We all know that flowers need water to live, but what happens if that water is dyed? Find out in this colorful experiment! Through transpiration, the flower draws the colored water up its stem and it results in a beautiful colored flower!
activities ,education ,engineering ,experiments ,Fun ,girls ,Girlstart ,hands-on ,kids ,math ,science ,STEM ,technology Use the power of air pressure in a bag to launch a pom pom! Just a few materials are needed to create your cannon. Fill your cannon with air then seal the opening with a pom pom. Give it a big squeeze and watch as the building air pressure in the chamber causes the pom pom to go flying!
activities ,education ,engineering ,experiments ,Fun ,girls ,Girlstart ,hands-on ,kids ,math ,science ,STEM ,technology It’s hot outside, so try out this chilly experiment with tasty results! By using salt to lower the freezing temperature of ice, we can create the perfect environment for creamy ice cream to be made. Make sure you share the results with some friends!
activities ,education ,engineering ,experiments ,Fun ,girls ,Girlstart ,hands-on ,kids ,math ,science ,STEM ,technology 
Lynn Dugle
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Engility Corporation
Lynn Dugle is the Chairman, President and CEO of Engility Corporation. She leads more than 8,000 employees around the world as they provide highly technical services in intelligence, cyber, space and defense in support of critical missions for the U.S. government. Her career spans more than three decades as a leader in the high-tech and government services and sectors.
Dugle has led the company since 2016, when the Engility Board of Directors asked her to come out of retirement and lead in a new strategic direction. In her first two years at the helm, she has successfully changed the company’s market position from a low-cost services provider to being well-known for its critical expertise and technology. She has been recognized with numerous awards for her work, and the company has won the largest contracts in its history.
Prior to joining Engility, Dugle held senior leadership positions at Raytheon, including President of the Intelligence, Information and Services business. In addition, she has held a number of management roles at ADC Telecommunications and Texas Instruments.
Dugle has a demonstrated passion for activities and causes that support female leadership, science and education. Dugle dedicates much of her personal time to establishing mentorships with younger women. She also is on the Board of Directors for the Intelligence National Security Alliance and State Street Corporation.
She is well-recognized for championing diversity and female STEM education. Last year, Dugle was the very first CEO in her industry to sign the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion Pledge, which aims to cultivate workplace environments where all ideas are welcomed and employees feel comfortable and empowered to discuss diversity and inclusion. Her actions caused a domino effect in her industry, and leaders in other companies became signatories. She was also invited to address the crowd of female industry leaders at the 2017 Leadership Summit for Women in National Security Careers, organized by Working Mother magazine.
Dugle was named one of the Top 100 Women in STEM by STEMconnector in 2012. She was a Wash100 honoree in 2017 and 2018 for being one of the most influential leaders in government contracting, named to the Washington Business Journal’s distinguished “Women Who Mean Business” list, received the 2015 Diversity in Technology award, and she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in STEM in 2012.
Dugle was named one of the Women Worth Watching in 2017 by Profiles in Diversity Journal, where she offered advice for young women:
“Don’t ever tell yourself ‘No.’ You will face plenty of other hurdles in your life; don’t be an obstacle to yourself. Don’t be afraid to take on a new challenge; have courage and confidence in yourself, you will be amazed at the results. Spend more time on doing great work rather than thinking about the glass ceiling or how close you are to it.”
In 2017, she was chosen by Fortune Most Powerful Women and the U.S. Department of State to participate in the Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership, where influential U.S. female executives mentor, support and prepare women around the world with skills to promote prosperity and growth in their countries.
Dugle will deliver the keynote address at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance forum, The New IC: Empowering Women & Engaging Men on May 17, 2018. The event will address professional issues women encounter serving in and pursuing intelligence and national security careers.
Marie Lynn Miranda, Ph.D.
Howard R. Hughes Provost and Professor of Statistics, Rice University
Dr. Miranda specializes in research on environmental health, especially how the environment shapes health and well being among children. She is the founding director of the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative, a research, education, and outreach program committed to fostering environments where all people can prosper.
Dr. Miranda’s formal educational background is rooted in mathematical, statistical, and economic modeling; her professional experiences integrate environmental health sciences with sound social policies. She has taught courses and conducted research on children’s environmental health, with a particular emphasis on reproductive and developmental toxicants, childhood lead exposure, and allergen and asthma triggers of geospatial health informatics. She is a leader in the rapidly evolving field
Dr. Miranda has applied spatial analytic approaches to a wide range of scientific issues. She also has extensive experience running training, research translation, and outreach programs, especially as they relate to disadvantaged populations. Dr. Miranda maintains an active research portfolio, with a funding history that includes the USEPA, NIH, CDC, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the USDA, the State of North Carolina, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Wallace Genetics Foundation, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and The Duke Endowment. She maintains a deep and abiding interest in environmental and social justice. Her research group received the 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Award.
Dr. Miranda’s responsibilities as provost include promoting and supporting excellence in all dimensions of the University’s academic, research, scholarly, and creative programs and activities, supported by a ~$700 million annual operating budget. She is responsible for developing and implementing plans for $150 million in strategic investments focused on molecular nanotechnology, data sciences, and overall research competitiveness, as well as $200+ million in major renovations of university facilities. Dr. Miranda has also worked to build more robust relationships with corporate partners, resulting in signed umbrella agreements with multiple corporate entities, along with individual funding of faculty members.
Dr. Miranda is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Duke University, where she earned her A.B. in mathematics and economics and was named a Truman Scholar. She has a Ph.D. and M.A., both in economics, from Harvard University, where she held a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She served on the faculty at Duke from 1990-2011, and then as dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan for four years. Dr. Miranda became provost at Rice University in July 2015.
Barbara Morgan
Former NASA Astronaut & First Educator Astronaut
Born November 28, 1951, in Fresno, California. Married to Clay Morgan. They have two sons. Barbara plays flute and enjoys reading, hiking, swimming, skiing, and her family.
EDUCATION: Hoover High School, Fresno, California, 1969; B.A., Human Biology, with distinction, Stanford University, 1973; Teaching Credential, College of Notre Dame, Belmont, California, 1974; Honorary Doctorate of Science from Boise State University, 2008.
ORGANIZATIONS: National Education Association; Idaho Education Association; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; National Science Teachers Association; International Reading Association; International Technology Education Association; Challenger Center for Space Science Education.
SPECIAL HONORS: NASA Space Flight Medal; Challenger Center President George H.W. Bush Award; VFW National Space Award; NEA Friend of Education Award; AARP Inspire Award; NSTA Presidential Citation; USA Today Citizen of the Year. Other awards include: NASA Headquarters Special Service Award; NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award; Idaho Fellowship Award; University of Idaho Presidents Medallion Award; ITEA Lawrence Prakken Award; Challenger Center for Space Science Education Challenger 7 Award; National Space Society Space Pioneer Award for Education; Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Wright Brothers Kitty Hawk Sands of Time Education Award; Women in Aerospace Education Award; National PTA Honorary Lifetime Member; Phi Beta Kappa.
EXPERIENCE: Morgan began her teaching career in 1974 on the Flathead Indian Reservation at Arlee Elementary School in Arlee, Montana, where she taught remedial reading and math. From 1975-1978, she taught remedial reading/math and second grade at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho. From 1978-1979, Morgan taught English and science to third graders at Colegio Americano de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. From l979-l998, she taught second, third, and fourth grades at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Morgan was selected as the backup candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Program on July 19, 1985. From September 1985 to January 1986, Morgan trained with Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger crew at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Following the Challenger accident, Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space Designee. From March 1986 to July 1986, she worked with NASA, speaking to educational organizations throughout the country. In the fall of 1986, Morgan returned to Idaho to resume her teaching career. She taught second and third grades at McCall-Donnelly Elementary and continued to work with NASA’s Education Division. Her duties as Teacher in Space Designee included public speaking, educational consulting, curriculum design, and serving on the National Science Foundation’s Federal Task Force for Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.
Selected by NASA as a mission specialist and NASA’s first Educator Astronaut in January 1998, Morgan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1998. After completing two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. She then served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as prime communicator with on-orbit crews. She also served in the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office. Morgan has logged over 305 hours in space, completing her first space flight in 2007 as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-118, an assembly mission to the International Space Station.
Barbara Morgan retired from NASA in August, 2008, to become the Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State University, with a dual appointment in the colleges of Engineering and Education. She continues to make public appearances.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-118 (August 8-21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the space station, and the 20th flight for Endeavour. During the mission, Endeavour’s crew successfully added a truss segment, a new gyroscope and external spare parts platform to the International Space Station. They also activated a new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station, extending missions to the outpost. A total of four spacewalks were performed by three crew members. Endeavour carried 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station and returned to Earth with 4,000 pounds of scientific materials and used equipment. Morgan served as educator, loadmaster, shuttle and station robotic arm operator, and flight deck crew member for entry and landing. Traveling 5.3 million miles in space, the STS-118 mission was completed in 12 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds.
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Ph.D.
Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University
Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and a member of the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. She is also Director of the Rice 360° Institute for Global Health and serves as the special advisor to the Provost on health-related research and educational initiatives.
Dr. Richards-Kortum’s research has been instrumental in improving early detection of cancers and other diseases, especially in low-resource settings. Her Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging Laboratory integrates advances in nanotechnology and molecular imaging with microfabrication technologies to develop optical imaging systems that are inexpensive, portable, and provide point-of-care diagnosis. Her research has led to the development of 40 patents. She is author of the textbook Biomedical Engineering for Global Health, more than 230 refereed research papers, and 11 book chapters. She is a member of numerous academic associations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. In 2016, the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (AIMBE) presented its highest honor, the Pierre Galletti Award, to Dr. Richards-Kortum and the MacArthur Foundation awarded her one of its esteemed fellowships. In 2008, she was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and subsequently received a grant for the undergraduate global health program at Rice. This program won the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction from Science magazine and the Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation.
Nancy Webb, MD
Chief of Ophthalmology, Kelsey Seybold
Dr. Nancy Rundquist Webb was born in Chicago, and has resided in Houston since second grade. She attended Bellaire High School and was Drum major in the Bellaire Belles drill team. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received her MD from Baylor College of Medicine with High Honors.
Nancy Webb’s internship and residency in Ophthalmology was at Baylor, where she was Deputy Chief Resident. She did a fellowship in Ophthalmic Pathology and practiced as a full time faculty member for one year before joining Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in 1980.
She became Department Chief at Kelsey in 1981 where two other ophthalmologists were practicing at the time.They now have eye services provided by a network of optometrists and ophthalmologists at eight clinic sites with a total of twenty providers.
She has served in other leadership roles at Kelsey as a member of the Board of Directors for ten years, and Chair of the Peer Review committee for over thirty-five years.
Nancy Webb is actively involved in community service. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Lighthouse and has served as a member of the Lighthouse of Houston Board of Directors for twenty years, two years of that time as Chairman of the Board.
She has also been very actively involved with BMI, Benevolent Missions International, a nonprofit medical eye mission group, dedicated to providing needed ophthalmic care to the underserved in many areas around the world.
She has been involved with an annual mission trip since 1997, traveling to Bolivia, El Salvador, Belize, and Fiji. She has served on their Board of Directors for many years and is currently the President of the organization.
Nancy Webb is married to David Webb, a retired attorney. They have two children and two granddaughters. She enjoys needlepoint, piano, book club, and travel, both nationally and internationally. They also enjoy being involved with our church, Palmer Memorial Episcopal.
