work I like to go to the pool, play sports outside, and play with my dogs!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always enjoyed building things and I liked working in a group with other people. I have always loved roller coasters and was interested in how they were built, that lead me down the path of a career in STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy watching the project come to life. I am currently on an apartment building and it is amazing to know I am helping build something that people will call their home and enjoy being in every day. I like the idea that we are adding to the community and people are able to drive by a building and see everything the entire team accomplished.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are so many different jobs needed at a construction company! For example, a company may need: superintendent, financial manager, human resources, labor and craftworker, business development finding new projects, estimator, safety coordinator, and so much more!
STEM College Student
About Me
Hi! I’m Jocelyn, a college senior studying Geophysics and Computer Science with a minor in Electrical Engineering. I’m a first-generation college student, which means I’m the first in my family to go to college! I’m Latina, grew up in a low-income family, and I have a learning disability, but none of that stopped me from following my dreams. I love leading clubs that help other students discover engineering and computer science. My big dream is to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always curious about how things work and loved asking “why?” questions. Even though I had a learning disability and school was sometimes hard, I never gave up. I realized that engineering and science let me solve real problems and help people. Seeing the lack of people who looked like me in STEM made me want to be the representation.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love that every day brings new challenges and discoveries! Whether I’m studying ocean creatures, writing computer code, designing circuits, or teaching younger students about robotics, I’m always learning something new. The best part is inspiring students like you to see that you belong in STEM too. Helping others discover their potential.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Geophysics, computer science, and electrical engineering work together in amazing ways! The sensors that detect earthquakes use electrical circuits, and computers analyze the data. These same skills help design Mars rovers, create medical devices, or build smartphones. Scientists and engineers from different backgrounds often make the best discover
Additional Resources
NASA’s Space Place for Kids: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/
Code.org – Learn computer programming: https://code.org/
Girls Who Code: https://girlswhocode.com/
SHPE Jr. Programs: https://shpe.org/students/shpe-jr/
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Kids’ Club: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/
Research Engineer
About Me
Tina Ortega is a research engineer. Tina is originally from California and is the first person in her family to go to college. She studied environmental and renewable energy engineering, which uses math and science to find ways to keep the Earth healthy and free of pollution. Specifically, Tina researches marine energy- which is a way to create energy and electricity from the ocean. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors to hike, snowboard, play tennis, camp, and ride her bike.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Tina has always loved being outside, ever since she was a little kid. As she got older, she learned about all about different actions that can harm the environment- from little things like wasting food and littering, all the way to big things like driving gas-powered cars and using non-renewable energy sources. She learned that these actions could cause big problems, like wildfires, biodiversity loss (the loss of local plants and animals), and extreme weather events. Tina wanted to focus her work on finding ways to keep the earth clean and healthy so that everyone can continue enjoying the outdoors.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Her favorite part of her job is knowing that what she is doing is helping make the world a better place. She loves being able to use the STEM skills she learned in school to do research that has sometimes never been done before!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know that the energy we generate from the tides actually comes from the moon? The area of the ocean that faces the moon bulges slightly due to its gravitational pull. As the earth spins, the ocean goes up and down as the moon passes it, and we can use that movement from the ocean to create energy from it using a tidal turbine (similar to a wind turbine, but under water!).
October 2025
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
I’m a project engineer at a construction company helping to manage the job to get the site built on time and under budget. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, mostly solar energy, power lines, and civil construction. I studied civil engineering in college.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always interested in STEM and hands-on learning, but did not decide that I wanted to become an engineer until I started college. I think it’s important to keep your options open and it’s never too late to get involved in the STEM industry.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that I work on sites across the country. I like the flexibility of spending my workday in both the office and outside on site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Civil engineering (roads, bridges, buildings, water supply, etc) is the oldest type of engineering – we’ve always needed it and will continue to need it for the future.
Ecological Risk Assessor,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I grew up in Benton City, WA. I enjoy spending time with my family, hiking, and doing Tough Mudder events. Growing up I was a student athlete playing football and wrestling, performing in a concert band, and competing on a math and science team. I attended Central Washington University where I earned my BS and MS in Biology with an emphasis on wildlife biology and herpetology. I then worked in clinical trial cancer research before starting my career as an ecological risk assessor.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always loved animals and the world around me. I remember the big “Eureka” moment for me was in middle school when I took my first biology class. I fell in love with the idea of spending my life learning about the world and how things work, the interconnections between different objects and beings in the environment.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Problem solving! We often face many different problems that require unique solutions or a lot of critical thinking to solve. Working for a consulting company and supporting a lot of different industries, keeps things exciting and new. Depending on the project, you get to see direct impacts of the work you are doing.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Ecological risk assessment helps us understand how human activities can affect nature.
Chemist and Soil Scientist,
SoilWise
About Me
I studied chemistry, how tiny molecules interact with each other in college and graduate school. I used to teach college students and now my job is outdoors. I look to see if the soil is healthy for people to live on or eat food from their garden
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always curious about how things worked or why things happened.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to combine different parts of STEM in my job: chemistry, biology, earth science. I also get to help out my local community to work with them to make their soil healthy for them to live in their homes and future homes.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I have a dog who understands 3 languages.
President – Water Resources & Supply Line of Business, Principal Engineer,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I grew up in India and moved to the US for graduate school. There I got the chance to combine my love for the environmental and computers by learning to build “groundwater models” (computer programs that can tell you about the amount and type of water underground). I have worked at INTERA for 18 years and live in the Los Angeles area. I have a 16 y.o. daughter who loves volleyball and 13 y.o. son who loves soccer. In my free time I love to listen to music and play board games with my family.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always a curious kid…STEM allowed me to learn about and discover things about the world around me. To me knowing how nature, animals, plants, and people work seems like a superpower!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The part I love about my job is working with people to find solutions to really hard problems like water scarcity and climate change. These solutions always involve people working together instead of against each other. Teamwork rules! Working together we can make our planet a better place for the people, animals, and plants that live on it.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Environmental Science/Engineering is a very multidisciplinary field. It’s the perfect blend of everything you study in school – math, physics, biology, chemistry, computer science, economics…even human psychology! You can find something to love whatever your interest and passion.
Additional Resources
Carbon Removal Specialist
About Me
Dr. Krishna Raghav Chaturvedi is a scientist who helps people learn and work better. They won a big award for their smart ideas about clean energy like solar and wind. They lead teams, help with science contests, and work with people around the world to make learning fun and fair for everyone. They’ve also helped judge fun science contests like the Carbon Removal Challenge, where kids and adults think of ways to clean up the Earth.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I was inspired to explore science because I wanted to help people and solve real problems. I saw how science could make life better—like clean energy for homes, safe water to drink, and better health for everyone. I believed science wasn’t just about experiments, but about making a difference in society.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most is knowing that our work helps people and communities. It feels good to see our ideas turn into real projects that make a difference—like cleaner energy, better education, or new opportunities for others. Doing good and seeing the impact is the best part of my STEM career.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Carbon is super cool because it can be soft like pencil lead (graphite) or super hard like diamonds! It can flow as easily as gas (methane) to being as sticky as crude oil. It’s the same element, just arranged differently. Plus, carbon is everywhere—in the air, in plants, in our bodies, and even in space. It’s one of the building blocks of life!
September 2025
Exploration Technology Specialist (Geologist),
Newmont Mining
About Me
I am Molly Giebel and I have been a geologist with Newmont for 13 years. I was born in Pennsylvania, but have lived in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. I met my husband at the bottom of a gold mine! How cool is that! I have two little boys who both love being outside and claim they want to look at rocks and be geologists just like Mom and Dad. My favorite things to do outside of work are garden, dance and play/watch sports with my family.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I took a field trip in 5th grade to Wallops Island, Virginia. I was immediately hooked on anything science related. In middle school and high school, I signed up for trips with the Girl Scouts like living on a schooner boat in Michigan to study invasive species for a week.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love all the different opportunities I get each year. No two days are the same and working for a global company I get to work with people ALL over the world. Over the last few years I went to Ghana, Argentina, Canada and Suriname.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The Colorado state rock is the Yule Marble which was used to make the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Director, Geometallurgy, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, Kelly Murphey Cooper has always demonstrated a keen interest in understanding of how things work. She earned her degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Montana Tech, where she developed a focused expertise in mineral processing and optimization. Since joining Newmont, Kelly has amassed 19 years of experience working at various mining sites throughout the United States and has gained international exposure through her professional travels.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
From a young age, I was driven by a deep curiosity about how things worked and how I could make them better. I constantly asked questions and experimented with ideas—always seeking to understand and improve.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the constant opportunity to explore, innovate, and collaborate. Every deposit presents a new challenge, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see how scientific curiosity and technical rigor lead to meaningful improvements and deeper understanding. I also get to work with incredible people from diverse backgrounds, which makes it very enriching.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Geometallurgy helps predict how rocks will behave during processing—before they’re even mined
Additional Resources
Head of Geotechnical and Hydrogeology,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi! I’m Kate, Head of Geotechnical and Hydrogeology at a mining company. I help keep people and the environment safe by studying rocks and water deep underground. It’s like being a detective for the Earth! I use science, technology, and teamwork to solve problems. If you love digging, asking questions, or building things, geotechnical engineering could be your next big adventure!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I grew up on a sheep farm and was always curious about how things worked—especially in nature. I loved maths at school and enjoyed solving puzzles, so STEM felt like a natural fit. Now I get to use those same skills to solve real problems in the ground beneath our feet!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love that my job takes me to amazing places—sometimes deep in the desert or high up in the mountains! I get to explore, solve tricky problems, and work with great people from around the world. Every day is different, and there’s always something new to discover!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I’ve worked almost 6,500 feet underground—that’s like going down deeper than 21 Statue of Liberties stacked on top of each other! In geotechnical engineering, we explore deep below the surface to keep people and projects safe. It’s like an underground mission!
Director Metallurgical Services, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Born in England to Venezuelan parents, Janet moved to Venezuela as a child, where she completed her school years and developed a passion for chemistry. She earned a Chemistry degree in Venezuela and a PhD in Canada. Upon completing her degree, she worked at a gold mine in USA, where she applied her knowledge to find ways to better extract gold from ores. She has since worked in various regions of Canada and USA, contributing her expertise to two of the world’s largest gold mining companies.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My first introduction to STEM came from my father, also a Chemist, he was always explaining how everything works and I loved that. He encouraged me to enter a science fair and I had so much fun designing a solar grill and coming up with experiments and I started learning about chemical elements and reactions and I found it fascinating.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to work with a great group of people from diverse backgrounds on generating ideas to improve processes and coming up with solution to different challenges. We get to test a whole variety of reactions and analyze data to understand how metals behave in different systems.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Metallurgy is a cross-disciplinary field involving a range of scientific principles, where we get to combine chemistry, physics, engineering, and technological innovations to extract metals that we utilize on our daily liveswrote, “first actual bug found.”
Principal Hydrogeochemist,
INTERA, Inc.
About Me
I am a geologist, also known as an earth scientist. I study rocks and water for mining companies to manage water resources and minimize the potential environmental impacts of mining.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I like being outdoors (hiking, biking, rock climbing), so geology allowed me a outdoor career. My father worked for an oil company, so many of the people we associated with were geologists when I was young.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The technical challenge and learning new things
What is a STEM fact about your field?
If it can’t be grown, it has to be mined.
Additional Resources
https://www.smenet.org/Student-Resources/Teaching-Aids-Resource-Materials
Quantitative Hydrogeologist,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
Hi! I’m Eric Moore. I study rivers, streams, and water underground to understand how we impact our waterways. I got my degrees in Geology and Natural Resources and spent a lot of time researching mining, agriculture, and water flow.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was the kid that loved to go down to the river and explore in the water
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy solving puzzles and working through complex issues about the land we live on
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I was originally going to study music but found my passion in water and rocks!
Additional Resources
https://ericmichaelmoore.weebly.com/
Research Engineer
About Me
Tina Ortega is a research engineer. Tina is originally from California and is the first person in her family to go to college. She studied environmental and renewable energy engineering, which uses math and science to find ways to keep the Earth healthy and free of pollution. Specifically, Tina researches marine energy- which is a way to create energy and electricity from the ocean. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors to hike, snowboard, play tennis, camp, and ride her bike.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Tina has always loved being outside, ever since she was a little kid. As she got older, she learned about all about different actions that can harm the environment- from little things like wasting food and littering, all the way to big things like driving gas-powered cars and using non-renewable energy sources. She learned that these actions could cause big problems, like wildfires, biodiversity loss (the loss of local plants and animals), and extreme weather events. Tina wanted to focus her work on finding ways to keep the earth clean and healthy so that everyone can continue enjoying the outdoors.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Her favorite part of her job is knowing that what she is doing is helping make the world a better place. She loves being able to use the STEM skills she learned in school to do research that has sometimes never been done before!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know that the energy we generate from the tides actually comes from the moon? The area of the ocean that faces the moon bulges slightly due to its gravitational pull. As the earth spins, the ocean goes up and down as the moon passes it, and we can use that movement from the ocean to create energy from it using a tidal turbine (similar to a wind turbine, but under water!).
Director of Engineering and Tech Services, Phillips 66
About Me
Susi was born and raised in Colombia and lived in Louisiana, Florida and Paris for a few years before graduating from High School. After graduating from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil foundations Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, she joined Soletanche Bachy, a French company specialized in geotechnical work designing deep and tunnels in South America and the Caribbean. After two years in the workplace, she then moved to Ithaca to pursue her Masters in Engineering Management at Cornell University, from which she graduated in 2008. Ms. Lara-Mesa joined CDM Smith where she focused her work in water distribution and water management systems, and water, wastewater and reclaimed water treatment plants. She was also involved with the Harvard Allston Development Complex as one of the integration Engineers and designing a central energy distribution facility which combined gas turbines, geothermal wells, solar and wind energy.
In 2010, she joined K.P. Kauffman Company where she was the Vice President of Engineering for over nine years. She oversaw the drilling, completion, production, and abandonment operations, and also the regulatory compliance and government affairs. While at KPK, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. She is now the Director of Technical Services in the North Business Unit of DCP Midstream. As so, she is in charge of the Asset Engineering Team in the plants and booster stations, and their Reliability Program. She is also actively involved with Engineering Day for Girls, a program that allows female High School students to spend time with female Engineers understanding what they do and engaging them to pursue careers in Math and Science.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My dad, who is a Civil Engineer too.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Making people’s lives better on a daily basis.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I never have two days that are the same, my teams are constantly solving different problems and I constantly collaborate with different disciplines as we try to find answers.
Project Engineer, PCL Construction
About Me
Hi my name is Brandee, I have been working with PCL Construction for close to 2 years. I work with designers and builders to help turn a building drawn on a piece of paper into a real life building. I was born and raised in Colorado. Outside of work I like to go to the pool, play sports outside, and play with my dogs!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always enjoyed building things and I liked working in a group with other people. I have always loved roller coasters and was interested in how they were built, that lead me down the path of a career in STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy watching the project come to life. I am currently on an apartment building and it is amazing to know I am helping build something that people will call their home and enjoy being in every day. I like the idea that we are adding to the community and people are able to drive by a building and see everything the entire team accomplished.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are so many different jobs needed at a construction company! For example, a company may need: superintendent, financial manager, human resources, labor and craftworker, business development finding new projects, estimator, safety coordinator, and so much more!
Past Presenters
Director of Cyber Security, DCP Midstream
About Me
As the Director of Cybersecurity, I lead a team of engineers and analysts protecting DCP Midstream from cybersecurity threats. Additionally, I served for more than 26 years in the United States Air Force. I have traveled throughout the world to include Iraq, Jordan, Brazil, South Korea, Djibouti and Italy. My civilian education consists of B.S. in Management Information Systems and an MBA from Colorado State University.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
As a child, I always had interest in understanding how things actually worked. Also, I would always enjoy helping my father perform maintenance on our cars and home. While he was working I would ask questions about what the different components did and how that fit into the overall function.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy using STEM to help keep people safe so they can enjoy life.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving field which means that everyday we face problems and threats that we did not know about the previous day. Our career field needs students like you to utilize the concepts learned in school and help us solve problems
CEO,
Planet Earthlings
About Me
Greg has directed an indie feature film, an animation/live-action TV pilot, written novels, songs, stories, poetry and articles. As an entrepreneur he’s managed diverse projects from an online stock market trading platform to creating games to spread kindness. He’s also worked as a project management consultant in the tech industry, is a TEDx speaker and in 2022 I was honored by the Prime Minister of India for his “…work in visual media and using it to create a better world…”
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was obsessed with science and math as a young man. At 13 I designed a car for the blind which almost 50 years ago was quite similar to self-driving vehicles of today. I also designed a two person submarine and actually create a working 1/20 size model. I’ve always seen science and technology as having the ability to cure the ills of the world.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love creating things to try and make the world a better place. This has been supported by a multiple of skills from math, computer programming and analytical thinking.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Game development is in my view the most fun you can have using advanced technology. We integrate high tech, advanced design with psychology, education and lots of play!
Additional Resources
www.unity.com
www.unrealengine.com
www.godotengine.org
Executive VP and Principal Hydrogeologist,
INTERA Inc.
About Me
I have a M.S in Geology from New Mexico Tech in Socorro. I have worked for the New Mexico Environment Department and the City of ABQ for the first 5 years after graduate school. I joined INTERA Inc. in April of 1991 and have been here ever since. My technical work has been focused on groundwater impact evaluations. I also get involved with business development opportunities in the environmental and water resources disciplines.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
A love of geology and hydrology.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Working with INTERA’s talented geologists and hydrogeologists
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Particularly in the early part of your career in the geosciences you get to spend time outdoors, in beautiful places.
Software Engineer, Medkeeper
About Me
My name is Emily Baker. I was born in Nanjing, China and adopted when I was 2.5. I have lived in Colorado since then. I knew that I wanted to go into STEM since I was in elementary school because I was always curious about how things were made and how they worked. I now work at Medkeeper as a software engineer. We create web applications that are used in hospital pharmacies. It is a very rewarding experience to know that the work I do has a positive impact on people all over the world.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I remember tinkering around with old computers and cellphones and was fascinated by their complexity and capabilities.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that each day brings a new challenge and I’m not stuck doing the same repetitive thing everyday. I’m always learning and trying new things. It allows me to be both creative and analytical.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Grace Hopper, one of the first female computer scientists, coined the terms “bug” and “de-bug” as related to computer errors. One day a computer failure stumped Hopper and her team until she opened the machine and found a moth inside! Taping the moth into her log book, she wrote, “first actual bug found.”
Metallurgist-Origination,
DRA Global
About Me
Meet Sejal Kaur Banga, an engineer who loves solving problems using science and technology. Sejal studied Chemical Engineering and has worked for two years in the mining and resource industries, helping make processes like mining and production more efficient and safer. She currently works as a Metallurgist at DRA Americas, where they use cool software tools to design mines and mining equipment improve how things work. Sejal is also passionate about mentoring and helping others learn.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I was always curious about how things worked and how problems could be solved with science and technology. I loved asking questions, experimenting, and finding ways to make things better. This curiosity led me to explore STEM fields, especially engineering, because it allowed me to use my creativity and problem-solving skills.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most about my STEM career is the opportunity to solve real-world problems and make a positive impact. I also really enjoy working with different people—engineers, scientists, and students—and learning from them while sharing my knowledge. It’s exciting to see how teamwork, problem-solving, and new ideas can make a difference.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
An interesting fact I’d like to share is how much technology helps make things work better in industries like mining. We use computers and cool tools to find ways to make processes safer, faster, and more eco-friendly. Using technology the right way can change the world for better.
Director Metallurgical Services, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Born in England to Venezuelan parents, Janet moved to Venezuela as a child, where she completed her school years and developed a passion for chemistry. She earned a Chemistry degree in Venezuela and a PhD in Canada. Upon completing her degree, she worked at a gold mine in USA, where she applied her knowledge to find ways to better extract gold from ores. She has since worked in various regions of Canada and USA, contributing her expertise to two of the world’s largest gold mining companies.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My first introduction to STEM came from my father, also a Chemist, he was always explaining how everything works and I loved that. He encouraged me to enter a science fair and I had so much fun designing a solar grill and coming up with experiments and I started learning about chemical elements and reactions and I found it fascinating.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to work with a great group of people from diverse backgrounds on generating ideas to improve processes and coming up with solution to different challenges. We get to test a whole variety of reactions and analyze data to understand how metals behave in different systems.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Metallurgy is a cross-disciplinary field involving a range of scientific principles, where we get to combine chemistry, physics, engineering, and technological innovations to extract metals that we utilize on our daily liveswrote, “first actual bug found.”
Material Development Engineer, Gates Corporation
About Me
I grew up on a farm in mid-Missouri. I loved being outside and helping my dad fix equipment but I also loved baking and creating new recipes. When I took a chemistry class, I really enjoyed learning about what makes up all the different materials in the world–it was like making recipes to create new things. I combined my love of chemistry and math as a chemical engineer. Now I get to enjoy putting materials together in new ways to create new products at Gates.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My father was an engineer and so I aspired to follow in his footsteps. I also always enjoyed logic puzzles growing up and math and science were some of my favorite classes.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the challenge of my career. It is fun to be able to be to dream up ways to improve Gates products or envision new products to address a need in the market. Being in materials development, I am able to support a lot of different product projects and I really enjoy having this variety in my projects.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Only 28% of engineers are women globally: 20.4% in the US, 48.5% in Algeria. Also Hedy Lamarr, a famous 1930s movie actress, made significant engineering contributions to today’s wireless networks.
Bioastronautics PhD Researcher, CU Boulder
About Me
I’m Luca, a Colorado native and aerospace engineering PhD student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and I’ve always dreamed of being an astronaut! In the past, I’ve worked in Mission Operations for NASA missions, and now I’m doing research that will hopefully help make living in space easier. I hope to one day design medical systems for astronauts going to the moon and Mars (and maybe go there myself!). Outside of school, I love reading, writing, doing art, and exploring the outdoors.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I’ve always been fascinated by space, and wanted to become an astronaut ever since I was very young. On top of that, my dad is an engineer and my mom is a scientist, so I always was interested in what they did, and getting to explore the natural world on camping trips and hikes throughout my childhood fueled my curiosity.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
My motto is “you learn something new every day,” and this is my favorite part of working in STEM! Working with other scientists and engineers, we’re always asking new questions and seeking answers; STEM pushes us to always keep exploring and teaches us something new every day.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Since 2000, there has not been a single second of time where there was not at least one human being in outer space. Even right now, there are several astronauts on the International Space Station, flying over our heads at 17,400 miles per hour, and they experience 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day!
Additional Resources
https://www.nasa.gov/stem
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/this-is-what-outer-space-does-to-your-body
https://themarsgeneration.org/
https://ssec.si.edu/fed-space-resources
https://discoverspace.org/
Ecological Risk Assessor,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I grew up in Benton City, WA. I enjoy spending time with my family, hiking, and doing Tough Mudder events. Growing up I was a student athlete playing football and wrestling, performing in a concert band, and competing on a math and science team. I attended Central Washington University where I earned my BS and MS in Biology with an emphasis on wildlife biology and herpetology. I then worked in clinical trial cancer research before starting my career as an ecological risk assessor.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always loved animals and the world around me. I remember the big “Eureka” moment for me was in middle school when I took my first biology class. I fell in love with the idea of spending my life learning about the world and how things work, the interconnections between different objects and beings in the environment.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Problem solving! We often face many different problems that require unique solutions or a lot of critical thinking to solve. Working for a consulting company and supporting a lot of different industries, keeps things exciting and new. Depending on the project, you get to see direct impacts of the work you are doing.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Ecological risk assessment helps us understand how human activities can affect nature.
Additional Resources
https://www.epa.gov/risk
https://www.intera.com/services/environmental/human-health-and-ecological-risk-assessment/
Principal, Technical (Americas)
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Meghan is a mining engineer who has worked in the mining industry for over 15 years. Meghan has used computer software to create 3D models of mines, figuring out where to drill and blast the rock safely. She was also a superintendent who managed crews of underground miners, making sure they are doing their jobs safely and following the plans. Now, she helps teams at mines around the world get better at what they do, and shares these improvements with company leaders and investors.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
As a kid, I was interested in everything from dinosaur bones to designing my ideal bedroom to designing technology like I saw on Star Trek! My hobbies included sewing and baking, so I learned very quickly how important math and chemistry were, whether making myself clothes or making a birthday cake!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy being able to solve problems as a team. As a mining engineering, I am often working with teams of very smart people to try to figure out how to mine valuable materials safely, quickly, efficiently, at the lowest cost and with the least impact on the environment – which can be quite a challenge!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The average modern electronic device (like your phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc.) has more than 35 minerals in it – and all of these come from mining!
Additional Resources
https://miningmatters.ca/
https://mineralsed.ca/learning-resources/virtual-library/mining/
https://www.miningneedsyou.ca/
Exploration Project Geologist,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
I grew up in Albuquerque, NM and Herrin, IL. I love exploring the outdoors with my dogs, playing in the dirt and looking at rocks, camping, and riding my motorcycle. In school, I did math team, science team, scholar bowl, drafting team, volleyball, cross country, track/field, and yearbook. I joined the Army after 9/11 and went to Afghanistan in 2003. I then went to college and got my Bachelors and Masters in Geology. I worked for Newmont in NV, and now work for Newmont in Australia.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I had some supportive and caring science and math teachers. I joined all the clubs and sports I could to stay out of the house, my science/math teachers helped me to do that. My parents wanted me to be a Doctor or Pharmacist. I chose geology instead, we can all choose our own paths!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Exploring how the earth as we know it was formed is by far my favorite thing. I get to be the first person to ever see a rock formation for the first time, with my own eyes. I then get to build a model that shows how the rocks were bent, how fluids flow up through them carrying minerals, and the effects of tectonic plates crashing into each other
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Without mining there would be no cell phones, no razors or skateboards, no bicycles, no planes, trains, or automobiles, no computers, no roads, no metal knives or utensils, no pots, woks, or pans. no pencils, pens, chalk, chalk boards, no dry erase board either. All we would have is things made of wood, bone, and leather.
Additional Resources
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/projects-lessons-activities/geology/middle-school
District Manager/Patrol Lieutenant,
Larimer County Natural Resources
About Me
I learned to love the outdoors going camping and hiking with my family. I loved wildlife and nature and went to college to learn more about it. Colorado State University provided an opportunity for me to receive a degree in Wildlife Biology. I have worked as a park ranger for 22 years. I get to hike, work on a patrol boat and drive a patrol truck while being a first responder in our community. We protect the people and natural resources. Its the greatest job I could have wished for. in love with it.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Being outdoors and learning about habitats and wildlife was really fascinating to me. Visiting parks and learning from park rangers about bats or snakes or bears was really cool too!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Several of my passions are put together in one job. I feel like I make a difference and help people learn to respect and love the outdoors too.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are dangers and risks everywhere you go, if you learn about nature and how to respect it, you can do and see some incredibly beautiful things, safely. Adventure is worth it!
Additional Resources
Senior Consultant, Resultant
About Me
I am an IT Program Manager with a passion for solving problems and achieving valuable outcomes! I have a Communications degree, which licenses me to do nothing… but offered me the opportunity to explore different types of roles. I ended up finding my niche in technology; I lovingly have coined my calling as a Geek Translator. I am not a technical resource, however, I understand systems and how they work together. I am a leader that brings organization to technology efforts.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Not applicable to me. I did not enjoy math or science. However, in the professional world, where you get to see those practice areas up close… I became fascinated with technology.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Continuous learning and working with great people are my favorite parts of my career.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Program and project management is a lot of work, but so very rewarding. Project teams are built of diverse individuals, with different skill sets and personalities. It’s like coaching a team to a Championship!
Radiation Belt Researcher, CU Boulder
About Me
Hi! My name is Julia. I am in graduate school (that means 17th grade!). My job is to talk to spaceships and ask them what’s going on in space! They tell me, but they talk in a secret code of numbers that I have to decode using my computer. Once I’ve figured out their secret language, I write stories using what the spaceships told me about life in space.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Looking at the stars! I was always fascinated by how big the universe is and how much we have to learn about it. I always wanted to be a part of bringing the stars to Earth, and now I am!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love getting to talk about space all day! Each day at work, I get to engage with the thing that excites me most in the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The satellite I’m using to learn about space is only about 1 foot long!
Director, Data Governance, Newmont Corporation
About Me
I grew up on a farm in a poor family in southern Colorado. I worked hard in school, went to college and got an Electrical Engineering degree. Since then, I’ve worked for companies that did all sorts of things – railroads, airlines, manufacturing, oil and gas, and now mining. I have had the opportunity to travel the world for work, meet lots of interesting people, and learn things that I would never have seen if I had stayed on the farm.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was originally going to study business, but a close family friend encouraged me to try Engineering. I didn’t know anything about engineering but I trusted his opinion so I decided to try it. I found out it was really cool to design new things that everybody needs in their every day life to make life easier/more fun
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Learning about how so many different things work, and how/why things are different in different places. Also, knowing that what I do, makes other peoples’ job easier is a big motivator.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
With an engineering degree of pretty much any type – you can work in that field, or you can use that logical thinking to be successful in any career. There is almost nothing you can’t do as an engineer – it teaches you how to learn, how to solve problems in different ways, how to think logically – all skills that are needed in every line of work.
Senior Project Leader, The Aerospace Corporation
About Me
Paul is a seasoned satellite operator and engineering expert with over 30 years of diverse expertise across government, military and commercial aerospace, IT, and communications infrastructure construction management.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I built and flew airplanes and rockets when I was young. My father and uncle were technical guys.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The relationships I build while solving complex problems. I get to learn people and tech at the same time.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
It takes a diverse team to solve complex problems. Not everyone is an engineer or scientist. We need artist, musicians, logistics, people ops, industrial phycologist, financial analysist, contracts, facilities and security. professionals.
Additional Resources
http://aerospace.org/
Field Engineer Intern, PCL Construction
About Me
I’m Devany De La Torre, a first generation student at the University of Colorado Denver studying Construction management. I hope to be a project engineer for a couple of years and then move into a project management position. I am in my last year of my bachelors degree and will graduate in May of 2024.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was younger I knew math was one of my strongest subjects and I always enjoyed problem solving. There are so many STEM careers but as I got older I decided to get into construction because I enjoyed the process of seeing a project from start to finish which one day will have a function that will serve 100’s of people.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most is problem solving through issues, its like building a puzzle you must get in contact with multiple people in order to solve one issue and when that problem is solved it brings a sense of joy and achievement to me. This feeling makes me want to go tackle on another problem over and over again.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Women make up only 9.9% of the construction industry in the United States.
Municipal Graduate Engineer, WSB
About Me
My name is Hannah and I graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a degree in civil engineering last May. I now work as a municipal engineer at WSB, which means that I help with street and pipe projects in different cities throughout the Twin Cities area. I chose this career path because I really enjoyed my STEM classes growing up and wanted a job where I could make a direct impact on my community.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved my math and science classes as a child because I enjoyed problem solving and thinking outside the box. I also had many adults in my life who worked in STEM careers that inspired me to follow in their footsteps.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
As a municipal engineer, I get the opportunity to work on design projects and engage with people by attending City Council meetings and collaborating with City staff. I really enjoy that my job has both a technical and social aspect.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
If there’s ever a street construction project near your house, a municipal engineer probably helped design it!
Senior R&D Scientist, Charlotte’s Web
About Me
Yvonne is from Michigan and has a PhD in Chemistry. She moved to Colorado to work for Charlotte’s Web in 2021 and works on various research projects and new product development.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Love for plants and animals
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Learning about new things every day such as functional ingredients and cannabinoid science. Being able to apply my knowledge to product development for the company.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I did my PhD in natural product synthesis, catalyst development, and mechanistic calculations. Chemistry is a broad field that can introduce you to other fields such as product development.
Additional Resources
Analytical Chemist/Quality Control Manager/Stability Manager, Charlotte’s Web
About Me
I was born in Wyoming and moved to Colorado when I was a young girl. I attended college at Regis University in Denver and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. During my career I have done cancer research, made radioactive drugs/isotopes to detect cancer, made synthetic hemoglobin = fake blood. I also worked in a predominantly male field for 10 years in airline catering where one department was 99% male workers. I am now a leader in my department for Charlotte’s Web.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved problem solving and was curious about how and why things worked in science. School provided robust science curriculums, which deepened my interest in science, math, and engineering. My love of science allowed me to start a science club, implement science fair, and become the science chair at the charter school where I used to work.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The companies I’ve worked for where I have used my science degree have been places that ultimately serve communities by making a approved drug or product. I like knowing that what I am doing is in some small way, helping someone feel better or get better. I love that there’s always something to learn in science no matter how much you already know.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are a lot of very successful, brilliant women in my field that are making breakthrough discoveries around medicine and technology that are publicly speaking out about how important it is to get more young girls and women involved and educated into these fields. There is more support now to do that now.
PhD student in Chemical Engineering,
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
About Me
Hi, my name is Silmara! I’m from Brazil, and I’m a scientist who studies chemical engineering. I work on creating solutions that help the planet, like making fuels from plants instead of oil. I also love teaching and mentoring students, and I’ve received awards for my work in Green Chemistry. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with friends and learning new things about science and faith.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I was always curious about how things worked. I loved doing experiments in school and reading about nature and science. Seeing how science could help people and solve big problems made me want to learn more.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love discovering new ways to make the world a better place. It’s exciting to know that my work can help the environment and improve people’s lives. I also enjoy teaching and inspiring other students to explore science.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
In Green Chemistry, we try to use nature to create products in a way that doesn’t harm the environment. For example, did you know we can make plastic and fuel from plants like sugarcane? It’s like turning nature’s energy into things we need!
Additional Resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8R6T9wblH8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLt_FYW3fnA&list=PL4o4mT6MeLifF3IWXsW9rhABmJndSjLsA
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/green-chemistry-projects
https://ecology.wa.gov/waste-toxics/reducing-toxic-chemicals/green-chemistry/green-chemistry-for-k-12-classroom”
Project Manager,
Los Alamos National Laboratory
About Me
I am a tribal member of the Navajo Nation, and I grew up on a cattle ranch on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. I graduated from Stanford University with my Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering with a specialty in Structures & Construction. I love volleyball, horses, playing basketball with my sons, cooking, trying new foods, and traveling.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I enjoyed working with numbers and logic. It was easier for me to understand math and science than other subjects like literature and history. When I was in middle school, I wanted to be an architect, but my dreams changed over time.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to see engineering designs go from an idea on paper to a real structure that can function and support people. It’s always neat to watch a project develop over time, and I love working with all different kinds of people to get a job done. I learn new things all the time, so my job is never boring.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are not a lot of women in construction, especially in leader roles, so construction can be extremely challenging as a minority female. However, I think this makes my job interesting and fun. I like to work hard, and I like to prove that I can do the job even though there are not too many people like me in this field.
Additional Resources
www.pmi.org
Founder & CEO,
PopCykol
Teressa Gehrke is the Founder & CEO of PopCykol, an online safety and security awareness company for families and kids. It stands for Protecting Our Precious Curious Kids Online. She has worked in cybersecurity since 2014 as a technical writer, user experience manager, and project manager.
She graduated from the University of Denver with a B.A. in Art History and Anthropology. She earned a Master’s in Genetic Anthropology and International Development from Colorado State University and advanced her education studying Network Security at Arapahoe Community College. Teressa is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
She’s an award-winning children’s music singer-songwriter and brings her artistry to PopCykol. In 2022, she was nominated for Cybersecurity Woman of the Year by the United Cybersecurity Alliance. In 2023, she was a keynote speaker at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She is the current Social Media Chair of Women in Cybersecurity Colorado, President of Business and Professional Women of Colorado – Denver/Colorado Virtual chapter, and Digital Training Chair of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs.
Exploration Technology Specialist (Geologist),
Newmont Mining
About Me
I am Molly Giebel and I have been a geologist with Newmont for 13 years. I was born in Pennsylvania, but have lived in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. I met my husband at the bottom of a gold mine! How cool is that! I have two little boys who both love being outside and claim they want to look at rocks and be geologists just like Mom and Dad. My favorite things to do outside of work are garden, dance and play/watch sports with my family.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I took a field trip in 5th grade to Wallops Island, Virginia. I was immediately hooked on anything science related. In middle school and high school, I signed up for trips with the Girl Scouts like living on a schooner boat in Michigan to study invasive species for a week.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love all the different opportunities I get each year. No two days are the same and working for a global company I get to work with people ALL over the world. Over the last few years I went to Ghana, Argentina, Canada and Suriname.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The Colorado state rock is the Yule Marble which was used to make the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Mechanical Engineering Student, CU Boulder
About Me
I am a senior mechanical engineer at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I am originally from Aurora, Colorado. I grew up in a Mexican household with two sisters and four brothers. I have a twin brother who sometimes finishes my sentences and always finishes my sandwiches, without my permission.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I grew up going to a lot of doctor appointments for my little sister with my mom. During those visits there were a lot of medical devices that they used to treat her. I was curious how some tools were used to know that she was healthy, needed hearing aids, etc. From there I was interested in learning more about the technology and medical relations.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the hands-on projects that I get. Making virtual prototypes and live prototypes for demonstrations is fun. I get to use what I have learned so far to show that the ideas my teams and I have will work for the problem we are trying to solve.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Ralph Teetor, a blind mechanical engineer, invented cruise control.
Senior Engineer, Phillips 66
About Me
My name is Patricia Alejandra Grajeda de Babb. I was born and raised in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. I graduated from the University of Texas at El paso with an engineering degree and continued to get my master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Missouri while working full time. I have over 15 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry and currently work in Weld County. I am an endurance athlete. I have completed eight full ironman’s.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
The challenge inspired me, I probably had STEM ambitions long before I knew what the STEM subject were.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Teamwork: About how things work and take pleasure in problem-solving, innovation, and discovery.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Listen…truly listen and embrace the benefits of failure.
Engineering Specialist, WSB
About Me
I took technology and engineering classes in middle and high school but wanted to be an architect. After trying architecture in college, I decided engineering was the better fit and chose civil engineering since it still worked with buildings. Now I help engineers design homes and businesses and roads.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was encouraged by STEM programs at my schools and my love for architecture. My family used to walk around old downtown areas and admire buildings.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
It’s really cool to see something you designed on the computer be built and used in real life.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
When you’re driving down the road, most things you see (roads, buildings, sidewalks, rivers) were touched by some discipline of civil engineering.
Director- Metallurgical Services, Newmont Corporation
About Me
My name is Lauren Hafla. I collected rocks from a very young age. When I was 10, I began participating in Science Fairs and won the State of MT Science Fair in 8th Grade. That summer, I attended a Mineral Education Program where I was introduced to various types of STEM careers including Mining. I enjoyed it so much that I attended college and received my Metallurgical Engineering degree. I then went to work as an engineer, an operator, on projects, in labs. That was 23 years ago.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My mother was a math teacher and encouraged me to work hard in school. I loved rocks from the time I was little and I lived in a town where mining was a significant employer. The town where I grew up also had a university geared toward engineering. The ability for me to attend a local school, on scholarships sealed the deal for me.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The versatility and challenges that come with a career in mining are why I chose this career. Learning new mineral types, determining how exactly to get metals from these minerals, working together with people from all backgrounds and experiences, and learning something new each and every day are all draws for me when it comes to Metallurgy.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
We mine in Australia, Africa, Canada, South America, Mexico and Colorado; its amazing to see the different cultures, to meet the native persons, and to support the communities in which we operate. Also, a metallurgist uses water, pressure, living organisms, heat to remove metal from rocks. How cool is that?
Analytical Systems Engineer, Lockheed Martin
About Me
I am a Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin, where I have worked since 1999 when I was awarded a masters in Aerospace Engineering. I began my career at Lockheed in California before moving to Denver in 2001. My responsibilities have included Software Engineering and Systems Engineering roles on several defense industry programs. These programs include missile defense programs and satellite infrared detection systems. I have 4 kids, ages 12-19 and took 12 years off to be a stay at home mom.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was in elementary school, I was very inspired by a particular trip to the science museum. I fell in love with the idea of being an astronaut. That was a dream that I decided not to pursue, but it very much influenced my career path to aerospace. At this point, I’m happy to get to work on satellite systems that are in space.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to solve technical problems and I love designing new projects. They are like big puzzles with lots of pieces that have to fit together to make the full system work.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Engineering is designing and making things using scientific ideas and tools. Engineers follow the Engineering Design Process when working on a project.
General Manager, CC&V Mine
About Me
When I was young, we moved around because my Dad was in the Army. I always liked school because that is where I made friends. I enjoyed learning math and science. When it was time to go to college, I chose Mine Engineering because I could use my math and science skills in a way that also let me spend time outside. Today, I am in charge of the only gold mine in Colorado and have been able to live in and visit a lot of exciting places, like Africa, Australia and Peru.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I liked using logic and reasoning to solve problems. I also liked to learn about all of the different sciences and was fascinated by how humans had uncovered so many amazing things about how our world works.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the challenge of finding and extracting mineral resources, which is much different than just buying supplies and making something. Everything you have is either grown or mined, and being part of one of these essential industries is exciting.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I work in gold mining. We are mining tiny amounts of gold – so tiny that you can’t see them – and turning them into gold bars. This gold is then used to make a lot of cool technology like cell phones and computers – and even lines the glass windows of space shuttles and space suits.
Central Region Bridge Leader, HDR
About Me
I grew up near Philadelphia, PA; went to college at Lehigh University where I earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Then I went to Purdue University to get a master’s degree in structural engineering. I moved to the Denver area in 1996 to get a job and be near the mountains. I have been working in the transportation field for over 25 years and love providing solutions for our communities. My husband is a high school math teacher and my 16-year old son plays soccer.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was really good at math and science and figuring out how things worked. That really started me into learning about engineering. The more I learned, the more I realized how engineering impacts almost everything we do.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy leading team of people to solve complicated transportation problems. Its challenging and rewarding. At the end of a project, its fun to see the new bridge and people using it.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Engineering touches almost every part of your life. From the water you drink to how you got to school today to the technology that allows us to connect remotely. We take it for granted that engineers are working hard, often behind the scenes, to make your life better.
Senior IT Enablement Manager, Newmont Corporation
About Me
I am a computer science engineer. I was born in Peru, a beautiful country in South America. From there, I’ve traveled to many different countries all around the world. I moved to Denver in 2010 and I become a US citizen 5 years ago. I live in the magical world of computers and technology.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I had a really smart and talented aunty. She taught me math even before I started preschool.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Technology is always changing. I got to learn new things every day
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are hundreds of programming languages out there! Each language has its own unique syntax and features, designed for different purposes and tasks. Some of the most popular programming languages include Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, and Ruby. New languages are also being created all the time as technology evolves and new needs arise.
Project Manager, PCL Construction
About Me
Vanna is a team player known for her collaborative approach and a talent for devising solutions to address every project challenge, thereby assuring clients project success. Whether it’s foreseeing possible scope gaps, ensuring safety requirements are met or negotiating win-win subcontracts with trade partners, Vanna wholeheartedly embraces the thrill of witnessing her projects come to fruition.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My father was my inspiration for my career. I am a first generation student to go to college, he provided for us by creating his own construction company in Southern California after we moved from the Caribbean. He didn’t have a formal education and became wildly successful.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
My greatest joy comes from the people that I am privileged to work with. Our subcontractors take great pride in their work, my co-workers are some of the brightest individuals I’ve met, and we leave behind a legacy that communities benefit from after each project is complete.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
PCL has built multiple projects at theme parks all over the country including Disney World, Universal Studios, and Harry Potter World
Director Processing, Newmont Corporation
About Me
We need special materials to make the things we use in our lives every day. From cell phones, to jewelry to treating cancer, gold is one of these important materials. I started learning about gold in the country of my birth: South Africa, where I studied to become a chemical engineer. Then I came to the United States to learn about gold mining and how to use bubbles to recover really fine gold particles. After I got my doctorate in metallurgical engineering, I started working for a gold mine.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I have always found chemistry and mathematics a lot more interesting than languages (although I do like to read a lot). They were my favorite classes in school, and I really wanted to pursue a career where I would be able to work using chemistry and/or mathematical concepts.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love solving problems and in my career that is what I get to do every day. I also really enjoy learning more about my field. It seems every day there is something that you can still learn, that may help you to solve a problem that you are working on.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I loved playing with bubbles when I was really young (the little containers filled with soap that you could create bubbles with a little bit of air and effort). Now in my job, I get to use bubbles to make mineral separations. Who would have thought, that you can use bubbles to make a separation.
Additional Resources
https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_mining_activity1
Associate General Counsel, Newmont Corporation
About Me
I have been a lawyer for 30 years. I like to help solve problems, and work with engineers, geologists, environmental scientists, computer scientists and lots of people who know a lot about STEM. I am also a STEM cheerleader because my 20-year-old daughter is in college for math and physics. My 17-year-old son wants to be an engineer who design cars that are better for the environment. One of my jobs is to make sure they do their homework.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved math when I was in school. I liked solving problems that had an answer. When you write an essay, there isn’t a right and wrong answer, but with math, I liked that there was a right answer (even if sometimes I got it wrong!). I also had good math teachers who cared a lot about their students, which gave me confidence.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I work for a gold mining company, and I am actually a lawyer who gets to help the engineers and other people at my company who are in STEM careers. I like learning about what they do to get gold out of the ground and protect the environment while they are doing this. I help make sure that they follow the laws when they are doing their jobs..
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Some lawyers say that they became lawyers because they weren’t good at math or science. But I don’t think that’s true. I think understanding math helps me think logically and solve difficult problems. It’s like a puzzle–but instead of a math puzzle, it’s a legal puzzle.
Lecturer,
University of Kentucky – Paducah extended campus
About Me
Dr. Gisella Lamas is a Brazilian/Peruvian environmental engineer. She teaches engineering at the University of Kentucky – Paducah Extended campus. Her experience has been in laboratory setting for pharmaceutical, dairy and wastewater treatment facilities. Dr. Lamas is actively involved in outreach opportunities with the Society of Women Engineers, a society which promotes and encourages girls in STEM. She has a dog named Moscow and a proud aunt to Helena and Victoria.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always liked video games and sci-fi movies. I wanted to be a scientist just like in the games I would play. Those games also had female lead characters. I did not have other role models who were scientists. My father was an engineer, which made the transition between science and engineering more interesting.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I like the way we think and how we integrate creativity with logical skills. I am not the fastest thinker or someone who can do math very fast. I like to think through a problem and try to solve it as a puzzle or a mystery novel. I also enjoy finding innovative ways of solving things. Engineers are problem solvers and that is what I love doing.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I am very involved with the United Nations and provide my expertise to many reports which are related to the environment. I have this side job of being a scientist diplomat and I like to teach my students about that. I plan to move to diplomacy in the future, but there is a lot to do by teaching.
Sr. Director of Quality, Charlotte’s Web
About Me
I grew up in a small farming community in Wyoming. I was the third of four kids, raised by a single mother. We were very poor. This forced me to be creative about how I completed projects in school. I used materials I found around my house and in the alley. I didn’t really have any female STEM role models growing up, but I was really stubborn. I knew that I wanted to end up in a STEM field from the time I was really young and despite many things that made it hard for me, I never gave up.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always loved nature, science, and figuring out how everything works.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love teaching others and making products that are going to help people live a good life.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I help law makers understand the science behind making safe products so that they can make laws that will protect people.
Director of Engineering and Tech Services, Phillips 66
About Me
Susi was born and raised in Colombia and lived in Louisiana, Florida and Paris for a few years before graduating from High School. After graduating from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil foundations Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, she joined Soletanche Bachy, a French company specialized in geotechnical work designing deep and tunnels in South America and the Caribbean. After two years in the workplace, she then moved to Ithaca to pursue her Masters in Engineering Management at Cornell University, from which she graduated in 2008. Ms. Lara-Mesa joined CDM Smith where she focused her work in water distribution and water management systems, and water, wastewater and reclaimed water treatment plants. She was also involved with the Harvard Allston Development Complex as one of the integration Engineers and designing a central energy distribution facility which combined gas turbines, geothermal wells, solar and wind energy.
In 2010, she joined K.P. Kauffman Company where she was the Vice President of Engineering for over nine years. She oversaw the drilling, completion, production, and abandonment operations, and also the regulatory compliance and government affairs. While at KPK, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. She is now the Director of Technical Services in the North Business Unit of DCP Midstream. As so, she is in charge of the Asset Engineering Team in the plants and booster stations, and their Reliability Program. She is also actively involved with Engineering Day for Girls, a program that allows female High School students to spend time with female Engineers understanding what they do and engaging them to pursue careers in Math and Science.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My dad, who is a Civil Engineer too.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Making people’s lives better on a daily basis.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I never have two days that are the same, my teams are constantly solving different problems and I constantly collaborate with different disciplines as we try to find answers.
Groundwater Modeler,
INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I am a groundwater modeler of an environmental engineering consulting company, INTERA. Before coming to the industry, I was in academia as a Postdoctoral Fellow of University of Cincinnati and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A fan of Star Wars
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Lots of achievements of science and engineering, such as Appollo Project, and the beauty of nature.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy understanding the principles of phenomena we see and solving various engineering issues.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The mechanism of groundwater flow can be applied to simulating how diapers work.
Additional Resources
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com
President,
The Rebrand Creative Agency
About Me
Kayla Life is a tech expert, educator, and entrepreneur who loves helping communities use technology to grow. Inspired by her dad and grandmother, she started learning about computers at a young age. Now, she runs The Rebrand Creative Agency, teaching kids, schools, and nonprofits how to use AI and digital tools. Kayla believes anyone can create amazing things with the right tools. She encourages kids to dream big, be curious, and embrace technology to change the world!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My love for STEM started when my dad, a Navy IT officer, brought home computers and gadgets. I was fascinated by how they worked! My grandmother, Ida, encouraged my curiosity, and I loved gaming, coding, and taking things apart to understand them. Earning Microsoft certifications in high school showed me the power of technology, and I wanted to hel
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love empowering people with technology! Seeing students, nonprofits, and businesses grow using AI and digital tools excites me. I enjoy teaching, problem-solving, and creating programs that make STEM more accessible. The best part is helping others realize their potential, showing them that technology isn’t just about coding—it’s about creativity
What is a STEM fact about your field?
An interesting fact about STEM is that neurodivergent minds—like those with ADHD, autism, or dyslexia—often thrive in technology! Many of the best problem-solvers and innovators in tech think differently, which helps them see creative solutions others might miss. In AI, coding, and design, unique perspectives are powerful.
Senior Architect of Data Science and Machine Learning, RevGen Partners
About Me
My name is Anne Lifton and I have over ten years of experience as a data scientist. I now lead teams of data scientists and help them design the most exciting and innovative programs that they can. We write math into computer code which makes guesses called predictions. These predictions are used to try to help the company sell their products at just the right price. We use math to learn from the past, and help us estimate the future. We also use math to design outfits and other fun things.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Lego, a good math teacher, coming up with my own inventions.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I get to use math over half the time I am working!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I have designed an artificial intelligence tool to design new outfits!
Project Manager, PCL Construction
About Me
My name is Alessandra Maffie. I was born in Peru and move to Florida at the age of 12. I graduated from Florida State University with a Civil Engineering degree, and I am now a Project Manager in the construction industry. I enjoy my work, as well as working out and the outdoors.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Originally I wanted to be an architect, but decided that the Civil Engineer path was more broad and could present different opportunities. I like building and drawings.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Every day is different, construction is ever changing, so all projects are different. You constantly have to think outside of the box to solve problems daily.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
You are not just stuck in the office with construction.
Advisor, Sales & Marketing, Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi, I’m Brittany Martinez, and I’ve been with Newmont for eight years. I’ve always had a strong passion for learning, particularly in math and science, which led me to pursue a degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Born and raised in Colorado, I enjoy cooking and spending quality time with my family.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I had amazing teachers who encouraged me to challenge myself academically. Growing up, I was curious about how things worked and was interested in solving problems
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love thinking critically and solving problems. It is really inspiring to see your idea come to life and have an impact. I also enjoy working with different people and learning about their point of view.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
It is amazing to see the many types of people who contribute to the mining process- geologists, mine engineers, metallurgists, environmental scientists, and more!
Additional Resources
Senior Hydrologist,
INTERA
About Me
I am originally from Colombia. After earning a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering, I spent several years working and traveling before completing a PhD in Hydrology. Since then, I have been working on problems related to surface water and groundwater.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always loved math. I was part of the math club and participated in competitions. I also was great at spatial analysis. I think that came from playing with toys similar to lego. My school had a lot of talks about the environment in Colombia. I think that inspired me to work on issues related to water.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Problem solving. I like to work on different problems every year.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Water is very important. Every year we have more issues with scarcity and contamination. We always have more work. We need more hydrologists and hydrogeologists.
Additional Resources
https://sandtank.hydroframe.org
Graduate Student-PhD Candidate, CU Boulder
About Me
My name is Jaylene. I love school and didn’t want to leave. I like being a scientist and learning. I am from a small small town in New Mexico, where I did not even have internet until I was in college! Now, I moved and am still in school. Hoping to one day be a college professor and teach students. I am now working on making a better way to use filters for largescale water filtering.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always worked with my hands and helped those around me build and fix items. I really enjoyed learning about math.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I really enjoy that I can use my skillset of working hands on in my experiments. I also get to test things and try to reason why they don’t work the way we expected them to.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Failing is normal, its what you learn from failing that makes the next day more interesting and exciting.
Technical Sales Support,
Herrmann Ultrasonics
About Me
Hello, nice to meet everyone! My name is Julia. I graduated college from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in biomedical engineering. I enjoy reading lots of books, walking my dog Kora, cooking new recipes, and spending time with my family and friends. I also like to learn about new, life-saving medical devices and processes and pass along my experience and passion for STEM to students of all ages.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I liked to draw and paint when I was younger and enjoyed working on projects where I was able to create things. I liked to learn about science and how things work, how things are made, and how we can make things better. I enjoyed science projects because I used art, science, and math to create products to show others.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most in my STEM career is bringing different ideas together to make something great. When I work on different projects in a team I know I am contributing to making the world a better place. I also enjoy solving problems and coming up with creative and new solutions. Everyday brings something different and I get to meet new people.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
An interesting fact about my education and career in STEM is that I can use my skills and knowledge in different places and be creative. I can work with people on developing a plan to make medical devices or work on a project where we help people fix machines. There are so many opportunities within biomedical engineering and project management.
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
I’m a project engineer at a construction company helping to manage the job to get the site built on time and under budget. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, mostly solar energy, power lines, and civil construction. I studied civil engineering in college.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was always interested in STEM and hands-on learning, but did not decide that I wanted to become an engineer until I started college. I think it’s important to keep your options open and it’s never too late to get involved in the STEM industry.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy that I work on sites across the country. I like the flexibility of spending my workday in both the office and outside on site.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Civil engineering (roads, bridges, buildings, water supply, etc) is the oldest type of engineering – we’ve always needed it and will continue to need it for the future.
Additional Resources
American Society of Civil Engineers 2025 Infrastructure Report Card: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/
Senior Engineer, NREL
About Me
I was born and raised in Mexico and I always liked math and science. My parents and teachers saw that and encourage me to consider a career in Engineering. Because of good grades and hard work I was able attend university. I found that I could use my degree to make and impact and help the environment. I landed an opportunity to work in the design and construction of some wind farms that open the door and passion in renewable energy.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
The thing that inspire me to explore STEM was being intrigue of how things work and breaking them apart to look at the inside to see if I could figure it out.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
There are many things I enjoy by working in STEM but the main thing that set it apart is that not a single day is the same since we are always in the pursue of new ideas or projects.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Working with power system people always find abstract the use of imaginary number to represent power losses.
Environmental Specialist, Phillips 66
About Me
My name is Jillian; I grew up in Oklahoma but moved to Colorado about 6 years ago. I studied chemical engineering and environmental health in college and have experience in project design, wastewater treatment operations, and environmental compliance. In my free time I enjoy hiking, playing piano, and cooking healthy foods (and sometimes cookies).
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always loved my science classes in school (like biology, chemistry, and physics) because we got to do hands-on experiments and figure out how things worked. I was also fortunate to have supportive parents and teachers who encouraged my interests in science and math.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy being part of a team that is working toward the same goal, gaining new perspectives from the different jobs I’ve had, and using STEM tools to collaboratively solve problems and make things better for the future.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Environmental regulations (laws) can be difficult to understand!
Hydrologist, INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I study how water moves through the water cycle and how it changes as it moves. I help provide people with clean water and plan for water supply. For my first undergraduate degree, I studied environmental sciences (a combination of chemistry, biology, geology, and physics) and mathematics. For my graduate degree, I studied geology. My first job was an internship with the US Geological Survey. After 8 years, I went into consulting. Total experience is almost 25 years.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I’ve always been curious about everything, especially the natural world. I like to see things up close and understand where water comes from, why some areas are dry and others are wet, why rivers flow where they flow. I loved science but didn’t want to be stuck inside a lab or hospital for my whole career.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Learning about so many different things, so many different areas, understanding water scarcity. Working with so many different people: politicians, general public, students, professors, lawyers, farmers, etc. Always having a huge variety of work and projects to choose from.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Water is essential for all life on earth: human health and economic development are absolutely depending on clean water.
Sr. Director, Regulatory & Legislative Affairs
About Me
Ms. Applegate has nearly 20 years of experience in the energy industry working in utilities electric generation, natural gas regulation, and renewable energy. She has worked in many roles including natural gas regulation, engineering, pipeline integrity, and operations with an emphasis in strategic planning. Currently she works with the Public Utilities Commission and the State Legislature on energy policy.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was fortunate to have parents that encouraged me to ask questions and seek answers. My father was a veterinarian and I got to tag along with him on calls. I got to see science in action. My parents encouraged me to continue learning about science and challenged me to challenge myself in math. I learned to love the logic behind it.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
My role is the intersection of engineering, operations, policy and people. I have the role of taking complex regulation and interpreting that into actions and operations. Every day is different and we are tackling the hard questions around energy.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The energy sector has so many interesting technical roles. Energy and particularly utilities are using cutting edge technology to improve operations, metering, and emissions reductions.
Project Engineer, PCL Construction
About Me
Hi my name is Brandee, I have been working with PCL Construction for close to 2 years. I work with designers and builders to help turn a building drawn on a piece of paper into a real life building. I was born and raised in Colorado. Outside of work I like to go to the pool, play sports outside, and play with my dogs!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always enjoyed building things and I liked working in a group with other people. I have always loved roller coasters and was interested in how they were built, that lead me down the path of a career in STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy watching the project come to life. I am currently on an apartment building and it is amazing to know I am helping build something that people will call their home and enjoy being in every day. I like the idea that we are adding to the community and people are able to drive by a building and see everything the entire team accomplished.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are so many different jobs needed at a construction company! For example, a company may need: superintendent, financial manager, human resources, labor and craftworker, business development finding new projects, estimator, safety coordinator, and so much more!
Additional Resources
https://www.pcl.com/us/en/who-we-are/about-us
Research Engineer
About Me
Tina Ortega is a research engineer. Tina is originally from California and is the first person in her family to go to college. She studied environmental and renewable energy engineering, which uses math and science to find ways to keep the Earth healthy and free of pollution. Specifically, Tina researches marine energy- which is a way to create energy and electricity from the ocean. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors to hike, snowboard, play tennis, camp, and ride her bike.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Tina has always loved being outside, ever since she was a little kid. As she got older, she learned about all about different actions that can harm the environment- from little things like wasting food and littering, all the way to big things like driving gas-powered cars and using non-renewable energy sources. She learned that these actions could cause big problems, like wildfires, biodiversity loss (the loss of local plants and animals), and extreme weather events. Tina wanted to focus her work on finding ways to keep the earth clean and healthy so that everyone can continue enjoying the outdoors.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Her favorite part of her job is knowing that what she is doing is helping make the world a better place. She loves being able to use the STEM skills she learned in school to do research that has sometimes never been done before!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you know that the energy we generate from the tides actually comes from the moon? The area of the ocean that faces the moon bulges slightly due to its gravitational pull. As the earth spins, the ocean goes up and down as the moon passes it, and we can use that movement from the ocean to create energy from it using a tidal turbine (similar to a wind turbine, but under water!).
Additional Resources
Redi Island: a virtual, interactive, renewable-energy-powered island with visuals to each renewable energy. Teachers can incorporate this virtual exploration tool into courses on climate change, renewable energy, and more. Students from elementary through graduate school can discover the many exciting careers available in water power. Anyone can learn what water power could do for their communities—from remote, coastal, or island villages to farmlands and even urban hubs.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/apps/water/redi_island/#/large-island/
Sr. Manager,
Peraton
About Me
Hi there! My name is Ezra Ortiz, and I work to keep computers and the internet safe from bad guys who might want to steal information or cause trouble. I’ve spent over 20 years learning about technology and helping teams protect important things like satellites, big computer networks, and other cool systems. I love solving puzzles, teaching people how to stay safe online, and coming up with new ideas to make the internet a better place for everyone.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Problem solving.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
It’s exciting to learn about new technologies, think creatively to stay ahead of cyber risks, and work with a team to make the digital world safer. Knowing my work helps people and organizations stay secure gives me great satisfaction!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
An interesting fact about cybersecurity is that hackers try to break into systems every second of the day—more than 2,200 times per second worldwide! That’s why cybersecurity teams are always learning, adapting, and using creative strategies to outsmart them and keep everything safe. It’s like a giant, high-tech game of cat and mouse!
Chair, Department of Physics and Astrophysics, DePaul University
About Me
I grew up in El Paso Texas not speaking English. I went to college late in life, but in college, I discovered that I was really interesting in trying to understand how the universe began, how it changed, and what its future will be. I also discovered that that there were not many folks with my background doing this work and so became interested in encouraging young people from diverse groups to get involved in science.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I don’t really know why I got interested in STEM. It may have been watching Sci-FI movies, or reading science fiction books. I just remember always being interested in trying to understand how nature worked. I remember reading and re-reading an old set of encyclopedias we have and spending most of my time in the science sections.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I like trying to understand how the universe works and doing that exploration with students. I like how the more I learn about the universe, the more I see how it seems to be governed by a relatively few number of laws which means many things are actually connected in fundamental ways.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Most astronomers and astrophysicists don’t work at telescopes! Telescopes are located in remote areas, away from lights, and at high and dry altitudes because those conditions make for better viewing. That means the observatories are hard to get to and don’t have room for a lot of people. Instead we just use the data acquired by the observatories
Senior Water Resources Scientist,
INTERA
About Me
Kait Palys is a water resources scientist who studied environmental science at Virginia Tech before moving to California to work on solving the state’s groundwater challenges. California has been using more groundwater than is refilled. This has made accessing safe drinking water more difficult, caused land to sink, seawater to enter the freshwater, among other problems. Ms. Palys works closely with the people in these communities hit hardest by these challenges and find solutions together.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I fell in love with environmental science in my youth through spending time with my Godfather. He is a conservationist living along Lake Erie, and dedicated so much of his personal and professional life to conserving the ecosystem and natural resources that gave back to him.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love meeting the people that directly benefit from finding solutions to the water resources challenges that California is faced with. I love hearing their stories of hope for their communities and families.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Groundwater is the most abundant source of freshwater available to humans, making up less than 1% of the water on Earth.
Additional Resources
Environmental Consultant, Aeterra
About Me
Hi there! I am environmental consultant specializing in transactional due diligence. In more basis terms, I help assess environmental risks associated with companies being bought and sold by other companies.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My love of the outdoors and the desire to make the environment a more safe and stronger place for future generations.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Feel like what I am doing is making a difference in the world we live in. Traveling and seeing new places is also a neat perk!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
We often visit food manufacturing facilities like bakeries. Some of my favorite visits are when we get samples, like a warm loaf of bread straight from the oven.
Project Manager,
PCL Construction
About Me
I am Texas born and raised. I have 3 younger sisters. I am a fur mom to 1 cat and 1 dog. I attended the University of Arkansas, obtaining a degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Geology. I now work for PCL Construction as a Project Manager at the airport and really enjoy seeing the positive impacts my team’s work makes on our Colorado communities. My favorite thing to do is go hiking with friends and family and challenge myself to new heights while enjoying nature’s beauties and wonders.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My fascination with bridges and trains. I googled ‘what profession builds bridges’ to complete a physics project in high school and that led me to Civil Engineers. After doing some research on CEs, I quickly decided I needed to be a part of that contribution to our society and wanted to learn more to make these incredible structures more tangible.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy strategizing solutions with those around me and finding win-wins for the project – that is success to me, when all parties at the table can walk away happy with how we overcame a hurdle. I also enjoy
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Thomas Edison held 49 patents related to cement manufacturing.
Additional Resources
External Quality Manager, Charlotte’s Web
About Me
My name is Amber Pinnell and I live in Thornton, Colorado. I moved to Colorado in 2014 from Missouri, which is where I was born and raised. I live out here with my husband and kiddo, and our dog Hugo. Hugo is a doberman/labrador mix and he’s super friendly. On the weekends we like to play video games together and play a Dungeons and Dragons campaign with a few other friends. One thing I am excited for that is upcoming, is my 5 year anniversary at Charlotte’s Web!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I went to a Math and Science camp during the summer of 5th grade (going into 6th) and thought it was one of the most exciting things I had done up until then. We got to build circuits and see things work through our direct input, and it really launched a love for sciences for me. I ended up getting a degree in Biology from Mizzou!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy the process of product development and launching products for sale to consumers. It’s exciting to see how ingredients work together and what tastes the best, and then seeing it come to life. After a product launches, I then work to build efficiencies through data analysis of how production is going and lab testing of the products.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I am learning something new almost everyday. I’ve worked in quality for almost 10 yrs now doing various jobs, and still I am learning! Working in Quality means working in a collaborative environment where you work as a team to solve problems, and there’s always something new to tackle or to improve!
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Student, CU Boulder
About Me
I’m studying Engineering at the University of Boulder. I love playing video games, watching anime and building cool stuff. I’m planning on becoming a consultant, which basically means that people come to me with their problems and I help them fix it. When I’m not in school I usually spend my time building keyboards or playing baseball with some friends.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I am a Spanish native speaker and had to learn English at an age of 8, which is when I first arrived in the United States. During that transition, English was the most difficult part of the day. During school, the teachers would take me out of composition or reading and put me in an ESL class. Math class was the only universal language I had.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
My favorite part of STEM and specifically engineering is the different types of problems I have encountered and trying to solve them in different ways. Sometimes this results in collaborating between disciplines and that collaboration results in so many interesting conversations and connections.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Everything we use requires some kind of engineering. The buildings, phones, chairs, you name it and it definitely incorporate some kind of engineering.
Principle Underground Mine Engineer,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi, my name is Austin Powell and I am an underground mining engineer. I grew up with a fascination in science and technology and excelled in my math and science classes. I participated in Odyssey of the Mind, Space Club, and many other STEM based programs. I attended the Colorado School of Mines where I was able to become a mining engineer. I really enjoy working in the mining industry and all of the complex challenges it brings. I have been in mining for almost 15 years.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Growing up some of my favorite channels to watch were the Discovery Channel and the History channel. At that time, there were so many cool engineering shows that showed all the cool things that people have built. I have always enjoyed learning about how things work and still enjoy doing that as an adult with my job and my hobbies.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The thing that I enjoy the most is that I get to solve complex problems everyday. I enjoy the process of designing a mine and how we will get all of the ore out. I enjoy all of the new tools and technology that allows us to mine in ways we never have before. I also really enjoy working with coworkers who are from all over the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The average American now consumes 37mil lbs. of minerals, metals and fuel, over the course of a lifetime. That includes 2,000lbs of copper, 6,000lbs of aluminum, 1,000lbs of lead, 1,000 lbs. of zinc and 1.8 oz of gold per person. All of these minerals have to mined from the earth in some or fashion.
Project Engineer,
PCL Construction
About Me
My name is Jazmyn Ramirez. I was born and raised in New York City. I moved to Denver 1 year ago to work for PCL Construction as a Field Engineer.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Bringing things that are on paper into life and seeing the progress of all your hard work.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Endless opportunities, new and exciting things everyday, learning something new everyday, and most importantly my team.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
There are 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building!
Director Enterprise Architecture,
GoGo Air
About Me
I grew up in Texas but never owned a horse or a cowboy hat. I enjoyed camping and the outdoors which lead me as an adult to Colorado. I am a father of 4 children (and a dog named Taco). Over my career I have gotten to put movies on airplanes, let you track your dog if it gets lost, and help elderly get better treatment with computer software.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was kid I wanted to be a member of the A-team from a tv show. As I got older I realized I enjoyed computers. Computers were new to classrooms when I was in school. I realized that enjoyed using them, and because of that I quickly learned them. It was nice to be an expert in something at a young age.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy getting to build things that improve peoples life. It doesn’t hurt I get to wear comfortable clothes to work.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Because I work on airplanes now, my products have to work at 30K feet at 300 mile per hour
PhD Student – Research Assistant,
CU Boulder
About Me
My name is Luis Rodriguez, and I’m an aerospace engineering PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder. I was born and raised in Mexico but moved to the United States to pursue my dream of dedicating my life to space exploration. Besides my research, I love sharing my knowledge with others and demonstrating that science is for everyone.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I like mathematics, and I also like learning technical topics, create/design and put things in service
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I like troubleshooting, researching and digging in unknown areas, this helps tremendously when solving problems.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Engineers tend to be introvert, and also to think that we have all right, but it is important to listen specially in the field, maybe complicated problems can turn in simple fixes.
Additional Resources
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/hypersonic-flight
IT Security & Controls Analyst,
Charlotte’s Web
About Me
Worked in IT for over 20 years, most of that time spent in the military or as a DoD contractor. Had many different roles including project management, desktop support, system administration, management, supporting classified systems and cybersecurity. I’ve worked in Asia, Europe and America and supported teams and systems all across the world and been responsible for systems worth Millions of dollars.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I had friends who were really good at using computers, connecting to things in the background and bypassing the controls the school had in place. That was pretty cool to me and I seemed to understand how to use a computer and programs a bit more than others around me so I wanted to keep going.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Helping people understand Cybersecurity a bit more and being safer in their day to day life. The methods of protection that you use at work are the things you use at or with your family since we’re much more connected now.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I’ve used Excel spreadsheets a lot over the years and learned and forgotten Linux for the different positions I’ve been in. No matter what position I’ve worked in, Security has always been a part of it.
Staff Engineer,
Phillips 66
About Me
I am a chemical engineer with over 15 years of experience. I specialize in natural gas, process optimization, process design, process troubleshooting, project development and execution. I have two master’s degrees in natural Gas engineering and management and an MBA. I am the staff engineer over 14 gas compressor stations and provided support to a Cryogenic Gas plant. My passion for learning and innovation drives me to constantly seek out new solutions and process improvement.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I remember counting and making simple calculations in my mind without controlling it, everywhere I went. When I was 8 years old, I made a computer with an eggs box (and play with it), I was clear since the beginning that I wanted to work with PCs. During my high school, studying mathematics and chemistry was something I really enjoyed.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
First, I enjoy being hands on practice to gain experience. Second, it is amazing to see how a process and or equipment is simulated/designed, and then when operating, one can see the final process and how it performs. Lastly, as engineer, we create goods and services for the benefit of communities, and I found that outstanding.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
This is a broad and versatile field. We just must find our passion, and this would lead us to where we want to develop our career. Having a career in STEM is a privilege, we can work with a bunch of companies in different areas. Without this field, we wouldn’t have all the technology we have, or even all the gadgets/devices we own nowadays.
Additional Resources
https://www.phillips66.com/#busops
https://www.bestcolleges.com/engineering/how-to-become-a-chemical-engineer/#:~:text=To%20become%20a%20chemical%20engineer%2C%20you%20should%20gear,that%20offers%20concentrations%20in%20your%20field%20of%20interest.
Client Services Manager,
PCL Construction
About Me
I grew up in Colorado and went to University of Colorado Boulder (go Buffs!) for environmental engineering. I’ve focused on engineering to support treating water and wastewater, and most recently have joined PCL Construction to help build water and wastewater treatment facilities.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I love math, I love the environment, and problem solving. I always loved to solve puzzles and word games!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Feeling like you make an impact in your community and getting to work with all different types of people.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I’m pretty good at bowling and have a 180 average!
Additional Resources
Water Renewal Process
Professor and Associate Dean,
CU Denver
About Me
I am a question asker, problem solver, dog lover, learner, traveler, weight lifter, and adventurer. My wife and I have lived in Denver for 14 years, where I work at the University of Colorado Denver as a Professor. I’m from a small town in Oklahoma. I was a student at North Carolina State University and worked at the National Institutes of Environmental Health for my PhD. I’ve had many adventures since then, including working in small and large pharmaceutical companies and at three universities.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I spent much of my childhood outdoors, exploring neighborhood parks, creeks, and mysterious mud holes and making friends with the local critters, especially my favorites, the lightening bugs, tad poles, horny toads, tarantulas, and cicadas. I had so many questions that my mom bought me a set of encyclopedias so I could answer my own questions.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
As a professor, I get to work with a diversity of people and get to learn new things every day. I especially like using data and statistics to solve problems. For example, how can police better identify criminals? Why does one person develop a disease while others don’t? Why does food taste different for different people?
What is a STEM fact about your field?
How long do you think the DNA sequence from one of your cells, if unraveled, would measure? 3 meters! If you were to take all the DNA sequence from all of your cells end to end, the length would make nearly 70 trips from the earth to the sun and back. That’s a lot of information you’re carrying around!
Director – Project Engineering,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
I was born in Peru and now live in Colorado with my family. I have two kids—a 26-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. I’ve worked as an engineer for almost 25 years and love using my skills to solve problems and make things better and safer. In my free time, I enjoy spending time outdoors and cooking.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was young, I was always curious about how things worked and loved finding ways to fix broken things with practical, and sometimes even creative, solutions. One of my favorite memories is spending time with my brother as he repaired motorcycles and our dad’s car, or building simple home gadgets together using spare parts. I also enjoyed math,
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
What I enjoy most about my STEM career is solving challenges and seeing my ideas come to life! As an engineer, I learned how things work through math and science, using numbers and symbols. It was exciting to use this knowledge to design real systems. Now, I get to help create projects from start to finish—watching them get built and work safely an
What is a STEM fact about your field?
An interesting fact about STEM is that you can choose different paths in your career! You can become an expert in a specific field, solving technical problems, or you can use your technical knowledge to lead projects and teams. Both paths let you make a big difference by creating solutions and building amazing things!
Integrated Construction Technology Manager,
PCL Construction
About Me
Hi! My name is Abby. I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but Denver has been my home for the last five years. I went to college at Penn State (not too far from where I’m from) and studied architectural engineering, which taught me how to design and build buildings. I work in construction and use a lot of cool technology to help build different types of buildings – anything from hotels to apartments to office buildings. In my free time, I like to hike with my dog, golf, and ski.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
When I was growing up, I always enjoyed building things like miniature log cabins or toy rollercoaster sets. In school, my favorite subject was math and I liked solving problems. I took a class in high school to learn how to model buildings in 3D on the computer, which helped grow my interest in architecture and encouraged me to explore STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I like getting to see big projects come to life and knowing that I played a role in that. I also like getting to work with a variety of people in my company and other companies. I enjoy having a mix of time working with technology in the office and visiting the projects to see them in-person and help solve problems. It is challenging but fun!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
One cool thing that we do in my field is fly drones! Drones are kind of like mini remote-controlled planes. We use drones to take pictures and videos of the projects that we are working on. The drones also collect information about the building that can be used to make sure everything was built the right way.
Senior Long Term Mine Planning Lead,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
My name is Evan Shefik and I grew up in Littleton south of Denver. After high school I decided pursue an engineering degree at the Colorado School of Mines where I was introduced to mining and ended up receiveing a degree in Mining Engineering. After I graduated I moved to Northern Minnesota and worked in Iron Ore Mining, most recently as the Manager of Mine Engineering for two mines. At the beginning of the year I decided to relocate back home and now work in Long Range Planning for Newmont.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Growing up I was always very interested in learning how things worked and had an interest in math and science throughout school. In High School I took a physics class and science classes that really confirmed to me I wanted to work in a STEM field.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
The part of working in a STEM field I enjoy the most is all the problem solving I get to do. Once of the best part of my jobs is finding creative new ways or technologies that can be used to solve a problem or make a process work better. This is very rewarding to me because I can see the impact of the solutions in practice every day.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Everything is either grown or mined. A person will need during its lifetime: 800 pounds of lead, 750 pounds of zinc, 1500 pounds of aluminum , 32,700 pounds of iron, 26,550 pounds of clay, 28,213 pounds of salt, 1,238,101 pounds of stone, sand, gravel, and cement.
Additional Resources
https://alltogether.swe.org/2021/03/what-is-mining-engineering/
Senior Integrated Construction Technology Manager – Corporate,
PCL Construction
About Me
I have been working in the construction world for 23 years. When I was growing up, I took classes in high school like computer drawing and architecture. Then I ended up getting my degree in architecture from the University of Kansas. I worked as an architect for several years before switching over to construction. Now I make decisions for my company on how technology can be used for construction and how we build buildings and other amazing structures every day.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
STEM was not a formal term when I was growing up, but I was always passionate for everything STEM stands for. My Dad is a mechanical engineer and being exposed to what he did also inspired me to explore STEM.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love that technology is always changing and there’s always something new to explore. Once we identify what technologies we want to explore further, finding ways to then apply it to what we do at work every day is also a fun challenge.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Especially in the construction industry, the amount of females who work in construction is very little. The world is changing and the number is increasing, but diversity in construction is still a challenge.
Additional Resources
https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/virtual-design-construction-workflow
Sr. Quality Control Chemist,
Charlotte’s Web
About Me
My name is Morgan Stock and I live in Westminster, CO with my husband, two dogs, and three cats. I earned a degree in chemistry from Truman State University, a small liberal arts college in northeastern Missouri. I moved to Colorado six years ago and now work as a quality control chemist at Charlotte’s Web. In my free time, I love crocheting, hiking, reading, and listening to podcasts.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was most inspired by science demos in the classroom. I loved when people could show me the scientific principles we were learning about in a new and fun way, rather than just reading about it. Seeing a baking soda volcano is way more fun than reading about acid-base reactions, and it got me really excited to understand how the science worked.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy being able to ask questions and solve problems. One of my jobs is to develop tests for the lab, and this process usually involves a lot of trial and error. I also love getting to learn new skills.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The work is never done and there’s always new things to learn or processes to improve. In the quality department, we’re always striving to optimize tasks to make them better, easier, and shorter, if possible.
President and CEO, Technically Speaking, Inc.
About Me
The oldest of four children, Jill Tietjen grew up in Hampton, Virginia. She earned a BS in applied mathematics (minor in electrical engineering) from the University of Virginia and her masters in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She spent more than 40 years in the electric utility industry where she served as an expert witness and helped plan new power plants. She is now an author (11 books so far), a speaker, and an advocate for women worldwide.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I loved math and wanted a career where I could use it. I do not love science – and particularly, I cannot stand chemistry. Don’t like biology either. This is important – you don’t have to LOVE math and science in order to succeed in a STEM career.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
In my career, I solved problems. I worked with teams to plan the electric utility system. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to see that the lights are on and to know that I helped make that happen.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The sun does not shine at night. The wind doesn’t always blow. Electricity has to be provided on demand 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Additional Resources
https://www.energy.gov/oe/information-center/educational-resources/electricity-101
Groundwater Modeler, INTERA, Inc.
About Me
I have a bachelor’s degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences, and a master’s degree in Geological Sciences from CU Boulder. I have been working in the field of Geology for almost 20 years, and as a Groundwater Modeler for 15 years.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
In the place and time that I was in middle and high school, girls and women were discouraged from going into STEM careers, and I am very happy that has changed. I was interested in STEM because it was challenging, and I was interested in solving problems. Then as well as now, there are plenty of problems that need to be solved!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy writing code and running computer models. What I do every day helps teams of people reverse environmental problems that have, sometimes lasted decades. I can make predictions and test how good the possible solutions are very fast, and then recommend the best strategy based on what we know right now.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Geological Sciences is a great choice for people who like science and like a combination of working in all kinds of environments outside, working with technology, working with maps and working with people. It has probably the widest variety of work of any of the sciences. Any science you can think of can be applied to working in geology.
Principal Geophysicist, Newmont
About Me
Thomas Tsiboah is my name. I was born on Wednesday and so also called Kwaku (Thomas Kwaku Tsiboah). I was born in West Africa, Ghana. Elementary school, High School, and College education were in Ghana. I have two graduate educations: one in Ghana (M.Sc. in Minerals Exploration) and the other in the Netherlands in Europe (M.Sc. in Applied Geophysics). I like traveling, photography, cooking, gardening, and teaching. I work with Newmont. Newmont is the world’s leading gold company and a copper, silver, zinc, and lead producer. I applying technology and innovative approaches to support minerals exploration effort. I am a natural teacher.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
- Mentors and leaders in the field of STEM whom I looked up to.
- Love for Mathematics and Physics as a student. Curiosity about nature (Earth Science & Geology).
- In the STEM field, they use state-of-the-art technologies like computers, phones, gadgets, drones, and cool devices, which I admired.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
- Apply STEM to discover Au and Copper.
- Create cool products to support Au and Cu discovery
- Using software to create cool maps
- Machine Learning
- Teaching, mentoring, and coaching the next generation of geoscientists and Engineers.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
- STEM is a field of study that moves technological advancements on earth.
- STEM application in mining supports the provision of minerals needed to support technological advancements.
Additional Resources
Field Engineer, PCL Construction
About Me
I was born and raised in Bolivia. Six years ago, I left my family and architecture career behind and moved to Denver where I married my husband, and not too long after, became a mom to a beautiful baby girl. Years later, once my daughter started school, I decided to kickstart my career by studying Construction Project Management at MSU Denver, something that turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I say this because aside from learning so much by completing my degree in CPM.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My mother is, without a doubt, my main source of inspiration. As a single mother, she was not able to attend college to study medicine as she dreamed of, as she had to work and make a living for us. Nonetheless, she always thought me the value of education and how important it is to get a college degree in today’s competitive worlds.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Since I was a little girl, I became fascinated by architecture and construction as I was very curious about the way houses and buildings were erected. In a way, I feel lucky that I was able to discover this passion early on as I was able to focus on getting on track to finish school early, attend college and complete an honors degree Architecture.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
The Construction Project Management field represent a really exciting and fulfilling career path. There are not enough words for me to describe how happy feel by having chosen this major as it provided me with lots of knowledge and vital relevant career experiences. Plus, if you prefer to work right in the middle of the action, this is your career.
Developer Evangelist, Twilio
About Me
Valériane is a French Developer Evangelist at Twilio. Her role is to serve and help the developers community and to share what she knows with peers. Valériane also is involved in helping inclusivity and integration of women in tech in Europe trough the Duchess association. When not behind a computer, Valériane loves to play escape games and build with legos and eletronics.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I always admired the image of the technical experts in TV shows and pictures and was absolututely fascinated by space and how infinity could even be.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Being in the party side of the job where i got to meet many people and share what I know with the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Did you knew one equals two for a computer? Computers don’t start counting at one, they always start at zero. So one actually means two because it will be the second item !
Graduate Research Assistant, CU Boulder
About Me
Bhagyashree is a PhD student at University of Colorado Boulder researching on the topic of space weather. She is originally from Mumbai, India. She loves space and everything about it!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
Watching the night sky, Science and geography class, and NASA news.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Making new discoveries and developing new tools and approaches
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Planets with a magnetic field like Earth also have aurora!
Additional Resources
https://www.spaceweather.com/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_weather
Director Health, Newmont Corporation
About Me
My name is Cat Walker. I loved the science of food from an early age. I enjoyed sport and athletics and always wanted to eat the best fuel to give my body and my mind energy. This lead me to studying Exercise Science and Human Nutrition. I started work at 12 as a gym coach, worked as a Nutritionist, and for the past 15 years have worked in workplace health and wellbeing promoting a healthy culture in the workplace. and the communities we work in.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
My Mum taught me how to cook at an early age and i loved learning about how food fuels your body. We had a good science lab at my high school and i loved experiments looking at chemical reactions. I was also able to attend a University near where we lived which had a great exercise and nutrition department.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Constantly learning! The more we progress in science and technology the more we learn. I love that my area crosses over into many disciplines. I also work with people from many cultures, backgrounds and experience which helps me to learn, test, refine and try again.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private communities, and individuals. This is what i get to plan and work on every day.
Head of Geotechnical and Hydrogeology,
Newmont Corporation
About Me
Hi! I’m Kate, Head of Geotechnical and Hydrogeology at a mining company. I help keep people and the environment safe by studying rocks and water deep underground. It’s like being a detective for the Earth! I use science, technology, and teamwork to solve problems. If you love digging, asking questions, or building things, geotechnical engineering could be your next big adventure!
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I grew up on a sheep farm and was always curious about how things worked—especially in nature. I loved maths at school and enjoyed solving puzzles, so STEM felt like a natural fit. Now I get to use those same skills to solve real problems in the ground beneath our feet!
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I love that my job takes me to amazing places—sometimes deep in the desert or high up in the mountains! I get to explore, solve tricky problems, and work with great people from around the world. Every day is different, and there’s always something new to discover!
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I’ve worked almost 6,500 feet underground—that’s like going down deeper than 21 Statue of Liberties stacked on top of each other! In geotechnical engineering, we explore deep below the surface to keep people and projects safe. It’s like an underground mission!
Senior Process Control Engineer, Newmont Corporation
About Me
My name is Raul Yonagusuku, and I was born in Peru. As a child, I had a lot of fun with my electronic toys (taking them apart to remove the electronic parts and make new toys). Later, I grew up fascinated by computer programming combine with electricity which end me up in a STEM field. That is why I decided my major in Electronic Engineering to became a Process Automation and Control Engineer. I have over 23 years of experience working in different industries, companies, and countries.
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
At school, I had great math teachers who inspired me to love math. I also was a very curious kid trying to figure out how things worked. When I was young, I was able to make connection between my passion and engineering which encouraged me to pursue STEM as my future career.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
I enjoy working with the latest technology combined with the new advanced process control tools, which help us make our processes more efficient. Also, I like being part of a team that works with people from different backgrounds all over the world.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
I enjoy working with the latest technology combined with the new advanced process control tools, which help us make our processes more efficient. Also, I like being part of a team that works with people from different backgrounds all over the world.
Additional Resources
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=562779362&rlz=1C1CHZN_esMX947MX947&q=Automation+and+control++engineer&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNo6zI5ZOBAxXsHzQIHeqYDOQQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1397&bih=959&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3c88671a,vid:aHUxsTNGdOo
Principal Engineer, INTERA Incorporated
About Me
I was born in China. I came to pursue graduate studies in the US in 1984 and got my degrees in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. During my study, I participated in NASA aerodynamic experiment. I finalized my focus in Nuclear Engineering. I have been working in my fields for about 40 years including teaching in a university and engineering consultancy in nuclear and environmental fields
What Inspired You to Explore STEM?
I was inspired by my parents: my mother had BS in physics but later she worked in high education field. My father was a mechanical engineer whose career lasted until he was 70 years old. The book Madam Curie is another inspiration.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your STEM Career?
Long lasting career, stable job, steady and good income, communicating with intelligent and interesting people, solving real problems.
What is a STEM fact about your field?
Being an engineer, you have the privilege of understanding natural systems and solving engineering problems while enjoying and taking interest in art and humanisms.
Additional Resources
https://kids.kiddle.co/Radioactive_waste