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The STEMinar Series

The Caltech Center for Inclusion & Diversity is excited to invite STEM faculty, scholars, and experts to explore the intersections of their various identities, advocacy, and activism with their science. The purpose is to highlight scholars who historically excluded, minoritized, or marginalized in STEM and working to advance inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility in the scientific community. We hope that the audience will be able to explore their own path through the world of STEM and reflect on how their science interacts with who they are as a broader person.

To see when our next STEMinar Speaker is coming check out our Calendar.

Past STEMinar Speakers Include:

  • Emma Haruka Iwao - Google Engineer
  • Jeremy Yoder - Assistant Professor, Biology, California State Univeristy, Northridge
  • Melissa Soriano - Senior Engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech BS Alum 03')
  • Lauren Esposito - Curator of Arachnology at California Academy of Sciences and Creator of 500 Queer Scientists
  • Mason Smith - Lead Software Engineer TGS Management (Caltech BS 09')
  • Josef Sanchez - JPL Flight Systems Assembly, Test & Launch Operations
  • Raul Navarro - Assistant Professor, Chemistry Occidental College (Caltech PhD)
  • Susan Finley - JPL and NASA human computer and explorer
  • Gina Poe - UCLA Neuroscience Professor
  • Aaron Yazzi - Mechanical Engineer at NASA JPL for the Payload Spacecraft Mechanical Engineering Division
  • Samuel Brinton - Founder of Core Solutions Consulting
  • Dr. Bob Suzuki - Alumni & retired President of California State Polytechnic University
  • Tracy Drain - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Operation of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  • Dr. Maria Elena Zavala - Professor of Biology at California State University Northridge (CSUN)
  • Powtache Valedrino - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Design and Navigation Section
  • Daniel Cruz-Ramírez de Arellano, Ph.D. - One of the Founders of Queer In STEM & and Faculty at University of South Florida
  • Dr. Jessica Hernandez (Binnizá & Maya Ch'orti') - Author of Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science
  • Karsten & Kristen Bush - Black Girls Do Engineer Board Members
  • Dr. Robert W. Fernandez - Co-founder of Científico Latino, a scientific organization dedicated to improving access to underrepresented students in higher education in STEM
  • Ariana Elena Castillo - Disability Advocate in STEM & Ph.D Student, Atmospheric and Climate Dynamics at Harvard University
  • Alex "Panda" Armendariz - Native scholar & Staff at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Cultural Centers