To me, knowing how things work is essential for enabling you to explore your own interests and create things that don’t exist yet, and that’s what STEM education gives you the foundation for.
Give us 3-5 adjectives that describe you…
Hopeful, tall, obsessive, introverted, friendly
Briefly describe your job… what do you really do at EL?
I make software for teachers and students and for the other devs at EL and help coordinate and facilitate solving problems and making new things.
What do you like about working at EL?
Lots: All the friendly folks, the work can feel like solving puzzles, the work can feel like making something out of nothing, the end goal of helping teachers to teach and students to learn is really motivating and satisfying
What's the most seriously fun thing you've ever done?
I was introduced to the card game Magic: The Gathering last year and I’ve really gone down a rabbit-hole with that and had a lot of fun. I’ve gone a few times to in-person competitions and it’s been a cool way to meet new people and feel like I’m living in the 90s again.
What big STEM accomplishment do you think we’ll see happen in the next 100 years, and why are you excited about it?
Self-driving cars. I think our grandchildren will look back and say “Wait, anyone in any state of mind could just hop in a 2-ton vehicle and drive it anywhere? Seems like a lot of people could get hurt that way.” or “If you wanted to take a trip somewhere you had to control a car for hours at a time?”
Why is STEM education important, in your personal opinion?
To me, knowing how things work is essential for enabling you to explore your own interests and create things that don’t exist yet, and that’s what STEM education gives you the foundation for.
Time travel… past or future?
Past to go see dinosaurs.
Artificial intelligence… friend or foe?
Depends on who is wielding it, but I think it’s generally a good thing.
Chemistry or Biology
Biology
Algebra or Geometry
Geometry
Learn a language or learn how to code
I want to learn Spanish
Deep space or deep sea
Deep space
Bill Nye or Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Neither. Ms. Frizzle, from The Magic School Bus.
Einstein or Newton
Neither. Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.
Star Wars or Star Trek
Star Wars
Keyboard or Paper + Pencil
Keyboard
Playlists or podcasts
Podcasts
In the classroom… Front row or back row
right down the middle
Who's next?