Celebrating two years of stories, insights, and inspiration from women in STEM and data-driven fields. We’re also expanding our focus to digital literacy and the evolving role of AI!

As we wrap up the 4th season of Carpe Datum, we want to celebrate the incredible women who shared their journeys across data, STEM, leadership, and creativity. This season is a reminder that meaningful data work starts with people. Thanks for listening, and don’t forget to seize the data!

• Winning Competitive Scholarships: Success is driven by strategic preparation, consistent personal growth, and long-term persistence through challenges.

• Student-Led Advocacy in STEM: Grassroots leadership can expand opportunities, visibility, and access to STEM programs through sustained student initiative.

• From Idea to Impact (Gold Award): Meaningful projects emerge from aligning personal passion with community need and executing through careful planning and follow-through.

• Technology in Biomedical Engineering & Cancer Support: Data science and technology enhance biomedical innovation while strengthening patient-centered support systems.

  
  

  Link to PARSE College: https://sites.google.com/view/hursau/home

• Career Journey & Daily Work: What sparked their path into data science and what energizes their day-to-day problem-solving.

• Sustaining a Two-Decade Career: A growth mindset that supports adaptability, curiosity, and purpose across shifting missions.

• User Needs From the Ground Up: How real-world, hands-on experiences shape more empathetic, user-centered data tools and events.

• Guiding Real-World Student Projects: Helping students identify meaningful problems and what distinguishes a standout capstone.

• Communication Across Audiences: Tailoring language, tools, and teaching styles for executives versus classroom learners.

• Influence of a Secondary School Teacher: Early encouragement can lead to long-term impact of belief and representation in STEM.

• Problem-Solving Approach: Complex challenges are tackled through structured thinking, practical questioning, and a focus on clarity over complexity.

• Making STEM Accessible: STEM is made approachable by connecting concepts to everyday life, encouraging curiosity, and removing barriers of intimidation.

• Shift to STEMAZING and Inclusion: Transition into education and inclusion stemmed from a recognition of systemic gaps and a drive to increase representation in STEM fields.

  Link to Stemazing: https://www.stemazing.co.uk/

  Link to mentioned TedTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S4ZWYofAdQ

• Mentoring at UofT: Helped students see hidden opportunities (like work-study programs), shaping a mentorship style grounded in practical guidance and empathy.

• Project Coordination at Canada Bread: Learned to simplify data communication by focusing on outcomes, not visuals but answering “So what?” for non-technical stakeholders.

• Adapting Across Projects: Staying curious and doing deep research into each domain helps turn unfamiliar territory into valuable insight.

• Taking a Career Break: Pausing my career to pursue an MBA at Yale was about growing into a strategist who connects data with business impact.

• Supporting Teams & Embracing Challenges at Aize: Data solutions through collaboration and adaptability, ensuring they’re intuitive and aligned with user needs.

• NHIF Internship & Interest in Data Analytics: NHIF spark to explore data’s role in healthcare, blending purpose with problem-solving.

• Short Intensive Courses (e.g. Kaggle x Google Gen AI): Short intensives give you concentrated exposure and momentum for testing new skills quickly without a long commitment.

• Breaking Into Data Science Without a Formal Background: Credibility comes from consistency like personal projects and public contributions.

• Overlaps Between Draco Work and Academic Research: Even across different domains, problem-solving patterns, experimental design, and data fluency often connect the dots unexpectedly.

• Most Rewarding Part of Life Science Research Role at Stanford: The dual impact of advancing human health while constantly learning.

• Consulting to Data Science: Structured thinking and stakeholder empathy are just as critical in data science as they are in consulting.

• Choosing Tools in Evolving Environments: Letting the problem dictate the method.

• Mentoring vs. Judging at Hackathons:The key is timing to guide with empathy, clarity, and fairness during and at the end of the process.

• Personal Interests Shaping Professional Identity: Integrating personal passions into professional life makes your work more authentic, relatable, and impactful.

• Community STEAM Access: Bringing STEAM into community spaces helps break barriers to access and makes learning feel more approachable and inclusive.

• Engaging Young Minds: Making STEAM fun, hands-on, and adaptable across ages keeps young learners curious and engaged.

• Designing for All: Teaching across educational stages informs the creation of activities that are both developmentally appropriate and universally exciting.

• Future of STEAM: The future of STEAM education depends on creativity, accessibility, and community-driven initiatives like Amazelab.

  
  

  Link to Amazelab: https://linktr.ee/Amazelab