Patricia McDaniel, Ph.D, is the senior executive research scientist for chemistry at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Chemical-Biological Center.
Known as Trish to her colleagues, Patricia's expertise in chemical and explosive detection highlights the chilling security reality we face in our world.
As the senior research scientist of chemistry for the Army Futures Command CCDC, Trish develops cutting-edge technologies to detect and neutralize chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threats.
Her tireless efforts strive to keep soldiers and civilians safe from terrorism in a sometimes dark and often dangerous world. She is an ideal defender, using resilience and innovation to keep us safe.
According to Trish, a monolithic STEM community results in a single approach to multivariant problems. Multicultural experiences provide diverse perspectives on solving problems.
In her work developing chemical sensors to measure chemical composition, she flew in helicopters through dense smoke plumes to estimate the climate impacts of the burning Brazilian rainforest.
Working with a group of brilliant women at NASA prepared her to serve our nation in the Army Special Operations Office to develop new technologies.
These solutions later protected and saved the lives of our soldiers on the battlefield. That was for explosives and chemical warfare agent detection to combat terrorism.
Today, as the army senior chemist, Trish is fortunate to have mentored and continues to mentor women of color who are now emerging leaders in government labs. You can listen to the full speech (approx. 2:12:30 mark).
