Storytellers of STEMM

Turns out I don't love writing a blog. Also turns out I do LOVE hosting a podcast. So instead of blog articles (mostly, I may still write a few, when inspiration strikes), I'm going to write about my podcast - Storytellers of STEMM!

The podcast started as part of my homework for Homeward Bound, which I talked about in a previous blog post titled "Women, Science, and Antarctica". I am part of Team HB5 which is the 5th cohort of the Homeward Bound program. Much of the program is centered around learning about leadership, strategy, and visibility. So as part of a visibility audit to determine just how visible we are within and without our circles, we also had to come up with ways to increase visibility. I am actually quite the introvert, and only have so much to say on my own. But I know a ton of interesting people that might be willing to talk to me and a podcast is the ideal format for that!

I chose STEMM as the category because Homeward Bound is women in STEMM, and because I am in STEMM (as a wetlands scientist), and it's also the category that's most interesting to me. I also think STEMM has a bit of a reputation problem in that we're often behind the scenes. Also people know a lot of the different jobs that can be within STEMM but there's so much more than what most people know, have access to, or are involved with so I wanted to show how big and varied and awesome the STEMM category really is. STEMM is Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, and Math. It's big. There's a lot of different jobs under that umbrella. Which means endless podcast episode topics and lots of people I can talk to.

Once I decided the category, I needed to decide what the podcast was going to be. I could do a more scientific approach, but that's way less fun for me as the host and also for the listener. I settled on a story style approach because stories are way more relatable to people, easier to listen to, and more memorable. So each episode features a different storyteller(s). I'm using the term story very loosely because it's more of a story that turns into a conversation, but it's all still storytelling in my opinion. I also wanted it to sound like the audience was in the room listening to the conversation. So the format is that there is no format, and it's flexible depending on the story and the people!

And that's how Storytellers of STEMM was born. I recorded the first episode alone, because it's only fair to be vulnerable and share a story of my own first if I'm going to ask others to share their stories. So I went first, and told the story of how I became a field biologist. Basically I interviewed myself. I hope you enjoy the silliness.

I often give the caveat that I'm not an audio tech engineer or anything, so it's not always perfect but I'm only human as we all are. So enjoy the adventure!

Storytellers of STEMM is hosted on Anchor but available on these platforms: Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Breaker, and RadioPublic.