december, 2022
Event Details
Hosted by Hoda Emam and Devon Kodzis
An evening of true personal stories about science from the community of Dallas, TX!
Sometimes our best laid plans go perfectly….and sometimes they require a quick shift, sudden decision, or even a whole new playbook. Four storytellers take to the stage to share a time that they had to pivot!
Doors at 6:30pm, Show at 7:00pm
Stories By:
Chris Brown was born and raised in Detroit, MI. He’s always had an affinity for animals, but especially for dogs. Chris spent most of his early childhood sneaking into neighbors’ yard to play with their dogs, and gravitated toward the dogs that all the adults and other children were afraid of. In turn, those same dogs became Chris’ protectors. Chris’ grandfather nurtured the growing passion and began teaching him how to groom desired behaviors even in tiny puppies, and Chris’ uncle introduced him to his first protection dog, a Rottweiler/Dobermann mix that showed just how well trained a dog could be. It was invigorating. Dog training became a hobby that persisted into adulthood, and eventually grew into a successful business. Chris’ dog training business is now based in Dallas, and he has partnered with a local rescue where he educates both fosters and adopters. Chris and his wife Kay share their home with three lively (former) street dogs, Ellie, Rogue, and Terror.
Emma DeVine is just your average bilaterally symmetrical coelomate. When she’s not busy chasing after her middle school students for their homework, getting shoes stuck in trees unstuck, or cooking up a new science experiments to try out with her 7th and 8th graders, she enjoys spending time with her husband and incredibly spoiled corgi named Toby (also affectionately known as roommate #1 and roommate #2). One creates a lot of trash and the other eats the trash—you decide who is who. She’s obsessed with her dog (seriously, this woman indoctrinated a bunch of 12- and 13-year-old kids to worship her dog at school).
She recently spent the past summer working in a neuroscience lab studying Drosophila fruit flies and the relationship of neurons controlling metabolism and energy homeostasis. Emma also has experience working with zebrafish in the classroom and using them to model fetal alcohol syndrome with her students. Small talk with Emma usually revolves around fish and flies. She was recently named the 2022 Outstanding Rookie Science Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT).
As a first-generation Chicano in STEM, Stacy Vasquez recognizes the importance of addressing the STEM achievement gap and creating an inclusive space that will inspire students from marginalized groups. His dissertation researched examined the impacts of a multicultural curriculum in a traditional microbiology course. With an academic background in microbiology, Stacy was always interested in learning how the discrete, scientific information was related to issues impacting society. Traditional microbiology courses often place heavy emphasis on rote memorization of discrete facts and focus very little on how the content relates to societal issues. The multicultural curriculum aimed to teach students about various social issues while still managing to teach the objective, scientific content. The relevant topics were intended to spark student interest in efforts to strengthen their academic performance. Stacy has continued implementing culturally responsive teaching practices in my other sciences courses, such as Human Anatomy & Physiology.
