10 QUESTIONS: ANICA MILLER-RUSHING

An inside look at unique careers in STEM

In each installment of our "10 Questions" blog series, readers will meet a staff member from AUI or one of its managed facilities, gaining insight into their career journey, what their role involves and what makes their work meaningful.

1. What is your current position?

I am the STEM education research associate for AUI's Office of Education and Public Engagement (OEPE). I research the people doing education and engagement work for various projects and programs. I do research and evaluation on OEPE programs and publish outcomes and outputs depending on the project.

I work for the headquarters office in Vienna, Virginia, but I work primarily from home, which is on the coast of Maine in the United States.

2. What drew you to this field and how did you get started?

I was drawn to this field through science education. I started out as an environmental educator, then an elementary classroom educator, then a teacher trainer and educator, and then found research questions that, to me, felt really important. And so, I went to the University of Maine for my research-based Ph.D. in STEM education.

I consistently find myself facilitating and translating across the worlds of science, education and research. I love that I get to continuously learn and simultaneously inspire others and support their engagement in questioning and observing the world around them.

3. Can you describe a typical workday?

My typical workday is a mix of Zoom meetings and a lot of computer time - emailing, reviewing papers and manuscripts, supporting proposals, writing, and data collection and analysis. When I am not in my home office, I can be found attending various meetings, workshops or conferences.

4. What do you enjoy most about your job and why?

I enjoy helping to uncover answers to questions that move projects forward, adding to the body of knowledge about a topic, meeting lots of people and continually learning. I love to employ various techniques to answer research or evaluation question(s) of a particular project. My portfolio of projects is constantly shifting. Although I have a personal research focus (science teacher agency and identity), I'm able to help different teams answer their questions using whatever tools and techniques might be needed for their particular topic.

5. What is your favorite part about working at this facility?

I enjoy working across facilities. Since I work remotely, I work on projects and programs that happen in all kinds of locations with various teams. I enjoy the flexibility of working across locations, traveling, and learning about all the facilities (i.e. Green Bank Observatory, Very Large Array, ALMA, etc.) and amazing work AUI does.

6. What's something about your job that most people don't know?

I am available to design, produce, analyze, and communicate research and/or evaluation on proposals, projects and programs. Usually that work occurs within a STEM education context. Our Education and Public Engagement team has more detailed information on what we can provide as far as research, evaluation, and even project management and proposal development.

7. What is the most memorable moment of your career thus far?

I am still a relative newbie to the research community. So, when I was at a conference and somebody was excited to meet me because they read a paper I published, it felt weird and exciting. In addition to sharing my skills and knowledge with others, I also enjoy continually learning and growing in all areas of my work.

8. What's a goal or dream you have for your career?

I hope, in some small way, my work ultimately helps more science education happen. Perhaps through conversations, collaborations or publications, I hope to help more teachers feel agentic about teaching science, more students feel engaged and excited about being part of science, and/or more researchers engage with practitioners in co-collaborative ways. In my opinion, for humans to live on a healthy planet in a functioning and justice-orientated system, we need more people engaged with science, enriched by science and inspired by science. If my career helps that happen in some way, I will feel proud of my accomplishments.

9. What's one thing you're excited about in the coming year at work?

I am excited about the prospect of amping up our team's capacity to do more research and evaluation work. We need more capacity to achieve our long-term goals. I'm also looking forward to learning more about all the AUI facilities, teams and staff. There is such talent across AUI. I'm really looking forward to supporting AUI's mission and vision however I can.

10. What's the best career advice you've ever received?

The details of our research work can get very wonky and filled with obfuscating jargon. A senior researcher once told me to remember to always be able to explain your research to a first grader. In other words, be clear and concise, and remember that communicating the findings in ways that underscore their importance to a general population is a critical step in the process of science.