As some of you know, photography is my hobby. I am currently working towards my PhD in bioinformatics at Harvard and happen to be the only girl in my program this year. The lack of girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (collectively called STEM fields) is a general issue and (unfortunately) not limited to my program. Frustrated with the lack of girls in my program and field, earlier last year, I started cuSTEMized as a not-for-profit initiative to encourage girls to envision themselves in STEM. Our website, cuSTEMized.org, which went live yesterday, allows parents to customize our book, _'s Little Book of Big Dreams, along with other STEM motivational goodies to have their daughter's name and general appearance with the help of avatars. Parents can then download the book for free as an electronic PDF or contribute a donation to cover the costs of having the book printed. In this manner, we hope to create a truly customized message and reach each and every girl individually to help them envision themselves in STEM starting from a young age.

Please check it out!

cuSTEMized.org/

You can find more of cuSTEMized on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cuSTEMized
Twitter: twitter.com/cuSTEMized
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/cuSTEMized

Thanks for the support,
Jean

PS: Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes