Engaging and Supporting “Budding Science Enthusiasts”
“This initiative encourages kids from diverse backgrounds to become involved in science and promotes diversity in STEM fields in an effort to impact positive change in the world.”
Published June 9, 2017
By Marie Gentile and Robert Birchard
Academy Contributors
Alexandra “Ali” Bausch grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry from Villanova University. As an undergraduate student, she conducted laboratory research in analytical chemistry, performed field research at the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium in Alaska, and participated in and led numerous community service projects.
Following graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright Student Fellowship in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Stavanger in Norway. While there, she earned a Norwegian Marshall Fund Scholarship and went on to complete her master’s degree in Environmental Engineering with a focus in water science and technology. Before she began her PhD, she conducted research at both NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York.
Ali is currently a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, conducting research at the interface of biological and chemical oceanography. Her graduate research project, funded by a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, addresses the impacts of climate change on the base of the marine food web in the Arabian Sea ecosystem.
Why and how are STEM education and the Global STEM Alliance important to you?
STEM education initiatives help shape the next generation of scientists. The Global STEM Alliance not only engages students in the excitement of hands-on science experiments, it motivates and encourages girls and boys from diverse backgrounds to pursue lifelong involvement in STEM. This involvement is vital to the STEM community because diversity enriches science and helps deepen our understanding of the world.
What are/were your goals for participation in the Global STEM Alliance?
I would like to devote my life to research and to the education of future generations of scientists. Throughout my participation in the Global STEM Alliance, I hope to spread my passion for science, to teach young girls and boys to love science as much as I do. I hope that this valuable mentoring and teaching opportunity will help make me a better instructor. And I hope to encourage students in my local community to grow up to make our planet a little bit better.
What is the most important benefit you feel the Global STEM Alliance provides?
The most important benefit of the Global STEM Alliance is the encouragement and support it provides to budding science enthusiasts. This initiative encourages kids from diverse backgrounds to become involved in science and promotes diversity in STEM fields in an effort to impact positive change in the world.
