The Sensational Science Sisters™
Erika Baylor Jasmine Richardson
Erika and Jasmine are sisters who grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both earned their bachelor of science degrees from the first Historical Black College & University, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania; Erika majoring in Biology and Jasmine majoring in Chemistry.
Growing up these sisters were exposed and participated in many STEM activities that helped to shape them during their elementary and high school years. Some of their experiences included being active Girl Scout members, exploring the outdoors, kayaking, canoeing, dissecting living organisims, traveling adventurers to study science and many internships. These life experiences helped to guide them into their respective science fields.
Erika & Jasmine supported each other as they experienced some of the difficulties that women and black & brown people are subjected to within science. They wanted to use their experiences, positive and negative, to encourage other young boys and girls to believe in themselves. They hope that this book can be used as a motivational tool to inspire others who look like them to follow their dream.
We dedicate this book to our mother, Stephanie Brown, who always went out of her way to find activities for them to be exposed to within science, technology, engineering & math. She found a way to make summer fun and had hands-on experiences for us. She spent countless hours researching programs and driving us there. Jasmine recalled a game design program at Drexel University one summer, and an engineering program at Villanova University the following summer. Erika thought that her most memorable program growing up was kayaking around the San Juan Islands off of the coast of Seattle, Washington studying micro ecology in middle school. Our mother found some amazing programs for us based on our personalities and interests.