Have you ever faced prejudice as a woman working in a scientific field?

I did not experience any prejudice at all. I did however find some push back when I was searching for leadership positions within the scientific community. I was given advice that I should skip graduate school and getting an advanced degree because I would be wasting my time. I’m glad to have not followed that advice. Getting that advanced degree has opened the doors to me and I have more opportunities in the work force.

Why did you want to pursue science?

My high school biology teacher made science so easy for me to understand. I wanted to teach children because I wanted to have an impact on younger children. I started to fall in love with environmental science when I was pursuing my biology degree. In the end, it was my high school biology teacher that made me interested in science.

If you were to give advice to a young girl who wasn’t sure about whether or not she wanted to pursue a career in science, what would you say?

I would say to her, find the piece of science that you connect with. Whether it is health, botany, atmosphere, space, environmental science, I would encourage her to take a couple of classes to pursue her interest. Science leads to an understanding of the living world and to get an appreciation of the different fields in science and how these fields come together in the living world.