My mother is a biologist and I grew up helping her measure and write down data in tables for her experiments, and listening to her explain fascinating phenomena to little children visiting the marine science museum. My mother is also the daughter of a teacher, which makes me a third-generation educator.
As a child, I was not particularly interested in science, and although I had a talent for STEM, the arts were my calling, particularly dance. This was also my escape and voice throughout a difficult youth that was sometimes shrouded in silence. I went to college to become an arts teacher, and started graduate education focused on dance anthropology, folklore and gender studies. I learned to merge art activism for women and diversity issues (which I was already involved in) with public and engaged scholarship.
The use of science and knowledge for the public good and my passion for education led me to complete a doctorate in educational leadership, to continue learning about learning! I am now a mother and continue to work in research, entrepreneurship and public policy on issues of education, gender, diversity and development, to generate knowledge about evidence-based decision-making for social justice and well-being (including that of my children, every day!).
