STEM Lab Podcast

CollLABorators!!!, Welcome to Season 3 of the STEM Lab Podcast. This season we begin diving into the captivating world of STEM and embarking on an enlightening journey with four remarkable young women. We catch up with them at the very genesis of their STEM odyssey, right at the front lines of the STEM pipeline.

In this episode, we delve deep into the unique challenges they encounter at this nascent stage of their STEM pursuits. These aspiring STEM-inists share their insightful experiences, revealing how their transformative study abroad adventure in the vibrant city of Oaxaca, Mexico, offered them a fresh, eye-opening perspective on their STEM ambitions.

Join us as we explore the stories, dreams, and aspirations of these budding STEM stars, gaining valuable insights into the evolving landscape of women in STEM on an international scale. Prepare to be inspired by their resilience, determination, and unwavering commitment to shaping the future of STEM. This episode is a captivating journey you won't want to miss!

This season is sponsored by the Mercer University chapter of The National Council Negro Women (NCNW). Its mission is to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent, their families, and communities. It was founded in 1935 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an influential educator and activist, and for more than fifty years, the iconic Dr. Dorothy Height was president of NCNW.

NCNW seeks to establish a more comprehensive, integrated response to the need for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics education for communities of color. In recognition of the fact that economic stability and career opportunities are enhanced by familiarity with STEAM, NCNW believes it is important to cooperatively plan for and implement measures that will provide greater awareness of STEAM careers and greater access to the paths to those careers.

Last year Our Resident Nurse LuSharn Colvin shared with us tips to take care of our mental health during the holidays, The episode was such a success we decided to release it again and remind everyone that taking care of ones mental health is important especially during the holidays. Hope you enjoy this episode once again. Look to hear us in 2023 as we start our Season 3.

Happy Holidays,

Dr. Walthall &

the STEM Lab Podcast!! 

Dr. Barnett shares with us tips and strategies for both sides of the classroom to deal with our mental health as we return to school fully this Fall.

Dr. Nadia Glover Barnett  an Assistant Professor of Human Services at Mercer University. Dr. Barnett earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision along with her M.S. in Community Counseling at Mercer University and her B.S. in psychology from Howard University. She has been teaching in higher education for fifteen years and possesses nearly sixteen years of clinical experience in the areas of adult inpatient care, outpatient treatment, partial hospitalization, utilization review, assessment, and post-masters supervision. She is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Approved Clinical Supervisor. She maintains professional memberships with the American Counselor Association (ACA), Southern Association of Counselor Education & Supervision (SACES), Georgia ACA, Licensed Professional Counselor Association of Georgia (LPCA-GA), Collaboration for Excellence in Educational Quality Assurance (CEEQA), and the National Organization for Human Services (NOHS).

email for resources: barnett_ng@mercer.edu

Michelle Sumrall was born in Columbus, Georgia and now resides in Macon, Georgia with her daughter Aleisha. She attended the University of Georgia and Columbus State University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree. She furthered her education at Troy University, where she obtained a Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health. Michelle has spent over thirty years working in corporate America, primarily in Human Resources. Michelle is a Certified Life Coach, and the Founder, CEO and Chief Journey Coach of TLC – Total Life Coaching, L.L.C.

In Scattered: A Caregiver’s Journey, Michelle Sumrall shares her journey as a caregiver to both her parents who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. She documents her journey with them from discovery through diagnosis, grieving and ultimately managing to live with these Neurocognitive Disorders

Website: https://www.michellesumrall.com/home

Michelle states the saying that keeps her moving is Faith with works. Many of us become complacent having faith that things will change, but we must never forget to do the work.

Three books that have inspired her recently and over the years:

God’s Psychiatry, Charles L. Allen

72 Hour Hold, Bebe Moore Campbell

Bamboozled by Jesus, Yvonne Orji

Dr. Adrienne Madison  a native of Fairfield, Alabama. She is currently the Chief of the Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention and Protection Team at the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory in Fort Rucker, Alabama.. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Madison holds the honorable distinction of being the first graduate from University of Georgia's newly established College of Engineering in 2013, where she earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Not only is she dynamic in her career but Dr. Madison has also been honored as a UGA Amazing Student (2013), a member of the 2019 class of UGA's 40 under 40, as well as being invited to serve on the UGA College of Engineering Advisory Board. Most recently, she was named to the 2022 Class of Volunteer 40 Under 40 Alumni at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

We begin another year with our quarterly report from Nurse LuLu's corner. LuSharn Colvin, a Registered Nurse specializing in Mental Health talks candidly with the STEM Lab Podcast about the 2022 Mental Health in America  Report.  Let's go!

Shayla Barnes-Holloway is a self-proclaimed cake snob, obsessed with all things sweet, beautiful and delicious. Shayla left her demanding career in the education and stumbled upon the world of cake artistry and the rest is history.

She is now the owner and lead cake artist of The Buttercreamery Sweets Boutique, a custom cake and confection studio located in sunny Mobile, AL.

Shayla has taken her cake artistry to the next level and developed a series of baking classes for children that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM).  You are definitely in for sweet treat on this episode.

You can catch Shaya in action on past shows of Cake Hunters (The Cooking Channel), Halloween Wars (Food Network) and Sugar Rush (Netflix), which she won in 2019!

This episode highlights two special guest, Dr. Moore-Smith and Dr. Adams-Szafran, both who have obtained their MD and PhD degree. In this episode they share with our audience their decision to pursue both degrees, their support of one another, and the challenges they face double dipping in STEM. This episode is dripping in gems and "sister science" excellence.

Whether you need help managing your mental health during the holidays because of upcoming parties, shopping for presents or preparing large meals for loved ones, LuSharn Covin, R.N. shares with us tips and strategies to make your holiday season more enjoyable.

An Upward Bound Summer Creation

An Upward Bound Summer Creation

In celebration of Women's History Month, a panel of women who 30 years ago embarked on their STEM journey at the Alabama School of Math and Science, share their successes and challenges as women on their STEM journey. Join us for an amazing evening of memories, good conversation surrounding STEM, and sharing of wisdom with future STEM-inist.

An Upward Bound Summer Creation

Another Upward Bound Summer Creation,

Ansley Booker is a native of Eatonton, Georgia. She attended Georgia Southern University and earned a bachelor’s in biology with a minor in chemistry. In 2007, she was selected for the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Program. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in pharmacy with certificates in Clinical Trials and Regulatory Affairs. 

 In 2016, she was named to Georgia Southern University’s 40 under 40 as well as awarded the STAR Award by Mercer University.

Dr. Booker earned her doctorate degree from Mercer University in the Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership program. Her dissertation focused on African American women who have obtained STEM graduate degrees. Her goal is to unearth barriers and catalysts to their graduate and career success to develop retention models that may improve the college persistence of women and minority students in STEM programs.

Watch Dr. Booker’s TEDx Talk, "Unhidden Figures: Uncovering Our Cultural Biases in STEM.” 

We begin the new year with our quarterly report from Nurse LuLu's corner. LuSharn Colvin, a Registered Nurse specializing in Mental Health talks candidly with the STEM Lab Podcast about the 2021 Mental Health in America  Report.  She believes the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our mental health and we should refocus and center ourselves in 2021. Takeaway: If you have a workout plan for 2021 you also need a mental health plan. Let's go!

Real I.M.P.A.C.T Center, Inc.'s mission is to provide the youth with support in academics and prevention services in order to develop Intelligent and Motivated People to Actively Change the Times through a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and literacy focus. We are doing our part to help inspire youth girls to excel in life through exposure to STEM. We thrive to encourage girls to explore STEM careers. Our goal is to increase the number of girls/women pursuing a STEM lifestyle and create a network that help women in STEM thrive with confidence. 

To support and donate to Real Impact:

https://www.facebook.com/realimpactinc/

https://www.instagram.com/realimpactinc/

https://twitter.com/realimpactinc

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/homepage/ref=smi_chpf_redirect/146-3770198-3259454?ie=UTF8&ein=46-2777689&ref_=smi_ext_ch_46-2777689_cl

http://www.realimpactcenter.org/about.html

Play Like a Girl started as a means to fight poor nutrition and lack of physical activity for girls. But in 2014, ESPN recognized Dr. Clay for the work her organization did through a tennis program. That was when she acknowledged her work as a sports organization. In summer 2019, she announced the program’s expansion to include girls-only STEM clubs and lunch-hour mentoring circles in local schools, industry-led STEM tours or Corporate Field Trips and STEM Saturday makerspace workshops where girls get to ideate, create and test the engineering design process. The demand for programming continues to grow every year, with hundreds of groups across the country partnering with us to bring Play Like a Girl to girls in their communities. Since inception, we have proudly served over 25,000 girls and women across the United States and Canada, as well as in Africa and the Caribbean.

To support and donate to Play like a girl:

https://www.facebook.com/iplaylikeagirl

https://www.instagram.com/iplaylikeagirl/

https://twitter.com/iplaylikeagirl

https://www.linkedin.com/company/playlikeagirl/

https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayLikeAGirlTM

Lab Rascals is the  #1 diverse e-learning community, inviting all children to explore the wonder of learning in a live virtual classroom. Each e-lab is bustling with little learners from more than seven different nationalities! Right now, less than 8% of America’s highest-paid scientists, techies, engineers, and mathematicians are people of color. So we need you to join us in building the next exceedingly diverse generation go STEM professionals! Becoming a Lab Rascal makes your child a major part of this exciting solution.

Support and follow Lab Rascals on:

FB- Lab Rascals

IG: @clublabrascals

web: https://www.clublabrascals.com/

Dr. Dickerson is an environmental neuroepidemiologist with primary research interests in environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Specifically, she studies combined environmental and occupational exposures to metals over the life course and subsequent individual and transgenerational neurological outcomes, including autism spectrum disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and dementia. Additionally, she continues to investigate the influence of disparities in autism assessment and service provision along with environmental justice issues in underserved communities.

Dr. Sabrina Walthall takes time to reintroduce herself to her listeners new and old. Dr. Walthall is currently an Associate Professor of Science and the  Pre-Health/Science Coordinator for her department. In this segment she talks about her journey in the STEM pipeline, dealing with impostor syndrome and being a first generational college student. We learn more about why she started the STEM Lab podcast and how she views herself as a STEM activist for the  equity and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM.

Letitia M. Ward received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Construction Management both from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her career is multifaceted starting as a Project Engineer with U.S. Steel, creating her own company L. McMullin LLC,  and currently working as a CBM Team Leader for Georgia Power. Letitia talks with us about finding your way in a male-dominated field, she encourages young women to find their voice and shares with professionals her strategies for successful networking as an introvert. This episode has so many gems of wisdom for all stages of the STEM pipeline.

Dr. Chastity Bradford completed her undergraduate studies at Spelman College (an HBCU)  earning a B.S. in Biology.  While there she was a  Microbiology Scholar, received a Howard Hughes Fellowship (Loyola University, Chicago, IL), and made Spelman College’s Honor Society as well as the Dean’s List.  Chastity started her graduate studies in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her research area focused on Cardiovascular Physiology in Dr. Pamela A. Lucchesi's Lab. Her dissertation work focused on The Role of the Renin-Angiotensin System in Extracellular Matrix Remodeling During the Progression of Hypertension and the Development of Cardiac Fibrosis

Currently, Dr. Bradford is an Associate Professor of Biology in the College of Arts and Science at Tuskegee University (an HBCU). As the Principal Investigator of her own lab, the Bradford Lab, she uses hemodynamic, molecular, biochemical, and immunohistological analyses to determine if ACE2 overexpression prevents Angiotensin-II induced HTN and rescues Pulmonary Hypertension.

Lusharn Colvin is a native of Bessemer, AL. and during her childhood years, she was a dedicated student at the top of her class through high school. Lusharn was accepted to the University of Alabama and graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She has worked as a Quality Engineer for Johnson and Johnson Consumer Products, a pharmaceutical sales rep for Janseen Pharmaceuticals and Merck and Co for 12 years. Lusharn left her corporate job of over 12 years and decided to attend nursing school full time. In 2017, Lusharn graduated from Middlesex County College with an Associate’s degree in nursing and is now a registered nurse in New Jersey. As an essential healthcare worker, Lusharn was tested and diagnosed as positive for the coronavirus after suffering with some symptoms. After 14 plus days of quarantine, LuSharn wants to share with the STEM Lab Podcast her inspirational story of how she overcame COVID 19. This is Herstory.

Betty M Booker completed her undergraduate studies at Grambling State University (an HBCU) in 2003, earning a B.S. in Biology while completing three internships with the USDA, Thomas Jefferson University (Kimmel Cancer Center), and Johns Hopkins University (Bayview Medical Center). In 2010, Betty started her graduate studies in Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (in Dr. Patrick Higgins Lab). Her dissertation work focused on DNA structure and topology during replication and analysis of topoisomerases and chromosome structure in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium using Lambda Red Recombineering.

Currently, Dr. Booker is a Senior Scientist in the New Technology Group (Research & Development) at Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD), an RNA in situ biotechnology company in Fremont, CA.