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Hardly any of my colleagues wore makeup at all, meanwhile I loved experimenting with a different shade of eyeshadow every day. In graduate school, though I loved wearing makeup, I didn’t feel comfortable — I worried people were judging me, or thinking I spent too much time on those things instead of science. It wasn’t true, but the worry was real.

I was fancier than most, so I held back a bit. Not being able to wear makeup and sparkle freely dampened my spirit.

When I started my postdoc at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the work culture was different. I was surrounded by scientists who worked with K-12 teachers and their students most days — and I no longer felt uncomfortable embracing who I really was.

I started to dress up again, and became happier and more confident. Most people don’t need a scientist — especially a wildlife biologist — to be wearing earrings and mascara. The teachers loved this, and kept telling me how fancy I was. They called me the Fancy Scientist.

I loved this name, and embraced it fully. Because of my work in classrooms, especially with girls, I wanted to show kids — especially girls — that they don’t have to look a certain way to belong in science. I want them to see that they, too, can be a fancy scientist, and feel comfortable expressing their own sparkle and shine.