Molten Potassium Chlorate and Being a Hambone

Today was the official (albeit sooner-than-planned) launch of this website. And I’m still reeling. Because it has been successful beyond what I could have ever hoped for. So, if you find yourself here – while bored-browsing in the waiting room of your dentist’s office, or maybe even sitting on the toilet – thank you so much, and welcome!

After perusing the initial website analytics (gah, who am I?), it occurs to me that many of you, wandering souls are new here – you may have no clue who I am or what I do. Hell, some of you, who have followed me for a while, may even be similarly appalled by this new development in my character arc. Regardless of your familiarity with me, here’s the humble origin story you didn’t know you needed:

My career in science communication began with a live Facebook video feed. It featured me, prominent in the foreground, filming myself cramming a tangled string of white Christmas tree lights into a running microwave. In my rented, apartment kitchen. Through the faint melody of zaps, pops, and fizzles behind me, I enthusiastically instructed my friends on the principles of physics to explain why the bulbs light up. And trust me, dear reader, they do. And they also smoke. Quite a lot.

This reckless behavior, being positively reinforced by giggles and guffaw, continued through subsequent educational videos. My favorite among them, being the incredibly bright combustion reaction of sugar in hot potassium chlorate. It’s a fantastic party trick. Assuming your party is equipped with a torch, borosilicate glassware, and the necessary chemicals.

After a while, I couldn’t keep up with my small audience’s expectation for successively more grandiose experiments, and a majority of the feedback I received was in support of me taking the scientific explanations public. So, I began an Instagram page and associated web series with the alliterative title, “60 Seconds of Science.” And why should I choose this highly specific and incredibly short method of teaching? It was the maximum time allowed, by Instagram, for permanent posts, at the time.

Within the first few episodes of my young series, I began to generate a steady flow of new followers who requested specific topics from me. Being a woman for the People, I eventually gave full control to that viewer base, allowing them to suggest the concepts and vote for impending episodes. It maintains this framework, today.

Since the inception, it has been 3 years and 56 episodes, covering topics that have spanned deep space, to deflated human eyeballs. And I still love my role, in outreach, just as much.

Having been a professional scientist for over 12 years, I came to notice two things: 1) there is a general lack of basic understanding of the sciences among the public, and 2) factors associated with this disparity seem to indicate that science knowledge is somehow privileged information. Neither of these sit well with me: science should be the Great Equalizer – transcending race, creed, socioeconomic status, gender, etc. It provides every human with the tools to understand their own fragile existence in the world around them. And, I think, it has the capacity to crush certain prejudices. With that, my goal has always been the same: to make science engaging, and to show people how beautiful and fascinating and bizarre and grounding it can be.

With the success of “60 Seconds of Science,” I saw an opportunity to do more, to teach more, and to reach a wider audience. I pitched a book idea to an agency. And that agency decided to stand behind my mad little passion project.

So, here I am, leading the charge in my own battle to combat science illiteracy and educational apathy. I don’t know where this campaign will take me, but I really hope to inspire you, along the way.