STEM

Alexis Smith-Attuquayefio has a handful of impressive professional titles, including director of operations at the leading-edge medical technology company SatioDX in Boston’s Seaport District.

In less than a month, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, placing itself in just the right position to block the sun’s rays. The result will be a rare astronomical sighting: a total solar eclipse.

Community colleges and two-year institutions are at the center of a city effort to bring more Boston residents, especially those from Black and brown communities, into careers in the booming life sciences industry.

Students at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology will soon have an opportunity to get an associate degree in biotechnology, a new initiative that aims to diversify one of the region’s largest industries.

This year saw continuing health challenges and breakthrough discoveries across the state and a science landscape underlined by growing efforts to address longstanding diversity issues in the sector.

Growing up, I didn’t have many biology teachers who looked like me. In grade school nearly all my science teachers were white men, and in college, there were even fewer professors of color.

As the world reels from a pandemic, climate change and artificial intelligence, the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics continues to face racial and gender disparities.

The need for increased coordination and cooperation was central to the assessment of industry and education representatives gathered at Roxbury Community College to discuss how to help Boston residents of color better access jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the second annual Roxbury Worx conference.

Thirty Boston-area high school students had the chance to expand their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math at a summer program run by Roxbury Community College and NuSq Life Science Training Center, an upcoming development based in Nubian Square.

On an overcast July morning, equipped with bug boxes and clippers, a group of about 15 middle school students gathered at the base of Hemlock Hill in Arnold Arboretum, ready to investigate the local ecosystem as part of a month of hands-on experience with science offered to Boston Public Schools students.

College admissions season is daunting for any student considering higher education after high school. For seniors at Roxbury’s Dearborn STEM Academy, it just got a little easier.

Since 2002, the Biogen Community Lab has provided local teens state-of-the-art lab experiences that can open their eyes to science careers.