STEMinista Project

Happy ! The STEMinista Project is excited to share some amazing women in STEM who didn’t let anything keep them from fulfilling their dreams. This week we’re honoring Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jewish woman who studied math, physics, and radioactivity. Born in 1878, Meitner attended school until she was 14 and then attended private classes because girls at the time were barred from pursuing higher education. In 1899, Austria opened public universities to women and Meitner entered the University of Vienna, where she studied math and physics. After completing her PhD in 1906, Meitner went to Berlin where she collaborated with Otto Hahn on the study of radioactive elements. Due to being Jewish and a woman, she was barred from the main labs and lectures. Meitner fled Austria in 1938 to escape N**i rule and settled in Sweden to continue her work with Hahn.

After Hahn discovered that uranium atoms split when bombarded with neutrons, she calculated the energy released in the reaction and named the phenomenon “nuclear fission.” This discovery eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb, and Hahn won the Nobel Prize in 1944. Meitner was not credited with the discovery and was overlooked by the Nobel committee. She refused to return to Germany after the war and continued her atomic research in Stockholm into her 80s.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. MathAlive! closes April 24th-visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit before it's gone!

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The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a black and white photo of Lise Meitner. To the lower right of Lise Meitner’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Lise Meitner” Under her name reads, “Math & Physics, Radioactivity” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

MiSci is closed for a private event today, Saturday March 5. We'll see you tomorrow at 10am for regularly scheduled exploration and discovery!

Plan your visit at https://bit.ly/3eEvzvX

This week on , we wrap up by honoring the the work of Dr. Gloria Ford Gilmer, a Black mathematician and educator who continues to shape the face of STEM. Dr. Gilmer earned her B.S. in mathematics from Morgan State University. After earning her M.A. in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, she and taught at six different Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). After taking time away to start a family, Gloria Ford Gilmer earned her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Marquette University in Wisconsin.

Dr. Gilmer was the first Black female on the board of governors of the Mathematical Association of America (1980 – 1982). She has also served as a research associate with the U.S. Department of Education (1981 – 1984). In 1985, she co-founded the Executive Board of International Study Group on Ethnomathematics (ISGEm) and served as President of the organization from 1985-1996. Dr. Gilmer was also the first woman to give the National Association of Mathematician’s Cox-Talbot Address. Visit http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/gilmer-gloria_HAIRSTYLES.html to read Dr. Gilmer’s paper on the mathematical patterns found in African-American hair styles.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a photo of Gloria Ford Gilmer. To the lower right of Dr. Gilmer’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Gloria Ford Gilmer” Under her name reads, “Mathematics and Education” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

This week on , we're celebrating by honoring the Black mathematicians who helped shape what STEM is today. Euphemia Lofton Haynes (1890–1980) earned degrees in both mathematics and education, and in 1943 Haynes became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. Dr. Haynes devoted her life to teaching in a variety of settings and working to change the face of education, which often found black students falling into a system of de facto segregation.

She also founded the math department at Miner Teachers College (now the University of the District of Columbia) and worked to educate African-American teachers.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

[Accessibility:]
The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a black and white photo of Euphemia Lofton Haynes. To the lower left of Euphemia Lofton Haynes’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Euphemia Lofton Haynes” Under her name reads, “Mathematics and Education” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

This week on Mathtastic Monday, we celebrate by honoring the Black mathematicians who helped shape what STEM is today. Today we honor Marjorie Lee Browne’s legacy. Marjorie Lee Browne (September 9, 1914 - October 19, 1979) earned her B.S. in Mathematics from Howard University in 1935 and her M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1939, becoming one of the first few African-American women with a graduate Mathematics degree. Though she reached college during the Depression years, she was able to attend Howard University through combination of scholarships, jobs, and loans. Dr. Browne taught at Wiley College while continuing graduate work during the summers, and earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1950. Dr. Browne taught at North Carolina Central University until her death in 1979.

Browne's love and aptitude for numbers came from her father, who had attended college for a couple of years (rare for a Black man in 1914) and was known as a whiz at mental mathematics. He shared his enthusiasm with his children and with his civil service job as a railway postal clerk, he made sure Marjorie was enrolled in LeMoyne High school, a private school started after the Civil War to educate Black students. This start propelled her to Howard and later to the University of Michigan.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a black and white photo of Marjorie Lee Browne. To the lower right of Marjorie Lee Browne’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Marjorie Lee Browne” Under her name reads, “ Mathematics Professor at North Carolina Central University” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

This week on , we celebrate by honoring the one of the many Black mathematicians who helped shape what STEM is today. Annie Easley (April 23, 1933-June 25, 2011) was a computer scientist, rocket scientist, and mathematician who worked for the Lewis Research Center (now the Glenn Research Center), a NASA center in Cleveland, Ohio. She was a leading member of the team responsible for designing software used in the Centaur rocket stage, and was one of the first African-Americans to work at NASA.

During her time at NASA, Easley also worked as an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor to help the agency formally address concerns of discrimination from women and African-American employees at all levels of the company. Annie Easley was inducted into the Glenn Research Hall of Fame in 2015, four years after her passing in 2011. In February 2021, a crater on the Moon was named after Easley.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a photo of Annie Easley. She is a black woman with curly, short dark hair and dark eyes. To the lower right of Annie’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Annie Easley” Under her name reads, “Computer scientist, rocket scientist, and mathematician” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

This week on , we are spending some time with Lindsey Rustad, a Forest Ecologist. Lindsey can usually be found deep in the forests of New England-whether she’s hiking, kayaking, fly fishing, or patiently studying how these majestic ecosystems work. As a forest ecologist, she has spent over three decades conducting research in order to better understand how forests grow and thrive. Her laboratory is the outdoors, and she is internationally recognized for her large-scale and groundbreaking experiments on forest soil warming, drought, acid rain, and ice storms. Her passion is bringing together scientists, artists, and citizens to address some of the most vexing issues facing the world today.

Lindsey received a BA in Philosophy at Cornell University in 1980, an MS in Forest Science at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences in 1983, and a PhD in Plant Science in 1988 at the University of Maine. She is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and has received awards from the USDA Forest Service as a Distinguished Scientist.

Math is used in ecology to translate real-world observations into quantifiable data. An ecologist will use mathematical formulas to help determine how much activity can be found in any parts of a forest, and what kind of activity it is, and where that activity is concentrated.

is part of MathAlive!, a traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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Image 1: The background is a mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a photo of Lindsey. Lindsey Rustad is a white woman with wavy dirty blonde hair and grey eyes. To the lower right of Lindsey’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Lindsey Rustad.” Under her name reads, “Forest Ecologist with USDA Forest Service.” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

Image 2: An orange background with pink, blue, and green balls. A large purple orb is in the middle with lightening moving across it; it says MathAlive!. There is a smaller blue orb that says sponsored by Ford and Axalta. There are also black and white images of people doing extreme sports like mountain biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding.

New year, new you. Vanessa Hill is our Mathtastic Monday role model for the week. Vanessa is a behavioral scientist whose work includes studying sleep procrastination and other habits both healthy and unhealthy. As a behavioral scientist, math comes into play in a multitude of ways; most math in behavioral science has to do with research – comparing data from day to day, from case to case, to come up with answers to why a person behaves the way they do, and what possible solutions there are. Visit our bio for 2 videos where Vanessa teaches us a technique to combat the fear response and how to form good habits that actually stick. Vanessa Hill goes by on Instagram and Twitter.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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Image 1: The background is a mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Project logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista Project logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a photo of Vanessa Hill. Vanessa is a white woman with dark straight hair and brown eyes. To the lower right of Vanessa’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Vanessa Hill.” Under her name reads, “Behavioral Scientist and Founder of the BrainCraft YouTube Channel” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.
Image 2: An orange background with pink, blue, and green balls. A large purple orb is in the middle with lightening moving across it; it says MathAlive!. There is a smaller blue orb that says sponsored by Ford and Axalta. There are also black and white images of people doing extreme sports like mountain biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding.

Shemika White is a Sr. Supplier Quality Engineer specializing in process improvement and quality system maintenance with years of experience in the medical device industry. Originally from Brooklyn, NY she moved to Connecticut to obtain her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Hartford. She received her Master of Science in Engineering Management from Western New England University and is continuing to pursue an MBA.

As CEO of Notes of Beauty, Shemika pairs her passion for natural hair and skincare with her knowledge of chemistry and her love of music. As she advances in her career, she continues to mentor aspiring black engineers through her platform, Engineering My Natural. Her goal is to impact her community by inspiring those who seek a career in STEM and helping them navigate their career paths.

Visit https://bit.ly/3qyFycV to see Shemika’s STEMinista Role Model page alongside MiSci’s other STEMinista Role Models and if you are a woman in STEM, apply to become a role model today!

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit https://bit.ly/3H14YX4 to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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The background is a mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a photo of Shemika White. Shemika is a black woman with curly dark hair and dark eyes. To the lower right of Shemika’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Shemika White.” Under her name reads, “Senior Supplier Quality Engineer / Biomedical Engineering, Engineering Management.” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

This week on we take a look at what molecules can do for us. Helen Tran is a molecular architect, which is someone who builds materials starting from a molecular level. As a molecular architect, Helen uses chemical formulas to study the molecular structure of different polymers, which are molecular structures of various synthetic and natural materials made up of a number of monomers. The molecular architecture of polymers is based on macromolecules generated synthetically or through natural processes. A formula changes depending on the number of each component of an equation.

Helen Tran wants to show you how to regrow your own produce! Visit https://bit.ly/3nfXneT for a video comparing regrowing produce to molecular architecture. Both are all about creating and maintaining a sustainable future. Part of Helen’s work is finding ways to create biodegradable plastics so there is less waste on our planet.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit https://bit.ly/3H14YX4 to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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Image 1: The background is a red-pink color and there are several outlines of circles in orange, light blue, coral, purple, and green in the background. The Michigan Science Center logo is in the filled in blue circle at the upper right of the graphic. In the center of the graphic, Helen Tran’s photo is in a yellow circular frame. Kimberley is smiling, holding the planet Earth in her hand. “Helen Tran” is written in white font at the bottom right of the graphic and “Chemistry Professor, Molecular Architect” is written underneath that. The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

Image 2: An orange background with pink, blue, and green balls. A large purple orb is in the middle with lightening moving across it; it says MathAlive!. There is a smaller blue orb that says sponsored by Ford and Axalta. There are also black and white images of people doing extreme sports like mountain biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding.

It's the first of 2022! Dr. Kimberley Rain Miner is a climate scientist and research assistant professor for the University of Maine. Dr. Miner spends her time exploring all ends of the Earth discovering the effects of climate change on different environments in our world. Visit https://bit.ly/3HzsgTw to find a Q&A video with Dr. Kimberley Rain Miner and an activity to learn how to make your own recycled plant paper.

Math is used every day in climate sciences, mainly for data analysis. Dr. Miner goes into nature and records everything she experiences. All that data gets aggregated into charts and graphs in order for her to easily study how the natural world changes over time.

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit https://bit.ly/3H14YX4 to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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The background is a red-pink color and there are several outlines of circles in orange, light blue, light pink, purple, and green in the background. The Michigan Science Center logo is in the filled in grey circle at the upper right of the graphic. In the center of the graphic, Kimberley Rain Miner’s photo is in a yellow circular frame. Kimberley is smiling, holding the planet Earth in her hand. “Kimberley Rain Miner” is written in white font at the bottom right of the graphic and “Climate Scientist” is written underneath that. The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

What’s the strangest animal you’ve seen in person? Allison Fundis is an ocean explorer who has seen all kinds of interesting ocean life up close and personal. She works with to push the boundaries of what we know to be true about the world around us by exploring the world under the sea.

On a day-to-day basis, Allison spends her time on a ship conducting research on the things she and her crew come across at sea. This entails breaking out all kinds of tools and working with professionals in all different fields of science and art. Each ship consists of a research crew made up of a biologist, geologist, and members of other scientific fields working with film makers and video engineers to share the research process with the world at large.

Visit https://linktr.ee/steminista.project to watch a video of Allison answering your questions and try a fun activity to make your own ocean waves in a bottle. Show us your ocean waves using ! 🌊

is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's newest traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. Visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit today!

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Image 1: The background is a red-pink color and there are several outlines of circles in orange, light blue, purple, light pink, and green in the background. The Michigan Science Center logo is in the filled in dark blue circle at the upper right of the graphic. In the center of the graphic, Allison Fundis’s photo is in a yellow circular frame. Allison is standing in front of a piece of equipment used at sea. “Allison Fundis” is written in white font at the bottom right of the graphic and “Ocean Explorer, Marine Geologist” is written underneath that. The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.

Image 2: An orange background with pink, blue, and green balls. A large purple orb is in the middle with lightening moving across it; it says MathAlive!. There is a smaller blue orb that says sponsored by Ford and Axalta. There are also black and white images of people doing extreme sports like mountain biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding.