TEDxRiceU

Introducing our last speaker Nayounghee Tuetkin, a junior at Rice studying Neuroscience and Medical Humanities! Her work centers on addressing systemic barriers to healthcare for vulnerable populations, from domestic violence victims to immigrants to incarcerated individuals. She is the founder of Bridge the Gap, a volunteer and service club at Rice, through which she launched an outreach program with Asians Against Domestic Abuse that educated over 200 middle schoolers on domestic violence and healthy relationships, and partnered students with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program to help recently released men build marketing skills.

Her TEDx talk explores the parallels between healthcare and mass incarceration, specifically how incarcerated individuals often share the same vulnerabilities as any patient, yet face a very different standard of care.

At Rice, Nayounghee serves as Co-Editor in Chief of Catalyst, Rice’s Undergraduate Research Journal, and as a Rice Health Advisors Campus Coordinator. She is a certified Medical Assistant with clinical experience across pediatric neurology, ophthalmology, and lactation medicine, and has conducted research on organ donation disparities and systemic barriers facing caregivers. She is a recipient of the 2026 Undergraduate Women’s Impact Award, the Medical Humanities Research Award, and is both a 2025 CREST Scholar and 2024 SER Scholar at Rice.

Introducing our next speaker Dr. Scott Solomon, who is a professor and science communicator at Rice! As a Teaching Professor at Rice and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, his work involves the ecology and evolution of insects, microbes, and humans.

His TEDx talk explores the growing disconnect between scientists and the public, and why it’s time for scientists to step out of the lab and engage directly with society. He explores how the field ought to rebuild trust and counter misinformation.

Dr. Solomon is the author of Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds (MIT Press, 2026) and Future Humans: Inside the Science of Our Continuing Evolution (Yale University Press), the latter of which was named to the AAAS Best Book List in 2017. He is a Fellow of The Explorers Club, creator and host of the Wild World with Scott Solomon podcast, and has appeared on NPR, the BBC World Service, National Geographic, and Wired. His courses on Coursera and The Great Courses have brought evolutionary biology and ecology to students worldwide.

Introducing our first speaker Sharon “Shay” Olaifa, who is a senior at Rice University studying Political Science and Social Policy Analysis! Aspiring to become a health lawyer and public health policymaker, her work examines the systemic forces that shape health inequities and advocates for community-centered, justice-focused policy solutions. As a two-year Fondren Fellow, Shay co-created the Creosote Contamination Archive at Rice’s Woodson Research Center, a community-centered archive documenting the history of toxic creosote exposure and cancer clusters in Houston’s Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens. Her TEDx talk explores how environmental racism becomes embedded in policy and rewritten in history at the expense of marginalized communities, but more importantly, how these communities fight back by reclaiming their truths through oral histories. Shay has previously interned at the Brookings Institution Center for Health Policy, the chambers of U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray, and was also a Loewenstern Fellow with Soweto Organização Negra in São Paulo, Brazil. At Rice, she has served as a Student Association New Student Representative, Senator, and Director of Policy; on the Rice Journal of Public Policy Executive Board; and as a Center for Civic Leadership Ambassador, among others. Her work has earned recognition through honors such as being named a Stanford Law Scholar, a Truman Scholarship for Public Service Semifinalist, and a Fulbright Semifinalist.

[REGISTER WITH LINK IN BIO] TEDxRiceU is proud to announce that DoorDash will serve as the official sponsor of Collisions, this Saturday at 12-2 PM in the Moody Center! Watch our 3 speakers deliver their TED talks and enjoy FREE Aga’s at the reception. Link to RSVP is in our bio!

TEDxRiceU is proud to present our 2026 conference: Collisions. When ideas, disciplines, and identities collide, transformation begins. From environmentalism to prison reform, our speakers explore how moments of tension spark innovation and create new ways of understanding the world.

Ready to be part of the collision? ** Register at the link in our bio for compelling talks, free boba, and free Aga’s! **

TEDxRiceU is back for the 2025-2026 school year! Interested in public-speaking, event planning, marketing, or finance? Come meet our team and learn about TED at Rice on Thursday, September 4th at 6PM in McNair Hall, Room TBD.

Let’s share some ideas worth spreading.

Speaker applications for our Fall 2023 TEDxSalon Events and Spring 2024 TEDxUniversity Event are now extended to Sept 25th‼️
Don’t miss the chance to give a TEDx speech on SPACE🪐🔭☄️, MUSIC 🎶🎤🎻, or more!

Again, anyone (including students, professors, and Houston community members) can apply or be nominated!

Application link in bio 🙌

Speaker applications for our Fall 2023 TEDxSalon Events and Spring 2024 TEDxUniversity Event are now open! Apply or nominate someone to give a TEDx speech on music, space, or more by September 20th 🙌
Anyone (including students, professors, and Houston community members) can apply or be nominated!

More info about both events can be found in the application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZFUDOjHKzVli70qeoAjieT46BHFHl-VFWt_GWEZ7CgVLZEQ/viewform

Want to refine your public speaking skills? Apply to be a speaker for TEDxRiceU’s Mental Health Event! You will have the opportunity to work with curators who will help you create a TEDx-style speech and have your speech recorded. You may also nominate someone and we will reach out to them directly! Linkinbio

We had a blast 🥳

Thank you for your awesome performances! Love to see you on our future events!

Let’s give a round of applause to our speakers and members who made this an unforgettable evening! 🥳🥳👏👏