Virtual STEMEd for Girls with AAUW

I have consulted as a developer for two years on the AAUW’s successful Virtual STEMEd for Girls educational program, an effort to help high school girls of color to gain confidence and be inspired in STEM.

"STEMEd for Girls is an exciting program is created for girls in middle and high school—with a particular focus on girls of color—and the people who support them. Whether girls are just starting to explore interest in science, technology, engineering, or math, or have already decided to major in STEM in college, this program will help them prepare for the journey from 9th grade to 12th grade."

Committee for Community, Anti-Racism, and Equity (CARE)
As a founding member of the Committee for CARE in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University for Arizona, we work to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the department. We have begun a CARE seminar and discussion series, develop guidelines for inclusive field work, and create a Code of Conduct for the department that focuses on academic and personal respect.

Retention Subcommittee of the Student Success Initiative of the College of Science

As a member of the Retention Subcommittee, I helped to propose efforts to retain students in the College of Science. I focused on using statistics from previous years to understand the barriers to retention, especially for students from minoritized backgrounds and on Pell Grants.

High School Mentoring with STAR Labs

The STAR Lab program is a collaboration between the University of Arizona Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and SARSEF, the Southern Arizona Research, Science, and Engineering Foundation. The STAR Lab program (Students Taking Advantage of Research) helps high school students to gain a greater appreciation for the scientific process, research, and their own intellectual curiosity by providing mentors to support them as they pursue a semi-independent research project. I have so far mentored three students, one of whom one first place in the Animal Science category at the Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair, and am currently mentoring an additional two.

Outreach at Mission Garden

I participate in public outreach efforts at Mission Garden, a living agricultural museum in Tucson devoted to education about Tucson's 4,000 year old agricultural heritage. I present about bats at Critter Night and at the Agave Heritage Festival.

Skype a Scientist

I volunteer for Skype a Scientist to help students nation-wide to get to know a real-life scientist. Depending on the age group, I discuss my research, my interests, and the challenges I have faced in my path to becoming a scientist.