Gitanjali Rao, TIME Kid of the Year, to Speak as Featured Guest for Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Science Speaker Series

Kelly Bernatzky • July 15, 2021

On July 28, at 7pm, Gitanjali Rao, TIME Kid of the Year, will speak at the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s (MMA) Science Speaker Series. Her talk, “The Role of Science and Technology as a Catalyst for Social Change” is part of our FREE Science Speaker Series and will be held via Zoom.


Gitanjali Rao was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential Award for inventing her device "Tethys"— an early lead detection tool. Rao is also the inventor of “Epione”— a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and "Kindly"—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing.


Rao was honored as Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and TIME’s “Top Young Innovator” and "TIME Kid of the Year" for her innovations and STEM workshops she conducts globally, which has inspired over 50,000 students in the last two years across four continents. In her sessions, she shares her own process of innovation that can be used by students all over the world. She is an experienced TED speaker and often presents in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM. 


Rao is the author of the book Young Innovator's Guide to STEM, which guides students, educators, and teachers with a prescribed 5 step innovation process.

 

In her talk for the MMA, Rao will share her innovation journey including some of her recognized innovations, her process, the need for awareness and community service, and the importance of supporting youth and girls.

 

To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sCs_RWvOTM-WS6xruV3jDQ

 

For the full Science Speaker Series schedule, please visit our website here:

https://www.mariamitchell.org/science-speaker-series


 

This series is generously presented by our lead sponsor, Bank of America, and additional sponsors, Cape Air, Cisco Brewers, and White Elephant Resorts.

 

The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

For Immediate Release

July 15 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, Development Associate

kbernatzky@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger May 5, 2025
I have posted this during Women’s History Month before but because it is March and Women’s History Month, I think it’s worth repeating. It’s clever and helps to tell an important story in women’s history while giving it a bit of a 21 st century twist. It comes via the National Women’s History Project .  JNLF
May 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger April 28, 2025
Lynn, Ap. 25 1869  My dear President, I am not sure I told you how long I must be away from the College. If I took only the Sunday’s rest, it would be possible for me to reach the Obs. By Tuesday, but I feel the need of more than one day of quiet, before I enter upon the new and incomprehensible life before me . . . William Mitchell died on April 19, 1869 and for the first time, Maria Mitchell was alone. Save for her trip to the southern United States and Europe in 1857 and 1858, her father was always by her side. She did not know much of a day in her life without him nearby and she knows that. It was difficult for her – and her siblings worried about her and this new world she was now in. She had been – expect for that trip – the caregiver for both of her parents. Her mother, Lydia Coleman Mitchell, died in 1861 on Nantucket and Maria had cared for her as well. She was the child who became the caregiver of the family – both in her youth as her siblings sought her out for care, humor, love, and adventures while their mother was busy with younger children and household duties – and then her parents as the only child who did not marry and remained by their sides. JNLF
Show More