Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

Ashley McDonald is the Interim Vice President of Sustainability at National Pork Board. Ashley's passion for agriculture, farming, and STEM started at a very young age and she specializes in sustainability and policy. Ashley has a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Economics and a Doctor of Law (JD) from George Mason University. Episode Notes Ashley shares the close relationship between a...

Lois Melbourne is the co-author of the newly released science-fiction novel, "Moral Code" , a book about ethical artificial intelligence. Lois has also written two children's books and is the former co-founder and CEO of Acquire, a global technology company which provides talent management solutions. Lois now calls herself the Chief Storytelling Officer - a great title! She has a Ba...

Patty Mechael is a leader in digital transformation of global health in low-and middle-income countries. She is the Co-founder and Policy Lead of HealthEnabled. She has held numerous executive and leadership positions, traveled to over 40 countries, and spent more than 20 years improving public health throughout the world. She has served as Executive Director of the mHealth Alliance at the UN Foun...

Erin Twamley is an award-winning children’s book author, educator and lifetime Girl Scout. Erin's current children's book series, Everyday Superheroes, provides female role models in different STEM, energy, and engineering careers. Erin's background in psychology, education, and energy provide the foundation from which Erin creates this book series featuring real women in real caree...

Dr. Emilia Molimpakis is the co-founder and CEO of thymia, a company that uses video games based on Neuropsychology along with analysis of speech and facial micro expressions to quickly, accurately, and objectively diagnosis mental health issues, including depression. In 2020/2021 she won the Young Innovators Award. Emilia has a PhD in Neuroscience and Linguistics, a Master's Degree in Langua...

Kimberly Moore is the founder and CEO of KDM Engineering, a consulting firm specializing in utilities and telecommunications. She is the founder and president of Calculated Genius, an organization dedicated to helping underrepresented youth explore and connect to STEM in an effort to inspire and support a brighter future. Kimberly serves on several boards of directors and has won several awards in...

Adriana Talianová is a 16 year old student in Slovakia. She recently completed an internship at NASA and is also working as a research assistant at Northwestern University. Episode Notes Adriana talks about her experience working at NASA SEES (Stem Enhancement in Earth Sciences) and as a Research Assistant at Northwestern University at such a young age. She talks about the importance of just going...

Madison Sidebottom is a Civil Engineer currently working towards her Professional Surveyor License. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Western Kentucky University. Episode Notes Madison shares her experiences as a new civil engineer - her challenges starting out as one of the only women in her department in her company. How an internship helped her not only figure out what...

Dr. Monique Chism is the Undersecretary for Education at the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Chism is repsonsible for coordinating educational programming throughout all of the Smithsonian facilities. She has spent her life working in education including the Department of Education. She is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of work and life. Dr. Chism has a PhD in American St...

Jodi Boone is a Product Manager 2 for Microsoft's Azure platform, a cloud computing platform for application management via Microsoft-managed data centers. Jodi graduated graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science in 2020.  Erin Chapple is a product and technology executive who delivers multibillion-dollar revenues through innovation, product leadership and technology acumen....

Cindy Lawrence is the Executive Director and CEO of the Museum of Mathematics. The Museum of Mathematics began in 2008 with the mission of enhancing public understanding and perception of mathematics. Its dynamic exhibits and programs stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity, and reveal the wonders of mathematics. Episode Notes Cindy shares her joy of mathematics and the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) a...

Lisa Bowers is a mission-driven, visionary, senior executive in the biopharmaceutical industry. She has extensive experience leading strategic, operational, field, program and product initiatives in healthcare. She is passionate about improving access to healthcare and healthcare products for underserved populations in businesses and nonprofits. Lisa has an Master of Health Services Administration...

Cynthia Changyit Levin is the author of the newly released book " From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Mom's Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started ". Cynthia has been active in the advocacy world since her children were very small. She advocates on a number of bi-partisan issues, but her main focus is global health. Cynthia has bachelor's and master's deg...

Danica Bunnett is the Chief Operating Officer of Bluon, a mobile app and technology platform that supports the HVAC technician community. Danica shares her passion for supporting a community that hasn’t traditionally received a lot of support and for making their lives easier and better. She has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Product Design (Mechanical Engineering) from Stanford University wher...

Dr. Prineha Narang is an Assistant Professor at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. She leads an interdisciplinary group at Harvard SEAS at the intersection of computational science, phenomena away from equilibrium, and quantum dynamics in matter. She has won numerous awards, fellowships, and grants including Forbes "30 Under 30". She has...

Dr. Moira Gilchrist is the Vice President of Strategic and Scientific Communications at Philip Morris International (PMI). She has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and in 2006, came to PMI to help launch the company’s smoke-free products, which were developed as better alternatives to cigarettes for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. Her journey to PMI was as personal as it was p...

Dr. Claire Christensen is a Senior Education Researcher at SRI International. She is a principal investigator with expertise in educational media research. While she studies many areas of media and its impact on youth, the focus of our conversation was mostly around STEM media. Claire is extremely knowledgeable and passionate of educational media research. She has a PhD and MA in Psychology from t...

Katherine Hamilton co-hosted "The Energy Gang" podcast for over eight years. She is the co-founder and Chair of 38 North Solutions, a public policy firm focused on clean energy and innovation. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Clean Electrification. She was the President of the GridWise Alliance, served as a policy advisor for Go...

Estefannie is a Computer Scientist and Instagram and YouTube content creator. She shares her designs, experiments and prototypes on her Instagram and YouTube channels. Esteffanie was born in Mexico and moved to Houston for college. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and a Mathematics Minor. Episode Notes Estefannie brings engineering and science to life through her fun and engagi...

Dr. Shelly Hagerman is a consultant in the energy & utility industry. She specializes in Distributed Energy Resources and Electric Vehicle Strategy & Data Analytics. She has a PhD in Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, a BS in Engineering and a BA in Music. Shelly is extremely passionate about both her career and piano. Episode Notes Shelly Hagerman provides in...

Lauren Sato is the CEO of Ada Developers Academy, an organization which prepares women and gender expansive adults for careers in software development in addition to helping place them in internships setting them up for long-term career success. Lauren has deep experience in leadership and leading programs that empower women in sustainable ways. She has a BA in Adolescent and Young Adult Social St...

Erin Mallon is an author of a newly released trio of romantic comedy novels which feature protagonists who are women in STEM: Flirtasaurus (July 2020), Lovebug (February 2021), and Sharkbait (coming Summer 2022). She is also a playwright and narrator of over 550 audiobooks, many of them in the romance genre. She has won several awards for her audiobook narration and recently won the 2021 Independe...

Dr. Mary Kinsella, founder and CEO of Her Engineering Career, is a career strategist who works with women engineers to help them navigate their careers to confidently command greater influence and impact. Prior to founding Her Engineering Career, Mary spent 31 years at the Air Force Research Laboratory in engineering and scientific research roles. She has a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineerin...

Dr. Hanine Salem is a policy analyst and strategist specializing in public sector development and education. While her interest is concerned with improving leadership's decision making process through policy analysis and results oriented public management methods, our conversation focuses on a specific Cybersecurity program she is involved in and encouraging girls to get into fields such as c...

D Sangeeta is the Founder and CEO of GOTARA whose mission is to offer career support and advice to women in STEM professions. Their goal is to help close the gender gap at all levels, and to make this service available to women around the world who are working in STEM fields as individuals, or as leaders in a variety of organizations. D. Sangeeta has held leadership and science/research positions...