CCD STEMinar series
Lunch will be provided. RSVP requested here: http://diversitycenter.caltech.edu/RSVP.
Dr. Powtawche Valerino (Mississippi Choctaw) is from New Orleans, LA and is a member of the Cassini and Solar Probe Plus Navigation Teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. She obtained her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and received her masters and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in aero-astronautics from Rice University. Powtawche's graduate research related to the optimization of interplanetary trajectories to Mars via electric propulsion. She joined Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mission Design and Navigation Section in 2005. Powtawche will talk about the most recent U.S. Indian Relocation Act, and its effects on Indian families, including hers.
About our STEMinar Speaker:
Powtawche is a strong advocate for STEM training for youth, in particular, female and under-represented minorities by her out-reach and educational presentations to youth in the Los Angeles area. She worked with Soledad O'Brien in empowering Black and Latina females in pursuing careers in STEM at the PoweHERful summit. She volunteered with the Run Like A Girl program at Washington Elementary School, and read books for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, now known as Learning Ally, at the Hollywood studio. Powtawche also performs outreach to the youth on the Choctaw Indian reservation high school. Recently, Powtawche mentored a UCLA post-doctorate student through the Caltech Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professorate. Powtawche regularly gives presentations and tours to students at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory offering great insight on the day-to-day workings of a world-renown NASA agency.
Powtawche is an enthusiastic proponent of outdoors education and environmental stewardship through her work with urban youth as a volunteer with Outward Bound Adventures, a nonprofit that operates in the Pasadena and inner city Los Angeles area. She is a cellist in the Pasadena Community Orchestra, and has worked with the Red Bull Hacking Creativity project by performing in their musical ensemble. Powtawche's most recent accomplishment is becoming a new mother to a baby boy.
CCD STEMinar Series:
The Caltech Center for Diversity is excited to invite STEM faculty, scholars, and experts to explore the intersections of their various identities with their science. We hope that with each monthly lecture in this series, you will be able to explore your own path through the world of STEM and reflect on how your science interacts with who you are as a broader person.