Women in Science: A full-circle STEM moment

Kara Guthrie paid more interest than usual when she saw the email pop up in her inbox with subject: “Coastal STEM Career Fair” last year. When she opened it and learned the event was “geared toward Middle & High School students from … Teen Centers through Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain…”, she knew she had to get involved.

Author: Christy Simmons

Kara Guthrie paid more interest than usual when she saw the email pop up in her inbox with subject: “Coastal STEM Career Fair” last year. When she opened it and learned the event was “geared toward Middle & High School students from… Teen Centers through Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain…”, she knew she had to get involved. Along with colleagues Rich Mahoney and Wayne Hall, Kara soon had a team signed up and ready to educate youth about extending a love for and interest in science into a career.

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Photo credit: NC Division of Coastal Management

“I have a long history with the Boys and Girls Club and thought this would be a great event to attend,” said Guthrie, an environmental specialist with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) in Morehead City. “I love science and getting to show/teach students in an environment that I was once familiar with, felt like a good step for DCM.”

The Division carries out the state's Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA), the Dredge and Fill Law and the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 in the 20 coastal counties. CAMA will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2024.

“CAMA isn’t always something people know about,” Guthrie continued. “This is a good opportunity to show children what they could be doing in the future.”