STEM ResearcHER Newsletter: December 2025

Hope everyone will have a great December and good luck on finals!!

Author

STEM ResearcHER Team
December 04, 2025

Bridging the gender and accessibility gap in STEM

STEM ResearcHER is a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to bridge the gender and accessibility gap in STEM research fields through speaker workshops, mentorship programs, and other community events.

♡CALIFORNIA STEMStravaganza Early 2026♡

The date of Cali StemStravaganza has been moved to early 2026 due to unforeseen circumstances! Thank you to everyone who has shown interest! We will keep the form up for interest and push out a registration form when the event is coming up!

Chicago STEMStravaganza 2025

UPCOMING BOOTCAMP!

Ongoing Updates:

Want to Join STEM ResearcHER?

You can gain volunteering hours, community, and follow your passion. No experience needed, join the team as a…

  • Finance: Cold-email companies and contacts for monetary support for STEM ResearcHER events. Send invoices and work with finances

  • Ambassador: outreach STEM ResearcHER Instagram posts, events, emails, etc. within your school and other communities

  • Marketing: create Instagram posts + reels, along with TikToks and Facebook posts

  • Education: Develop curriculum, running online (and potentially on-site!) bootcamps, and mentoring students

Do YOU have a STEM story you want to share?

Get in touch with the Director of PR to get your story in our newsletter!

STEM Opportunities:

Middle School:

High School:

How to be Involved:

  1. Keep up with Deadlines: For internships, competitions, and joining organizations, research and prepare materials ahead of time to be a great applicant.

  2. Be Prepared: Start a resume, brag sheet, and CV in case an internship/job requires it for applications, and get your recommendations.

  3. Build out your community/support group: You deserve a group of supportive people by your side! With a support group, you could team up for competitions or get help on applications.

Study Playlist of the Month for YOUU🎧🎧✨

Introducing… El Camino Women’s Medical Group

El Camino Women’s Medical Group is committed to a sensitive, personal approach to every patient’s problem, taking the time to listen and know their patients. Especially since they know during a woman’s life, unique issues such a puberty, menopause, and beyond will need to be addressed.

They provide services that include obstetrics, gynecology, infertility, and surgical evaluation and treatment. We see patients every weekday, some evenings, and some Saturdays. STEM ResearcHER will love to extend a great thank you for their support.

Below are wonderful opportunities to explore what they do:

Healthlink is a free, year-long program for first-generation college-bound high school students in the Bay Area. They connect high school students (high school sophomores are given preference) with a UCSF graduate student mentor from one of the five health professional schools: Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Physical Therapy, and Medicine.

SYEP equips high school participants with real-world skills, health care insight, and meaningful connections. The program is available to all residents of Southern California (SCAL) and Hawaii and is a paid opportunity.

Neuroscientist Specializing in Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) focus on designing prosthetics, treating neurological disorders, and more.

Who is Dr. Maryam Shanechi?

Dr. Shanechi focuses on neuroengineering and brain-computer interface research. She’s a professor at USC. She leads the Shanechi Lab, where she develops algorithms that decode brain signals. Her work helps people with depression, paralysis, and epilepsy regain control and autonomy. She’s been featured in MIT Technology Review and Nature Neuroscience.

Advice on Future Steps:

Academic Pathways:

  • Take Biology, Physics, Calculus and Chemistry (AP if available)

  • Look into Psychology and NeuroScience electives if available

  • Consider Dual Enrollment if possible

Recommended Skills to Build Up:

  • Learn Python and MATLAB for signal processing

  • Watch CrashCourse Psychology and Neuroscience

  • Practice data visualization and machine learning basics

  • Learn Arduino and Raspberry Pi

How to Get Involved:

School Level:

  • Join or start STEM Clubs with a focus on biotech and build a mini BCI using open source kits

Community Level:

  • Volunteer at rehab centers or hospitals

  • Join outreach programs like NeuroTechX

State Level:

  • Apply to Summer programs

  • Submit articles to science journals

  • Attend a health tech or expo.

What You Can Do Right Now:

  1. Try a free simulation like NeuroBytes

  2. Email a neuroscience lab to ask about shadowing

  3. Design a zine and advance your teaching in club fairs

Additional Advice:

  1. Start with curiousity As long as you are curious about a field, you’ll look deep into them to find little ways to be involved and share your interests!

  2. Start recognizing how your activities connect: Not everyone has access to a lab or the ability to take apart in time consuming activities, but if you can understand how your personal identity intertwines with each one it will set you up well to see what is worth spending time on.

Reach out to us!