Nebraska Women in STEM talked to UNL’s Dr. Marianna Burks about non-linear career paths and making STEM feel like home.
Music blasts down the halls of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s biology department. Following the sound of music and laughter leads to Dr. Marianna Burks’ office, assistant professor of practice, where a dozen students have gathered to unwind and make slime after a morning of STEM research development. They sing along and mix the slime with their hands.
These students are part of the STEM-POWER program, which brings incoming first-year students from underrepresented populations to campus for summer research and to build community, which is part of Marianna’s mission to make STEM welcoming and accessible to all.
From the surface, with an office full of enthusiastic students, a STEM development program in its sixth successful cohort, and a national award for inclusive mentorship, it’s easy to assume she had this path mapped out from the beginning. But it was full of many twists and turns.
“I didn’t have a linear journey,” Marianna said.