| | CAREER OUTLOOK
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Professional Life
Donna J. Nelson embraced STEM naturally. The girl who became an honored associate professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma, grew up observing her father and grandfather, both physicians, using logical analysis in their medical diagnoses.
In 2006, Nelson was awarded the SACNAS Distinguished Award. SACNAS is a 25,000 member “society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists—from college students to profes- sionals—to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership.”
When asked what her coolest work-related research is, Nel- son had two responses, after saying “This depends on what is meant by ‘work-related.’” The first might make some chemists envious. Nelson is a science advisor for the hit tel- evision show “Breaking Bad.”
ulty race/ethnicity, gender, and rank in “Top 50” departments in each of 15 science and engineering disciplines.
“Remember that it is your life and don’t let anyone dissuade you from taking an option which you really want to take.” —Donna J. Nelson
The second, her most interest- ing lab work, which can be used in energy research and technology development, she says, “is functionalizing single-walled carbon nanotubes or SWCNTs. These can be regarded as an extended system of carbon-carbon double bonds bonded together.
Translation: A carbon–carbon bond is where two electrons pairs are shared between two carbon atoms in a molecule. Practical applications growing out of creating and probing this material might include the creation of electronic nanosensors and molecular recognition, plant self-repair, and energy-gener- ating thermopower waves.
Nelson became interested in these outcomes while doing research on molecules that contained carbon-carbon dou- ble bonds “I compared the two to see if they shared many characteristics; it turned out that they didn’t, but I decided to continue research in SWCNTs nevertheless,” she says.
The author of more than 100 published papers also has another interest, diversifying STEM. She conducts scientific workforce development research via surveys of Oklahoma fac-
60 WOMENOFCOLOR | SPRING 2013
Nelson, who is a member of the Cherokee/Chickasaw nation, then compared the data against National Science Founda- tion Ph.D. and bachelor of science degree attainment. The investigation revealed that there were fewer women and minorities among professors than among degree holders.
Nelson has tips for girls and women who may be interested entering in STEM fields. She urges them to seek mentors in their discipline who can provide information, but says that before making life-influencing decisions to
“remember that it is your life and don’t let anyone dissuade you from taking an option which you really want to take.”
She has a more direct way to influence students. “I am analyz- ing the content of currently-used organic chemistry textbooks in order to determine the most common mistakes making their way into these texts and which ways of presenting the material are most appreciated by the students. We are publish- ing the results and may write our own text at the end,” she says.
Nelson received her bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. degree in chem- istry from the University of Texas, Austin
Stem Leader by Accident In a way, Cecilia R. Aragon became a STEM leader by acci- dent. In high school, she liked English and creative writing as much as math, but gravitated toward the latter as its grading seemed fairer.
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