oh come on yeah
I flew all the way in for Texas you got
there we go there we go this is the
Michigan I remember I am a native
Michigander I’m from Kalamazoo
originally so thank you so much for
having me out here I’m super excited to
be back into Detroit I can almost feel
the University of Michigan I’m so close
to it I’m so close to it so what I’m
gonna do now is tell you a little bit
about how I packed my everything up in
my Camry I drove down to Texas and I
thought I was just gonna be a boring old
chemistry professor but about four years
ago that all changed and I was sitting
at my desk just answering emails
to-to-to and I got this email from a
colleague and he said Kate I’m gonna be
on we’re Austin which is like our local
variety show it comes on right after our
morning news he’s like I’m going to be
on we are Austin and I’m going to
promote this upcoming event can you do
some kind of like science thing and make
it exciting and as someone who has never
been on TV before I was like yes I can
do that yes I’m there so about a week
later I showed up and I was basically
he’s just like prop monkey I didn’t even
have a mic on I was standing there just
grinning like an idiot handing gloves
like when nitrogen smiling at the camera
and as soon as the segment was over the
general manager came in I mean she’s
just like beautiful blonde woman dressed
to the nines and she was like that was
awesome can you do anything for
Halloween and before I even allowed my
brain to process the question my body
had already reacted I took my palm and
put it directly in my colleagues chest
shoves him out of the way and charged at
this woman I was like yes I can do a
genie I can do a ghost I can make a
pumpkin bomb explode and smoke what do
you want it’s just like just crazy lady
she’s stop that so about a month later I
came back and I did my very first
segment on we are Austin it went great I
was very happy with it and she came in
again and asked you to do something for
Thanksgiving then what about Christmas
and what about New Year’s so on and so
forth and all of a sudden without
knowing it I’d ended up with a monthly
segment on we are Austin and for the
very first year I really had to figure
out how to fine-tune my language because
like I said I’m a chemistry professor I
usually have 75 minutes where I get to
talk about one thing to 500 students who
are forced to be in that classroom right
they probably don’t want to be there and
so I had to learn how to do one
demonstration in five minutes and talk
to a camera but to a greater audience of
a number of different people and if I
bore the audience they changed the
channel which means I don’t get to go
back on TV and so what I started doing
was starting by talking with the real
world
application I can’t start with the
definition of enthalpy click you change
the channel so I am the start with the
real world application like today I’m
going to do X and it’s going to show you
why
then I do my demonstration now I was
raised by psychologist I love my parents
um but I was raised by psychologists and
so we are firm believers of William
James’s theory of emotional memory so if
you have an emotional response to
something you’re more likely to make
that memory so when I do a science
experiment I’m doing everything I can
I’m throwing everything I’ve got at you
to try to make you excited to try to
hopefully let you see why I love science
and then I have about 60 seconds if
we’re in person but through a camera
it’s 20 20 seconds to shove that
knowledge into your brain as hard and as
fast as I possibly can and so for the
first year I really had to fine-tune
that I was not good at let’s be honest I
really had to fix that and after I kind
of mastered master that I started doing
a monthly segment on another local
Austin show then I started doing a
monthly segment in Dallas which led to
one of my favorite partnerships Wizards
with Amy Poehler Smart Girls do you know
Amy Poehler yes okay so now Amy Poehler
and her best friend Meredith Walker
formed this organization called Amy
Poehler Smart Girls and what they do is
they feature smart strong awesome women
and that’s it and so yeah let’s give it
up for that
[Applause]
so what they did is they came out to my
lab in Austin and they filmed several
different demonstrations and for the
first time ever I could get real-time
feedback for my explanation so I would
do something do a demo explain it
perfectly and I would look at the
producer and she’d either be right there
with me or she’d have this face that let
me know that halfway through my
explanation I started sleeking in
Klingon right so had to change that a
little bit and very slowly over time we
were able to figure out exactly how to
talk to a 7 year old girl and a 7 year
old grandmother which is not easy right
they have a totally different science
knowledge but then these videos were
edited really well like really really
well and they caught the attention of
NBC Nightly News and then CNN great big
story again a different audience I had
to figure out how to talk about science
at a news platform no longer like yay
science like no that does not work on
NBC Nightly News Lester Holt would not
go for that let me tell you that right
now
and so what I had to do is figure out
how to talk about science in an
articulate way but still be passionate
how can you get that bubbly aspect in
well being like yes and then i did the
enthalpy of the right now that doesn’t
work well then that caught the attention
of Kellie Pickler which caught the
attention of Wendy Williams which then
more recently caught the attention of
Stephen Colbert oh my gosh yeah whoa I
am the very first I believe I’m the very
first female scientist actually perform
a late night television so thank you
Stephen for being a stem advocate thanks
guys and he’s incredible because he let
me blow up stuff he actually breathes
fire I mean look at my face y’all I look
like an idiot I’m like yeah watch the
clip I actually act like an idiot too it
happened but here’s the thing I did what
I promised myself I would never ever do
and I read the comments ya heard the
comments on the youtubes I read the
comments and everything and let’s be
honest they weren’t all positive you
know haters gonna hate but I don’t have
time for that noise we’re not focusing
on that so today I’m gonna tell you a
little bit about what I did focus on
first comment I read was how cool I was
like okay okay so my self-esteem were
good the next one science that was great
then I had this one I wish I had a
teacher like her when I was growing up
my seven-year-old daughter was
mesmerized by the video couldn’t take
her eyes off the screen
thank you
for showing young girls that scientists
give me women too I must set up a close
enough okay now this one this is the one
that came and literally just boom pop me
right in the gut right in the stomach I
finally found a role model for my 10
year old self hey let me say that again
I finally found a role model for my 10
year old self I can relate to this
comment you are looking at the girl who
grew up with going bill boo bill right
Bill Nye the Science Guy yeah I loved
him I still love him he’s fantastic
yet to meet him bill if you’re out there
come talk to me but wouldn’t have been
cool if there was like one female
scientist like a Jill Nye the Science
gell or something like that right that
was kind of my opinion and so when I
read this comment it kind of shook me I
was like all right this isn’t about me
it’s not cool that I got to meet Wendy
Williams it’s not cool that I got to
meet Kellie Pickler this is bigger than
this so I figured I have a platform and
I need to do something with this
platform otherwise my ten year old self
is gonna hate me forever so I did what I
always do and I listen to Taylor Swift
every smart woman knows to listen to
Taylor Swift so I don’t know her either
but I’m assuming that she’s a smart
strong wonderful talented beautiful
woman and I believe that because she has
a squad and she supports her friends but
she supports her friend if you listen to
her interview she talks about her friend
she wasn’t talking about herself she
supports her friend she shares their
music she wakes any opportunity where
she can play their song she does sounds
like I’m gonna do that I’m gonna do that
and so and I I’m not good with the word
squad it just doesn’t come out of my
mouth while so I decide I’m gonna build
a stem army okay stem army so here’s the
first person I begged to join me she’s
32 she’s my age she’s smarter better
just she’s just better than me and all
aspects prettier everything I was like
you got to join me I love her here’s
what she did she figured out how to put
a mask back on the end of a pen so that
in surgery you can actually do surgery
and test cells right there in real-time
and find out if those cells are
cancerous or benign she’s changed the
world of modern medicine it was so cool
as featured on Grey’s Anatomy okay so
cool let’s give up Olivia
yeah and then and then I had to recruit
a lot of other people meet Emily Kay she
figures out how to make eggs glow as
soon as they’re fertilized so she Gupta
shibir her students colors obey enough
said okay we’ve got bottom of 13 she
just won an award for Texas ten meaning
she’s one of the top ten best professors
in Texas well actually it’s the
University of Texas what we think were
the better than everything so she’s do
the best professor in Texas and that’s
what I’m gonna go with and so I’ve
decided in my stem army I’m gonna talk
about them and every opportunity I can
I’m gonna share their stuff if I can
talk about their science I’m gonna do it
so that was the first thing I decided to
do in my platform number two I decided I
have to engage in evidence-based
conversation I have to when someone says
climate change isn’t real
I no longer now I’m like huh what come
over here and we start a conversation
and so I always go with questions and I
always go with data and I will say look
at this look at this plot for me this
was enough to know that humans actually
influence climate change I know that and
they’re like no no no not that one like
okay what about this one good how about
this one
No so they keep if you can’t get to them
with data and you can’t get them to with
evidence-based conversations take a step
back how is that data collected ask them
how how was the data collected why don’t
you like this what is it about that is
there something I’m missing I must not
be seeing something what is it start
this conversation you have to we are not
in a place anymore where we can just
like let it go you have to engage in
that conversation now the last thing
that I think is the most important thing
to do he’s got to talk to kids yeah I
talked to a lot of kids as many kids as
you can you got to talk to sick kids got
to talk to crazy kids got talk to all
the kids and the best thing you can ask
them is what do you want to do with your
life and if they say science you pick
them up and you yell and you scream and
you just celebrate them on Saturday I
was in Connecticut a girl told me she
want to be a quantum physicist words she
responded with I know I’m not gonna make
I am so mad at myself that I didn’t get
a picture with her I didn’t ask her name
I didn’t get I was just shocked I was
just so excited because I know I’m gonna
be working for her in like 20 years
sue me fantastic but the biggest thing
and my biggest problem is I have this
issue where I’m extroverted I’m bubbly I
love being in front of a crowd but most
of my colleagues don’t and I get the
same question every time how how do you
engage in this conversation how do you
actually do this well fire duh I mean
that’s my answer
I love fire I love breathing fire I love
setting myself on fire I love setting
you on fire I love everything right that
is my favorite thing to do and so what I
am doing now with my stem army is I’m
going around I’m trying to teach
everybody how to breathe fire meet Jax
Jax I taught how to breathe fire three
years ago he now goes around to student
organizations on campus breathe fire
during an LGBTQ Ally ship training so
instead of being like being nice to your
peers he’s like fire fire fire it’s
awesome it’s so cool me Nicole Nicole
the former student of mine she’s now a
graduate student Rice University she has
her own outreach program she does her
own program
she has demonstrations she talks to kids
on her own she’s a rock star again she’s
fantastic
meet Victor now just for the record you
and I know Victor the the same at this
point cuz he just emailed me to the
stranger I don’t know him but he reached
out to me he goes I work for Teach for
America at an inner-city school I don’t
have the resources you have but I
figured out how to get them from Home
Depot it’s like yeah you did yeah yeah
that’s right then he wanted to show me
he’s mastered the fire-breathing dragon
okay he’s mastered it so he’s using this
using fire to engage his students now
it’s your turn please please become part
of my summer me if you hear incorrect
science correct it if you see good
science share it not a blog don’t you
dare share a blog ok share real science
that’s a different TED talk we’ll talk
about that later and then the last thing
is you’ve got to talk to kids so are you
ready I’m going to teach you how to read
science or a brief bio right now here we
go all right
corne such number one used corn stalks
oh we also don’t do this at home okay
there we go now you’re gonna put it in
your mouth you take a deep breath you
use your fire and then you go for it
okay you absolutely have to go for it
are you ready
[Applause] [Music]
I flew all the way in for Texas you got
there we go there we go this is the
Michigan I remember I am a native
Michigander I’m from Kalamazoo
originally so thank you so much for
having me out here I’m super excited to
be back into Detroit I can almost feel
the University of Michigan I’m so close
to it I’m so close to it so what I’m
gonna do now is tell you a little bit
about how I packed my everything up in
my Camry I drove down to Texas and I
thought I was just gonna be a boring old
chemistry professor but about four years
ago that all changed and I was sitting
at my desk just answering emails
to-to-to and I got this email from a
colleague and he said Kate I’m gonna be
on we’re Austin which is like our local
variety show it comes on right after our
morning news he’s like I’m going to be
on we are Austin and I’m going to
promote this upcoming event can you do
some kind of like science thing and make
it exciting and as someone who has never
been on TV before I was like yes I can
do that yes I’m there so about a week
later I showed up and I was basically
he’s just like prop monkey I didn’t even
have a mic on I was standing there just
grinning like an idiot handing gloves
like when nitrogen smiling at the camera
and as soon as the segment was over the
general manager came in I mean she’s
just like beautiful blonde woman dressed
to the nines and she was like that was
awesome can you do anything for
Halloween and before I even allowed my
brain to process the question my body
had already reacted I took my palm and
put it directly in my colleagues chest
shoves him out of the way and charged at
this woman I was like yes I can do a
genie I can do a ghost I can make a
pumpkin bomb explode and smoke what do
you want it’s just like just crazy lady
she’s stop that so about a month later I
came back and I did my very first
segment on we are Austin it went great I
was very happy with it and she came in
again and asked you to do something for
Thanksgiving then what about Christmas
and what about New Year’s so on and so
forth and all of a sudden without
knowing it I’d ended up with a monthly
segment on we are Austin and for the
very first year I really had to figure
out how to fine-tune my language because
like I said I’m a chemistry professor I
usually have 75 minutes where I get to
talk about one thing to 500 students who
are forced to be in that classroom right
they probably don’t want to be there and
so I had to learn how to do one
demonstration in five minutes and talk
to a camera but to a greater audience of
a number of different people and if I
bore the audience they changed the
channel which means I don’t get to go
back on TV and so what I started doing
was starting by talking with the real
world
application I can’t start with the
definition of enthalpy click you change
the channel so I am the start with the
real world application like today I’m
going to do X and it’s going to show you
why
then I do my demonstration now I was
raised by psychologist I love my parents
um but I was raised by psychologists and
so we are firm believers of William
James’s theory of emotional memory so if
you have an emotional response to
something you’re more likely to make
that memory so when I do a science
experiment I’m doing everything I can
I’m throwing everything I’ve got at you
to try to make you excited to try to
hopefully let you see why I love science
and then I have about 60 seconds if
we’re in person but through a camera
it’s 20 20 seconds to shove that
knowledge into your brain as hard and as
fast as I possibly can and so for the
first year I really had to fine-tune
that I was not good at let’s be honest I
really had to fix that and after I kind
of mastered master that I started doing
a monthly segment on another local
Austin show then I started doing a
monthly segment in Dallas which led to
one of my favorite partnerships Wizards
with Amy Poehler Smart Girls do you know
Amy Poehler yes okay so now Amy Poehler
and her best friend Meredith Walker
formed this organization called Amy
Poehler Smart Girls and what they do is
they feature smart strong awesome women
and that’s it and so yeah let’s give it
up for that
[Applause]
so what they did is they came out to my
lab in Austin and they filmed several
different demonstrations and for the
first time ever I could get real-time
feedback for my explanation so I would
do something do a demo explain it
perfectly and I would look at the
producer and she’d either be right there
with me or she’d have this face that let
me know that halfway through my
explanation I started sleeking in
Klingon right so had to change that a
little bit and very slowly over time we
were able to figure out exactly how to
talk to a 7 year old girl and a 7 year
old grandmother which is not easy right
they have a totally different science
knowledge but then these videos were
edited really well like really really
well and they caught the attention of
NBC Nightly News and then CNN great big
story again a different audience I had
to figure out how to talk about science
at a news platform no longer like yay
science like no that does not work on
NBC Nightly News Lester Holt would not
go for that let me tell you that right
now
and so what I had to do is figure out
how to talk about science in an
articulate way but still be passionate
how can you get that bubbly aspect in
well being like yes and then i did the
enthalpy of the right now that doesn’t
work well then that caught the attention
of Kellie Pickler which caught the
attention of Wendy Williams which then
more recently caught the attention of
Stephen Colbert oh my gosh yeah whoa I
am the very first I believe I’m the very
first female scientist actually perform
a late night television so thank you
Stephen for being a stem advocate thanks
guys and he’s incredible because he let
me blow up stuff he actually breathes
fire I mean look at my face y’all I look
like an idiot I’m like yeah watch the
clip I actually act like an idiot too it
happened but here’s the thing I did what
I promised myself I would never ever do
and I read the comments ya heard the
comments on the youtubes I read the
comments and everything and let’s be
honest they weren’t all positive you
know haters gonna hate but I don’t have
time for that noise we’re not focusing
on that so today I’m gonna tell you a
little bit about what I did focus on
first comment I read was how cool I was
like okay okay so my self-esteem were
good the next one science that was great
then I had this one I wish I had a
teacher like her when I was growing up
my seven-year-old daughter was
mesmerized by the video couldn’t take
her eyes off the screen
thank you
for showing young girls that scientists
give me women too I must set up a close
enough okay now this one this is the one
that came and literally just boom pop me
right in the gut right in the stomach I
finally found a role model for my 10
year old self hey let me say that again
I finally found a role model for my 10
year old self I can relate to this
comment you are looking at the girl who
grew up with going bill boo bill right
Bill Nye the Science Guy yeah I loved
him I still love him he’s fantastic
yet to meet him bill if you’re out there
come talk to me but wouldn’t have been
cool if there was like one female
scientist like a Jill Nye the Science
gell or something like that right that
was kind of my opinion and so when I
read this comment it kind of shook me I
was like all right this isn’t about me
it’s not cool that I got to meet Wendy
Williams it’s not cool that I got to
meet Kellie Pickler this is bigger than
this so I figured I have a platform and
I need to do something with this
platform otherwise my ten year old self
is gonna hate me forever so I did what I
always do and I listen to Taylor Swift
every smart woman knows to listen to
Taylor Swift so I don’t know her either
but I’m assuming that she’s a smart
strong wonderful talented beautiful
woman and I believe that because she has
a squad and she supports her friends but
she supports her friend if you listen to
her interview she talks about her friend
she wasn’t talking about herself she
supports her friend she shares their
music she wakes any opportunity where
she can play their song she does sounds
like I’m gonna do that I’m gonna do that
and so and I I’m not good with the word
squad it just doesn’t come out of my
mouth while so I decide I’m gonna build
a stem army okay stem army so here’s the
first person I begged to join me she’s
32 she’s my age she’s smarter better
just she’s just better than me and all
aspects prettier everything I was like
you got to join me I love her here’s
what she did she figured out how to put
a mask back on the end of a pen so that
in surgery you can actually do surgery
and test cells right there in real-time
and find out if those cells are
cancerous or benign she’s changed the
world of modern medicine it was so cool
as featured on Grey’s Anatomy okay so
cool let’s give up Olivia
yeah and then and then I had to recruit
a lot of other people meet Emily Kay she
figures out how to make eggs glow as
soon as they’re fertilized so she Gupta
shibir her students colors obey enough
said okay we’ve got bottom of 13 she
just won an award for Texas ten meaning
she’s one of the top ten best professors
in Texas well actually it’s the
University of Texas what we think were
the better than everything so she’s do
the best professor in Texas and that’s
what I’m gonna go with and so I’ve
decided in my stem army I’m gonna talk
about them and every opportunity I can
I’m gonna share their stuff if I can
talk about their science I’m gonna do it
so that was the first thing I decided to
do in my platform number two I decided I
have to engage in evidence-based
conversation I have to when someone says
climate change isn’t real
I no longer now I’m like huh what come
over here and we start a conversation
and so I always go with questions and I
always go with data and I will say look
at this look at this plot for me this
was enough to know that humans actually
influence climate change I know that and
they’re like no no no not that one like
okay what about this one good how about
this one
No so they keep if you can’t get to them
with data and you can’t get them to with
evidence-based conversations take a step
back how is that data collected ask them
how how was the data collected why don’t
you like this what is it about that is
there something I’m missing I must not
be seeing something what is it start
this conversation you have to we are not
in a place anymore where we can just
like let it go you have to engage in
that conversation now the last thing
that I think is the most important thing
to do he’s got to talk to kids yeah I
talked to a lot of kids as many kids as
you can you got to talk to sick kids got
to talk to crazy kids got talk to all
the kids and the best thing you can ask
them is what do you want to do with your
life and if they say science you pick
them up and you yell and you scream and
you just celebrate them on Saturday I
was in Connecticut a girl told me she
want to be a quantum physicist words she
responded with I know I’m not gonna make
I am so mad at myself that I didn’t get
a picture with her I didn’t ask her name
I didn’t get I was just shocked I was
just so excited because I know I’m gonna
be working for her in like 20 years
sue me fantastic but the biggest thing
and my biggest problem is I have this
issue where I’m extroverted I’m bubbly I
love being in front of a crowd but most
of my colleagues don’t and I get the
same question every time how how do you
engage in this conversation how do you
actually do this well fire duh I mean
that’s my answer
I love fire I love breathing fire I love
setting myself on fire I love setting
you on fire I love everything right that
is my favorite thing to do and so what I
am doing now with my stem army is I’m
going around I’m trying to teach
everybody how to breathe fire meet Jax
Jax I taught how to breathe fire three
years ago he now goes around to student
organizations on campus breathe fire
during an LGBTQ Ally ship training so
instead of being like being nice to your
peers he’s like fire fire fire it’s
awesome it’s so cool me Nicole Nicole
the former student of mine she’s now a
graduate student Rice University she has
her own outreach program she does her
own program
she has demonstrations she talks to kids
on her own she’s a rock star again she’s
fantastic
meet Victor now just for the record you
and I know Victor the the same at this
point cuz he just emailed me to the
stranger I don’t know him but he reached
out to me he goes I work for Teach for
America at an inner-city school I don’t
have the resources you have but I
figured out how to get them from Home
Depot it’s like yeah you did yeah yeah
that’s right then he wanted to show me
he’s mastered the fire-breathing dragon
okay he’s mastered it so he’s using this
using fire to engage his students now
it’s your turn please please become part
of my summer me if you hear incorrect
science correct it if you see good
science share it not a blog don’t you
dare share a blog ok share real science
that’s a different TED talk we’ll talk
about that later and then the last thing
is you’ve got to talk to kids so are you
ready I’m going to teach you how to read
science or a brief bio right now here we
go all right
corne such number one used corn stalks
oh we also don’t do this at home okay
there we go now you’re gonna put it in
your mouth you take a deep breath you
use your fire and then you go for it
okay you absolutely have to go for it
are you ready
[Applause] [Music]
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