STEMs, Buds & Blooms: Brooke Wilder & Shaping Your STEM Journey
Written by Apprentice Della R
What is STEMs, Buds & Blooms?
STEMs, Buds & Blooms is a recurring interview series based on learning about the women in STEM and their lives outside of it. These field notes aim to expand the idea of the woman in stem by spotlighting community & opportunity alongside achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math, and give our readers broader space to imagine their future.
This interview is with Brooke Wilder, a youth advisor & program manager through the Ecologik Institute, National Park Service wildlife biologist, and all around wonderful soul.
Hi my dearest STEM enthusiasts! For this issue of STEMs, Buds & Blooms, I interviewed Brooke Wilder, the program manager at the Ecologik Institute, as well as a wildlife biologist in the National Park Service! I hope you all enjoy these highlights!!
Roach (R) - How did you get your start in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) field?
Wilder (W) - When I was a teenager, some incredible women in STEM took a chance on me, and hired me as a youth intern at the San Diego Zoo, to advocate for wildlife … I love wildlife, I love the environment, and I wanted to do anything I possibly could to protect it. From this experience I learned two things about myself. I learned I wanted to create solutions for wildlife … we can’t be a solution if we don’t know what those problems are. The other thing I learned is I wanted to create more opportunities for marginalized people in STEM, especially gender marginalized people … to learn and to build their careers in STEM.
Brooke Wilder, EcoLogik Program Manager, and Sam Wynns, EcoLogik Director, share a candid moment.
Photo by: Isa Asani
R - If you could go back and give your teenage self any piece of advice, specifically regarding STEM what would it be?
W - It would be that I am capable of a lot more than I think I am. When I was in high school I was a B and C student in math, which wasn't what I was used to … and that made me feel like I didn’t have the skills necessary to be a scientist… I had an experience with a high school counselor where I talked to her about wanting to take some of those higher level classes, like AP Bio & AP Chemistry, and she actually advised me to stick with what I was good at. I learned that you don't have to be good at something to like it, and a lot of times, you actually are better at something than you might think.
R - You mentioned the adversity you faced from this advisor, how do you cope with people not seeing as much potential in you as you feel there is?
W - I think it comes down to recognizing that the only person who can tell your story is you. There will be multiple times in your life where you are faced with people who don’t think you should be doing what you are doing, or they don’t think YOU should be doing it. My advice is to just keep doing it. You will never get better at anything if you don’t practice, and just because something is difficult does not mean you are bad at it.
W - STEM is hard but it’s not harder than what you are capable of.
R - STEM is difficult, but you can do difficult things!
Brooke (left) participates in intertidal monitoring at Cabrillo National Monument.
R - Speaking of difficult things, how do you curate a community within STEM spaces, where it is so difficult to find other women in STEM, how to foster a sense of belonging?
W - I like to be very empathy-forward in the way that I create science spaces and help teach science. Making room for everybody’s different identities and opinions is one of the most important ways to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table when it comes to STEM.
R - What impact do you want to make as a STEM educator? What do you want to leave your students with?
W - I want to leave my students with the idea that they are far more capable than they have been taught to believe that they are. I wasn’t a straight A student in school, but that didn’t mean I was incapable of being a scientist. I had to navigate environments where I was the only girl or where my intelligence was questioned, just because of the way I present myself. I want my students to know that no matter what age they are at, they can make an impact, their thoughts and ideas are valuable. I also want to make the impact of a conservation legacy, both making every change I possibly can for the environment, but also letting my students know that they are capable, and that change starts on the community level.
R - Outside of STEM, what hobbies or interests do you have that shape your identity?
W - One of my primary identities that I have both in and out of STEM is that I am a woman. I am a woman who loves STEM, but I also love hikes, I love to cook & bake, I love live music & opportunities to hang out with my friends. I just love to be in community with other people.
R - Final Question: What is your top 5 right now?
W - Top 5 what?
R - Anything!
W - Oh gosh! Okay. This is such a fun question. The Tortured Poet’s Department by Taylor Swift, coding in R, banana bread, Chappel Roan and Sabrina Carpenter’s cover of Last Christmas by Wham, and the leopard sharks in La Jolla.
About the Author: Della R is a part of the Conservation and Environmental Stewardship Apprenticeship Program (CESAP) with the Ecologik Institute, one of the Ecologik Interns, as well as a full time college student.
About the Guest: Brooke Wilder is a program manager at The Ecologik Institute & a Wildlife Biologist at the National Park Service.
