Where does your journey STEM From?

Carina Minardi, PhD MPH

An exploration of careers and research all having to do with the glorious STEM.

  1. S3 Ep 14: Olivia Gonzalez, Economist

    11/21/2024

    S3 Ep 14: Olivia Gonzalez, Economist

    Olivia Gonzalez is an economist at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in the Office of Strategic Management and Enterprise Integrity, where she conducts regulatory economic analysis, supports the evaluation of SBA programs, and leverages data and evidence as strategic assets to drive decisions. She co-leads the SBA’s Evidence and Evaluation Community of Practice which is intended to promote a culture of learning and evidence-based decision-making throughout the agency. Olivia has over 10 years of experience in researching and analyzing macroeconomic and microeconomic data from diverse sources, developing metrics, and synthesizing research in professional journal articles, research papers, and briefings. Before the SBA, Olivia worked on national statistics at the Bureau of Economic Analysis and public policy analysis at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University (GMU). Olivia is a part-time PhD candidate at GMU and is exploring the economics of discrimination using advanced econometric methods in her dissertation. She earned her B.S. and M.A. degrees in economics from GMU. She also holds an A.S. in Business Administration from Northern Virginia Community College. Olivia was a Frederic Bastiat Fellow at the Mercatus Center from 2019 to 2022 and received the American Planning Association’s Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship in 2017 for her work on home-based business regulations. Olivia also serves as a board member of the JP Innovation Project, a nonprofit that helps connect high-need youth with education and training opportunities in the tech field. Olivia has published research on economic development, fiscal, and zoning policies. Although her research interests are widespread, she is ultimately very passionate about evidence-based policy, economic education, and analyzing how public policies influence equity.

    41 min
  2. S3 Ep 13: Celena Michaud, Electrical Engineer

    11/14/2024

    S3 Ep 13: Celena Michaud, Electrical Engineer

    Celena Michaud is an Electrical Engineer at Avalanche Energy, a nuclear fusion startup developing a compact fusion device capable of providing clean, renewable energy for use in distributed and remote systems such as underwater vehicles and satellites. Her work includes designing experimental hardware, instrumentation, and data acquisition systems to support fusion research and experiments. While studying Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Georgia, Celena discovered her fascination with the intersection between low-level systems hardware and software. She completed an undergraduate co-operative education program at Gulfstream Aerospace, where she gained experience in real-time flight simulation and experimental flight test instrumentation. Driven by her commitment to sustainability, she later joined Avalanche Energy, drawn to the company’s innovative approach to fusion technology and renewable energy. When the work day is done, Celena enjoys participating in endurance sports including triathlons and half marathons, motivated mostly by her enjoyment of making pasta from scratch. She is also dedicated to making STEM careers more accessible to underrepresented groups. She advocates for greater awareness of the opportunities available with STEM degrees and encourages open conversations around building confidence among women in engineering.

    42 min
  3. S3 Ep 12: Dr. Daisy Rosas-Vargas

    11/07/2024

    S3 Ep 12: Dr. Daisy Rosas-Vargas

    Dr. Daisy Rosas Vargas identifies as first generation indigenous (Mexica) and Latine born in what is called the United States. She is a chemist, science communicator, and educator who enjoys sharing the wonders of chemistry and science with the future generation. She used her voice to represent and advocate for the underrepresented students in the college classroom, as a former professor at a small liberal arts college. Her current focus, since making a career change, is making science accessible and relatable through projects like ‘Chemists in the Kitchen’ with the National Academy of Sciences, ‘Drawing with Dr. Daisy’ with the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, NY, and ‘REAL Chem’ with Arizona State University and Carnegie Mellon University. Daisy wants to open doors to those behind her so their career journey is more attainable and welcoming.

    40 min
  4. S3 Ep11: Daryl Capanzana; Product Manager

    10/24/2024

    S3 Ep11: Daryl Capanzana; Product Manager

    Daryl is a seasoned product lead dedicated to simplifying complex systems and creating seamless online-to-offline experiences. Her career across 3 countries is rooted in banking and spanned sustainable energy and tech at Tesla and Twitter. She is now in healthcare after co-founding a chat-based health consultation service, which won a global award for its impact and creativity on healthcare accessibility. With a multidisciplinary background, curiosity, and drive to improve lives, Daryl brings a unique blend of technical and social science skills with empathy to her work. She holds an MSc in Environmental Management from the National University of Singapore-Yale program and honors degrees in Psychology and Marketing from De La Salle University - Manila. Prior to these, she was a 16-year old aspiring doctor studying Physical Therapy at University of Santo Tomas, where she overcame her fear of dead bodies and separately realized a different path. Beyond work, she makes time for life, traveling, and volunteering. Daryl also mentors aspiring women from developing countries like her, including the Department of State's TechWomen initiative.

    38 min
  5. S3 Ep10: Talis Apud-Martinez; STEM Innovator

    10/17/2024

    S3 Ep10: Talis Apud-Martinez; STEM Innovator

    Talis has spent the last 20 years co-founding and growing social enterprises focused in entrepreneurship education, youth leadership, and tech: FeelGood, Latiendo por Mexico, and Crew for All. She currently serves as an Associate Director at the ideaHUB in Dalhousie University, a deep-tech incubator committed to supporting founders to build physical products for a healthier world while becoming mindful leaders. Talis holds an MS in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico and lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with her husband, Dylan and two kids, Sam and Annie.

    36 min
  6. S3 Ep9: Danielle Cantrell-Sikstrom Intel gaming content strategist

    10/03/2024

    S3 Ep9: Danielle Cantrell-Sikstrom Intel gaming content strategist

    Danielle Cantrell-Sikstrom is the global gaming content strategist at Intel. In this role, she develops and executes the strategy for video and retail gaming content for Intel Core processors and Intel Arc graphics. Previously, she was an account manager at Sony Electronics in Los Angeles covering all audio, video, and camera sales and training. Prior to that, she worked at Sony Playstation doing marketing and merchandising. In her free time, she builds PCs, plays and streams video games, and enjoys live music.

    38 min
  7. S3 Ep 8: Kayla B., Product Manager in Tech

    09/26/2024

    S3 Ep 8: Kayla B., Product Manager in Tech

    Kayla Bassett (she/her/hers) is the Head of Product at Ensis, a company developing AI-powered proposal software for responding to government RFPs, RFIs, and more. Prior to Ensis, she was a Director of Product Management by way of their acquisition of Limbix. At Big Health she directed the modernization of the key platform services and tooling supporting apps for insomnia, anxiety, and depression. And at Limbix, Kayla was the Director of Product Management and led a team of Product Managers building digital therapeutics for adolescent depression and anxiety. Previously, she built data products to accelerate clinical research at Truveta, improved COVID response with machine learning at DataRobot, and tackled scam advertisements at Facebook. Prior to her career in tech, Kayla was a Marine Corps intelligence officer and served in a variety of posts around the world. She co-founded a non-profit dedicated to improving mental health among veterans through peer support. She received her BE from Vanderbilt University in Biomedical Engineering and her MS from Carnegie Mellon University in Information Technology. Kayla is married with two kids. In her spare time, she can be found cycling, trying new donut and coffee shops in Portland, and engendering in her kids a love of the outdoors through hiking and skiing.

    40 min
  8. S3 Ep7: Sohnee Ahmed Genetic Counselor

    09/19/2024

    S3 Ep7: Sohnee Ahmed Genetic Counselor

    Sohnee Ahmed is a board-certified genetic counselor and variant analyst involved in genetic analysis and report writing for whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing, and panel tests. She graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science, specializing in Genetics & Biotechnology with a minor in Anthropology. She then attended Wayne State University to achieve a Master of Science degree in Genetic Counseling. Following graduation, Sohnee was recruited to the University of Rochester in New York State, where she was a joint faculty member in the Departments of Neurology and Medicine and provided in-person genetic counselling to adults, parents, and families regarding cancer genetics alongside adult and pediatric neurology. While there, she established the first regional Adult Neurogenetics clinic, a Child Neurology Neurogenetics Consultation service, the first multidisciplinary Hereditary Ataxia program in upstate New York, and she also helped develop Lynch syndrome (HNPCC) universal screening within the hospital system and community. She then returned home to Toronto and joined the Division of Clinical & Metabolic Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children, specializing in Pediatric Neurogenetics and teaching and supervising Masters students through the Genetic Counselling MSc program at the University of Toronto. She joined GeneDx in 2016 and began working remotely, providing variant interpretations to healthcare providers that order genetic testing through GeneDx. Most recently, Sohnee shifted her focus to be between report writing on the Neurology and Clinical Genomics teams and performing variant analysis for whole exome and whole genome sequencing cases. Sohnee was previously the President of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC-ACCG) and currently is an active member of the CAGC and its American counterpart, the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC). She also spends her time mentoring prospective and current genetic counseling students who identify as minorities in medicine.

    42 min
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An exploration of careers and research all having to do with the glorious STEM.

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