Growing up in a small town in Florida, Jessica Taylor became familiar with the sounds of sonic booms echoing from nearby NASA launches. At the time, she had no idea she would one day grow up to be part of the NASA team.

Taylor said she always enjoyed science and mathematics in school, but with few female STEM role models, she didn’t receive any encouragement of the possibility of a career in STEM.

When she entered Florida State University, she decided to pursue degrees in both meteorology and finance. At that point in her education, Taylor never even considered the idea of graduate school or the steps needed to get there until a classmate approached her and told her of a graduate school opportunity with the Louis-Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge Fellowship.

Three semesters into the program, the funding for the fellowship program was pulled, and Taylor was left weighing her options. With no job or idea of how to finish school, she went to her meteorology professor for advice on what to do next.

“You ask a lot of questions about how people learn,” her professor answered. “Why don’t you try taking courses in education?”

The redirection of her graduate degree led her to shift her master’s work toward science education.

“I felt like I had finally found myself a path for combining my love for science with my interest in education,” said Taylor. “It finally just seemed ‘right.’”

Following the completion of her graduate degree, Taylor spent some time working at the Florida Department of Education in the federal program area for No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Under her supervision and leadership, the NCLB program worked directly with Title I low-income schools and districts to help underserved and underrepresented demographics.

The programs included supplemental educational services, school choice with transportation, and parental involvement. This position opened her eyes to different aspects of education and helped prepare her for her future career with NASA.

“Working with No Child Left Behind provided me with new insight into education,” Taylor said, reflecting on her experience. “I witnessed how schools could no longer hide their underserved and minority students with the numbers.”

When asked how she wound up working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Taylor chalks it up to pure luck and a lot of networking.

“Networking has been a huge part of being able to obtain opportunity,” said Taylor. “I moved to the area when my husband got a job with NASA and began meeting people. Through a contact, I found out that NASA Langley was looking for someone with experience with the GLOBE program, and I realized… that’s me! I really was at the right place at the right time.”

The GLOBE program helps combine science and education through NASA and grants students with opportunities to work on real science projects and collect data for NASA to use. Taylor had been a part of the program through her participation at Florida State University.

As she entered into this new opportunity, Taylor realized that all of her experiences with science and education had led her to this moment. Taylor currently serves as a physical scientist at NASA and as the lead for the Science Education Team. Her work with the Science Education Team is driven by her passion for bringing science opportunities to education, for both students and teachers.

The program does tremendous work by taking all of the Earth science information and developing materials for students and teachers through age-appropriate lessons, connection with NASA scientists like Taylor herself, and professional development for teachers. Beyond the Science Education Team, Taylor has been working with her NASA colleagues on role model training programs.

“It’s been our focus for the past three years,” Taylor said. “We work on effective strategies for engaging girls in STEM. I’ve worked with a number of groups in NASA. Sometimes they are coed groups, and sometimes the groups are all female.”

Through this work, Taylor has found that her biggest challenge is helping her NASA colleagues realize that they are, in fact, role models.

“I noticed that some of the employees didn’t self identify as a role model,” she said. “After a lot of reflection, I realized that the person looking up at you is the one to decide whether or not you are a role model. Wearing the NASA logo is a huge responsibility, and we should be proud of the opportunity to be seen as role models.”

Taylor understands the true importance of leadership, especially for women and people of color, to make a difference in the lives of girls that want to pursue degrees in STEM. She believes that children need a role model, inspiration, and encouragement throughout their education to fully succeed. In fact, she recognizes the women leaders she saw when she first started at NASA.

“The Director of Science and the Director of NASA Langley Center were both women,” she recalls. “Seeing women in leadership at NASA made a huge difference in my experience here.”

As for her future work with NASA, Taylor hopes to continue working to provide STEM role models for the next generation. She hopes to be able to help develop a community where STEM role models can interact with one another in a safe space to discuss approaches that work or don’t work in reaching youth.

“We do a great job at inspiring STEM, but there is always room for improvement in making sure we reach all students—all minority groups and students with disabilities,” said Taylor. “It’s always going to be a work in progress.”