Bouncy Ball

Kate Biberdorf is a chemist who is breaking stereotypes and blowing stuff up—all in a good pair of heels. She became interested in chemistry during high school, and her mother encouraged her to try different experiments at home. Biberdorf majored in chemistry and German at the University of Michigan, and she received her Ph.D. in …

Water Strider

Maria Goeppert Mayer won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics (only the second woman to do so!) for her discoveries surrounding atomic structure. Born in 1906, Goeppert Mayer was the only child of an academically-minded father who encouraged her to attend university. Maria enrolled at the University of Göttingen in 1924, a time when fewer …

Chain Reaction

Chien-Shiung Wu was an award-winning physicist and the only Chinese person to work on the Manhattan Project. Born in 1912 in a small town near Shanghai, China, Wu’s parents believed in education for girls, despite it being an uncommon belief at that time. She went on to study physics at a university in Shanghai, where …

Flying Dragonfly

Christine Goforth is an entomologist, educator, and science advocate based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She works as the head of citizen science for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and holds a degree in both biology and entomology. Goforth researches dragonflies and engages the public in hands-on science experiences! On any given day, you …