Hi, my name is Josie (she/her) and I'm currently an Assistant Professor in Chemistry Education at The Ohio State University, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. I grew up in South Florida within a big, blended family listening to stories in English and Spanish about my parents and mis abuelos living in Cuba and moving to the United States. I began my academic journey at Florida International University (FIU) as an English major, but quickly switched to chemistry after taking a forensics course. I struggled a lot my first year and I often thought to myself, "What if I can't do this? Maybe this isn't for me." Long-story-short, I was able to finish my general chemistry I and II series, which inspired me to become a learning assistant (LA) and an academic tutor in the Center for Academic Success. I thought to myself, "Well, if I could do this, I want other people to know they can, too." 

However, I realized working in those positions that I had opportunities and privilege that were not universal. I decided to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry education at Purdue University to pursue these larger, systemic questions. I earned my masters degree thinking about how to cultivate existing science identities for preservice elementary teachers and my doctorate degree thinking about how chemistry graduate programs can better support BIPOC graduate students to pursue doctorate degrees. All of which led me eventually to a postdoc at  Stanford University where I investigated how chemistry learning environments could pose equity barriers for historically marginalized students.  Thank you for reading this abridged about me and I look forward to learning more about you (Mentoring statement).