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Meet Minerva Cordero
"I strive to be a role model for other women and girls in mathematics."
Read about MinervaDistinguished Women in Science
The UTA College of Science Distinguished Women in Science Speaker Series was developed to show the impact women in science have had on society. We're proud to have welcomed presentations by leading women researchers from here and around the globe.
Distinguished Women in Science Speaker Series
UPCOMING SPEAKER
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 – 3:30 p.m. Reception, 4 p.m. Talk - SEIR 298
Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Talk title: "From Roots to Reach: One Scientist's Quest to Understand Soils, Confront Climate Change, and Open Doors in STEM"
The College of Science is proud to welcome Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, professor of soil biogeochemistry and Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology at the University of California, Merced. As director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science from May 2022 to March 2024, Dr. Berhe was the first person of color to direct the office, which is the single largest funder of the physical sciences in the U.S. Her research is broadly focused on soil science and global change science. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California,...
Previous Speakers and Honorees
March 5, 2024
Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.
Talk title: "Reflections on the Excitement (and Frustrations) of Science: 45 Years of Research on the Intelligence of Grey Parrots" Adjunct research professor at Boston University and an affiliate in the Animal Behavior and Conservation Program, Hunter College, CUNY. Dr. Pepperberg has held faculty positions at Harvard, Purdue University, Northwestern University, University of Arizona, MIT Media Lab (where she studied animal-human-computer interfaces), and Brandeis. For over 45 years she has trained Grey parrots to use English speech referentially, then employs this communication code to examine their intelligence. The birds score at the level of 6-8-year-old children on many of the same cognitive tasks used to test humans.
October 20, 2023
Alexandra Navrotsky, Ph.D.
Talk title: "Why I Count Calories for a Living"
Regents Professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and the School for Engineering Matter, Transport and Energy at Arizona State University, and Director of the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe. Dr. Navrotsky was named a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993 and she earned her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago. She is an esteemed physical chemist who has made major contributions to mineralogy and geochemistry as well as to solid state chemistry and materials science. Her fields of study include ceramics, mantle mineralogy and deep earth geophysics, melt and glass science, nanomaterials and porous materials.
March 28, 2023
Jasmine Drake, Ph.D.
Talk title: "The Road Less Traveled: An Unconventional Journey While Breaking Barriers and Navigating STEM Fields as a Woman of Color"
Associate Professor, Texas Southern University; Laboratory Coordinator of the Forensic Science Learning Laboratory in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs Dr. Drake earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from LSU and has worked as a forensic chemist and also taught chemistry and forensic science at the high school and university levels. Her areas of specialization include crime scene investigation, controlled substance analysis, clandestine laboratories, field-testing, designer drugs, analytical chemistry, quantitative analysis, and solid-state chemistry.
April 21, 2022
Lori Glaze, Ph.D.
Director, Planetary Science Division, NASA
Maverick Science alumna, Dr. Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate’s Planetary Science Division, was a featured guest during Science Week and delivered a biographical overview of her work through the lenses of distinguished women in science in her own life. An Arlington, Texas native, Dr. Glaze received B.A. and M.S. degrees in Physics from UTA and earned her Ph.D. in Volcanic Eruption Plume Dynamics from Lancaster University, England.
March 8, 2022
Mary Gray, Ph.D.
Mathematician, Statistician, Lawyer and Distinguished Professor at American University
Talk title: “Statistics and Human Rights”
April 20, 2021
Drew Harvell, Ph.D.
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
Talk title: "Ocean Outbreak: Pandemics in the Ocean are Heating up with Climate Change"”
November 7, 2019
Ami Radunskaya, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics, Pomona College
Past President of the Association for Women in Mathematics
Talk title: “From Music to Mathematics to Medicine: One Woman’s Journey”
September 25, 2019
Maura Hagan, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Science, Utah State University
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Talk title: “Surfing Atmospheric Waves: Their Impact on Space and the Career of a Physicist”
March 18, 2019
Penny Beuning Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston
Talk title: “On the Move: Protein dynamics in DNA damage responses and mutagenesis”
November 17, 2018
Cassandra McZeal, Ph.D.
Mathematician, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Rice University
Talk title: “Not That Kind of Doctor: Stories of Triumph, Excellence, and Achievement in Math and Computer Science”
March 28, 2018
Kelsey McNeely, Ph.D.
Emerging Energy Sciences section head, Exxonmobil
Talk title: “Biofuels research: Genetic Engineering as a key enabler”
UTA Women in Science