STEMulating Conversations with Dr. Q

This is a 31 day journey of topics to invoke STEMulating conversations on what it takes to turn your intent into results.

This is a 31 day journey of topics to invoke STEMulating conversations on what it takes to turn your intent into results.

This is a 31 day journey of topics to invoke STEMulating conversations on what it takes to turn your intent into results.

This is a 31 day journey of topics to invoke STEMulating conversations on what it takes to turn your intent into results.

Dr. Michael D. Smith, widely known in the engineering world as Dr. Mike, credits his graduate school pivot to a chance notice of a brochure on a bulletin board. Though he entered a doctoral program seeking a PhD in engineering, he earned a Doctorate of Engineering, D. Eng degree which he describes as a combination of a PhD and and MBA.

A life long advocate for underrepresented groups to pursue STEM degrees, Dr. Mike has utilized his degree in a range of capacities spanning STEM education, STEM operations and programming at nonprofit organizations, and independent consulting.

Connect with Dr. Mike on LinkedIn

Dr. Monica Cox has learned that being your authentic self is requires taking a certain level of risk. She is a wife, mother, daughter, activist, and professor who grew up as an only child in a rural southeast Alabama community. It was the core values instilled in her by her parents that has led to her being able to persist in the face of personal and professional adversity.

The conversation was not only STEMulating, but an authentic, inspirational and motivational testimony for choosing self and sanity above all else when faced with a valley moment in their career.

Learn more about Dr. Cox at her website drmonicacox.com

Follow her on social media at: @drmonicacox

His scientific curiosity can be traced back to being a two year old military kid playing in his desert backyard catching snakes and gila monsters. His major in chemistry was the result of a chance meeting in the hallway of a building at his undergraduate college. These two events eventually led Dr. Vernon Morris to pursue, not only an undergraduate degree in chemistry and mathematics, but also PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. A well-respected and highly accomplished researcher in his field, Dr. Morris is now Director and Professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University.

You can find out more about Dr. Morris via https://newcollege.asu.edu/vernon-morris

Be sure to join in for Part Two, when we discuss more of The Color of Weather.

It is never too late to start over. That's exactly the testimony of Dr. Iris Wagstaff. She is a chemist, educator, mentor, researcher and science policy advisor with extensive experience in STEM outreach and advocacy. She is also a thought leader and change agent in the broader STEM community.

After spending nearly 15 years in a successful industry career as a research chemist, she decided to leave that job and embarked upon a new path. She would go on to earn a PhD in Science Education, be named a AAAS Science Policy fellow and serve as a STEM Program Director in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Her inspirational and motivational story is one that all can benefit!