NOVA: Picture a Scientist | Watch & Wonder Weekly Highlight

Wednesday, March 8, 1 PM

For next week’s Watch & Wonder Highlight, we’re thrilled to feature this episode of NOVA. After watching, dive deeper with resources about scientist Raychelle Burks, a chemist and science communicator, on PBS LearningMedia.

Women make up less than a quarter of STEM professionals in the United States, and numbers are even lower for women of color. But there is a growing group of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists, exposing longstanding discrimination, and leading the way in making science more inclusive. In Picture a Scientist, a biologist, a chemist, and a geologist lead viewers on a journey through their own experiences in the sciences, ranging from outright harassment to years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped laboratories to spectacular field stations, scientific visionaries, including social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists, provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all.

PBS LearningMedia

Raychelle Burks | Picture a Scientist

Grades 6-12
Meet chemist and science communicator Raychelle Burks, who introduces her research developing diagnostic tests for dangerous chemical compounds in these video excerpts from NOVA: Picture a Scientist. Burks discusses the lack of scientific role models she had growing up, bias in science, and the phenomenon of code-switching.

In school or at home, take advantage of the Watch & Wonder broadcast schedule. Running each weekday from 1-3 PM, Watch & Wonder is great for classroom viewing, distance instruction, and families looking to spend some extra, quality time together. Featured programs are ideal for kids in grades 6-12, encouraging creativity with the arts, kick starting innovation through STEM, and expanding their horizons with stories from across the globe!

Each week, we’ll highlight a show from our Watch & Wonder block, and share a PBS LearningMedia resource — suitable for middle and high school students. Follow along on the Watch & Wonder Schedule page, or subscribe to our newsletter!