July is ✨Disability Pride Month✨

July is ✨Disability Pride Month✨ and this typed message from a nonverbal student after spending a day at Oak Crest Institute of Science made my WHOLE summer!! ➡️“Thank you for this opportunity. I am very happy”

Students with disabilities are too often underrepresented in STEM. Autism affects 1:54 children. The Wiley Center in Los Angeles works to bring much needed services to children with autism from low income families. While visiting LA earlier this month, I helped coordinate a tour at Oak Crest Institute of Science for a summer STEM program at the Wiley Center. OCIS is a nonprofit chemistry and biomedical research facility that leverages their research to give students much needed access to conduct research.

During my fellowship at NASA JPL 🚀, I analyzed many of my experiments and received training in advanced microscopy techniques at OCIS—> it was a JOY to be back in lab 5+ years later with this special group of students.

As we toured, OCIS students gave the kids from the Wiley Center a behind the scenes look at their own research. 🔬

Thank you sooo much to Dr. Paul Webster and the Oak Crest team for opening their doors to these kiddos. We looked at a dragonflies wing with a scanning electron microscope, learned about NASA’s Artemis missions, explored research happening at Oak Crest (including HIV prevention technology, collabs w/scientists from South Africa & vertical gardens) and so much more!! We ended the day with gram staining.

Just as students were leaving, we received this message from one of the nonverbal students, typed on his communication device: “Thank u for this opportunity”
🚀✨🔬Mission Accomplished!! 🚀✨🔬