Abril is a high school senior from Pennsylvania. She has been interested in STEM for as long as she can remember and plans on pursuing cognitive science in the future. In particular, she wants to expand the different ways the study of the brain can intersect with and improve other fields. By joining STTS, she hopes to share and spark that same passion in others. In her free time, she enjoys making art, reading short story collections, and listening to Phoebe Bridgers.

Abril Xu

Aditya Das

Aileen is a sophomore at Columbia University passionate about neuroscience, public health, and synthetic biology. In founding STEM to the Sky, she hopes to make insights into STEM fields and pathways more accessible to middle and high school students worldwide. She also strives to shed light on the interdisciplinary potential of many of these careers. Outside of STTS, Aileen loves playing tennis/pickleball, reading scientific nonfiction, and making short films.

Aileen Qi

Amanna Mbagwu

Ana is a college junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she plans on majoring in bioengineering. She is passionate about STTS and strongly believes in highlighting the undeniable contribution of minorities to the STEM field of work and in empowering people to realize their passion for STEM. She values the importance of building an accessible platform to increase awareness of the opportunities relating to STEM and to inspire individuals so that they may leave a beneficial impact on our world. Outside of STEM, she enjoys traveling, baking, listening to music, dancing, and photography.

Ana Kanazir

Anagha is an incoming freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is interested in the tech world and aspires to work in some field of computing in the future. She discovered her passion for STEM after joining a magnet program in middle school and has since believed in the importance of promoting the transparency of various STEM careers, especially for students like her who grew up with minimal exposure to them. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new music, trying new foods, traveling, and hanging out with friends.

Anagha Bhuvanagiri

Annie is a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She founded STEM to the Sky with a vision of giving back to her community through interviews with those in the STEM profession. She hopes to create a free platform that shares direct insights, experiences, and resources with students all around the world, empowering others to pursue STEM. Outside of STTS, she enjoys baking, listening to music, and going for runs.

Annie Gao

Dr. Brad Pitcher is a lecturer at Columbia University. He teaches a core curriculum course called Frontiers of Science, which focuses on helping all first-year students, regardless of major, to think critically and scientifically by developing important “scientific habits of mind.” Outside of teaching, he studies the chemical composition of igneous rocks in order to examine past volcanic eruptions and predict future ones. Dr. Pitcher has conducted research in the Oregon Cascades, Mt. Etna, central Japan, and more!

Bradley Pitcher

Christina is a freshman studying chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. Originally from New York City, her love of STEM developed from watching strong female scientists around her and fell in love with the wonder of their discoveries. She is a strong believer in exposing the diverse interdisciplinary career paths that the STEM has to offer for women and immigrants. Outside of STTS, she enjoys and traveling, reading, and dancing.

Christina-Panagiota Tsingi

Cici is a high school senior from Ontario, Canada. They’re passionate about STEM because they love the field and its potential to improve the lives of people, and they aspire to become a biomedical engineer in the future. In their free time, Cici enjoys drawing, reading, writing, and playing the piano.

Cici Zhu

Dr. Cinda Scott is a marine biologist, educator, and ocean equity advocate. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Miami in 2009. Since 2014, she has directed The School for Field Studies program in Bocas del Toro, Panamá, focusing on the environmental impacts of tourism. Her current research explores the cultural value of mangroves and resource management inequities in Bocas del Toro. She is committed to ocean equity and the equitable sharing of ecosystem services to support coastal communities.

Dr. Cinda Scott

Deanna Hood is Australia's 2022 Young Engineer of the Year. By day, she is a Senior Robotics Engineer, creating robots that do what humans can’t. This includes the precision bioprinting of living human cells for burns patients; educational robots helping children with special needs; and robots helping people avoid the world's leading cause of death: cardiovascular disease. Dedicated to helping people of all ages to see the altruistic applications of STEM, she mentors thousands of students across the world and leads several conferences, societies, and professional development circles.

Deanna Hood

Dhreeti Taneja

Effie Fillas

Grace Marshall

Grace Wu

Hannah is a high school junior from Maryland passionate about mental health and psychiatry. She strongly values equity in the STEM field and hopes to be a part of making STEM more accessible to the general population. In her free time, she loves to read just about any genre!

Hannah You

Isha is a freshman studying neuroscience at Duke University. She’s primarily interested in biology and aspires to pursue a career in medicine. Her passion for STEM bloomed through taking part in activities such as cancer research at East Carolina University’s School of Medicine. Through STTS, she hopes to increase the reach of STEM and broaden its horizons. Outside of STEM, she loves playing piano, listening to classical music, and writing poetry.

Isha Omer

Linkai is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison interested in computer science, engineering, and design. Ever since being introduced to coding in grade school, he has been passionate about technology and its applications in solving problems in the world. He is glad to forward STTS’s mission to inspire individuals to pursue diverse career paths and enable them to impact the community. In his free time, Linkai enjoys making cool things with code, walking his dog, and playing video games.

Linkai Wu

Linnea Anton-Williams

Mariam is a freshman at UC Berkeley from the Bay Area. She is majoring in Astrophysics and Planetary Science, and is most interested in the study of planets, their geologies, and formations, as well as how this relates to the formation of the universe as a whole. As a part of STTS, Mariam hopes to be a part of bringing new STEM fields to youth, inspiring them to discover new passions and interests, and showing all fascinating ways STEM is used to accomplish amazing things. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crocheting, cooking, and being in nature.

Mariam Helal

Marin is a high school senior from Fukuoka, Japan. She is interested in biology and chemistry and hopes to pursue a career where she can leave an impact on society through medicine. She is currently interested in pediatric surgery. She found her passion in STEM through engaging in STEM-related summer programs and reading STEM articles online. She hopes to use STTS to inspire young minds to engage in this fascinating, vast field. Currently, her hobbies include cooking, playing volleyball and basketball, and crocheting.

Marin Suzuki

Maya Velasco is a sophomore at Columbia University studying Neuroscience with a concentration in Human Evolutionary Biology. She is passionate about research, environmentalism, and youth activism for underrepresented minorities within STEMM. Maya hopes to extend these passions to initiatives and outreach within STEM to the Sky. Outside of STTS, Maya works at Columbia Zuckerman Institute, conducting undergraduate research on dendrite morphology, and is an active member of Columbia’s women's waterpolo team.


Maya Velasco

Michelle is a high school junior from Maryland. Ever since she was a child, she loved playing "doctor," which then thus sparked her interest in pursuing biology, specifically genetics, and also the healthcare field. STEM is something that has played a vital role in her life and she wants to give others the opportunity to learn STEM. Outside of STTS and school, you can find her on the volleyball court or on the river rowing. She also loves to journal and listen to music.

Michelle Tan

Newman Waters

Parineeka Shrestha

Rabira Dosho

Ryan is a college sophomore from Toronto, Canada interested in biomedical engineering and human anatomy. His passion for STEM was developed from exposure to different career paths through programs held by universities across Canada. Ryan hopes to use STTS as a platform to reveal the diversity in STEM to middle and high-school students. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, cooking, and exploring different genres of music.

Ryan Hukom

Sahana is a high school junior from Nebraska. She is interested in the wide array of topics encompassed by public health, from disease prevention and health education to policy-making and research. With STTS, she hopes to address disparities within STEM and its many pathways. In her free time, she enjoys making music, traveling, and trying new foods.

Sahana Kumar

Sam is an engineer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was a co-founder at Square (now Block) where he built apps, hardware, and infrastructure to empower commerce. Today, he’s a General Partner at Green Visor Capital, an investment firm that specializes in financial technology. He loves audible, e-sports, and food.

Sam Wen

Sanghyun Kim

Sari is a junior at the University of Tokyo, pursuing a liberal arts degree with a particular focus in environmental science. Her interests include public health and neurodegenerative diseases, and through her work at STTS, she hopes to promote equity in STEM education, especially in her home country, Japan, where many STEM fields are male-dominated. Outside of STTS, she spends her free time making latte art and assisting in Alzheimer's disease research at the Iwatsubo lab.

Sari Hirata

Sasha Blank

Sasha is a sophomore at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) studying biomedical sciences. Originally from Russia, she is interested in medicine, especially immunology and oncology. She is passionate about STEM because it is a crucial part of today's society and hopes to address issues such as the inaccessibility of STEM fields as well as inequity when it comes to providing healthcare and technology to underprivileged people and places. In her free time, Sasha enjoys playing volleyball, reading, and trying to get through the list of movies that she keeps meaning to watch. 

Sasha Syrkina

Shai Hernandez is a freshman at East Los Angeles College looking forward to transferring to a 4-year University next fall. Shai is particularly passionate about medical research, more specifically orthopedics, hoping to pursue a fulfilling career in it one day. Shai is also a spirited advocate for environmental justice and advocacy for Worker's Rights. Shai hopes to extend his passion for STEM through STEM to the Sky's outreach to open the doors of curiosity and fascination to others as they were opened for him. Outside of STTS, Shai spends most of his time working on construction sites while pursuing his education; but while he rests he enjoys his time in nature, be it hiking, fishing, snorkeling, or surfing.

Shai Hasson

Sophia Ge

Sophie Jones is a freshman studying exercise science at the University of South Carolina. Originally from New York City, she has always been passionate about the STEM field, specifically in sports medicine and psychology. As a high-level competitive gymnast, she enjoys learning about the human body and mind and hopes to pursue a career working with athletes in the future. Outside of STEM, she spends her free time baking, exploring the city, and seeking new restaurants to visit.

Sophie Jones

Tamanna Begum

Ted is an intellectual property attorney working for the federal government in Washington, DC, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Ted is a co-founder and former President of a local non-profit organization supporting a high school STEM program. He has a B.S. in Applied and Computational Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.

Ted Jou

Yasmeen Fallouh

Zaid is a high school junior living in Texas. In the future, he aspires to pursue a career in mechanical engineering while aligning his interests of designing and analyzing. He looks forward to creating content that sheds light upon niche yet everyday concepts such as machine learning, thermodynamics, and the marvelous impacts of engineering in our modern world.

Our Team

Founders