From Science Exhibits to Scientist at Clorox: Mikayla Barry’s STEM Journey

Mikayla Barry, a product development scientist working at Clorox, has been doing science outreach with the CRS BASIS program since 2021, teaching elementary students about the power of microorganisms.

Her lifelong interest in STEM began with scientists in the classroom, and now, she visits curious students who will be tomorrow's scientists.

What was your pathway into your current role with Clorox?

My path started as a very curious kid in Texas who was absolutely fascinated by the natural world. I wanted to understand how everything worked, from how plants grew to the ways that mountains were made. I was lucky to have parents who supported this curiosity enough to take me to science museums and let me do my own experiments at home. (I still had to clean up the messes though!)

When it came time for college, I decided to pursue biomedical engineering—a field that combines medicine with technology—thinking I wanted to eventually make artificial organs so people wouldn’t have to undergo heart, kidney, or other organ transplants. I was fortunate to get plugged into doing research early in my undergraduate career, which I absolutely loved. I now had a place where my curiosity could drive me to find answers that nobody else yet knew. I dedicated myself to developing and learning more about a material that would prevent blood clotting on medical implants, and in that process realized I wanted to do research like this in my day-to-day job.

So I moved to Santa Barbara, California, and began working on my Ph.D. in Materials Science. Here, I was able to focus on the ways that changing the chemistry of plastics allows us to control the interactions they have with other things. Small changes in chemistry could make membranes that are better for removing contaminants in drinking water or specialized ship coatings for stopping settlement of marine organisms. When I was finishing my degree, I saw that working at Clorox would allow me to leverage my knowledge of chemistry that I had developed over the last four years, as well as my passion for improving human health. It’s been a year now for me at Clorox, and it’s been great getting to make a difference in the world around me while doing something I find really fun.

Who or what inspires you to do science outreach?

For me, I’d say there are two major reasons I keep active in doing outreach, the first of which is that outreach serves as a great way togive back. I benefited so much from outreach when I was young, and all that effort showed to me just how fun science could be and simultaneously worth pursuing as a career.

The second reason is that outreach helps to center me as a working professional in STEM. The excitement I get from sharing science with curious kids (and seeing how much like them I was at their age) reminds me of the reasons I wanted to get involved in science, reigniting my passion for learning in my work. Outreach seems to have a unique ability to inspire both those teaching and those learning, and I love being able to be a part of it.

When I was a kid, getting to see so many people from different backgrounds all represented as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians made the field seem like a place where I could also fit in. Being able to now stand in as one of those representing women in science, I hope I can help to inspire others like me who may not necessarily fit the stereotype of a scientist.

- Mikayla Barry, Product Development Scientist at Clorox, Scientist Role Model with BASIS

How do you think your outreach activities with CRS support greater science education?

I would argue that learning about science requires participation in the scientific method—that is, doing experiments. It’s the hands-on approach to understanding that CRS outreach emphasizes that really portrays what science careers are about. My hope is that connecting a science lesson to its application helps children understand that science is ultimately taking learning into your own hands in a very tangible way. For curious kids, this could open up major interest in science as a career path.

What is your favorite part about doing science outreach?

It’s hard to take an exact moment or type of outreach, but I absolutely love getting to visit classrooms and do science experiments with the children there. For me, it’s a concrete way to tie in book education to real-life examples, and the extended time helps the children to get to know me more than if we were only doing short demos. I also really like the moment where I walk in wearing my rainbow lab coat—as soon as the kids see that, they know the day’s going to be fun.

Thank you, Mikayla for being a valued member of our scientist role model community! We look forward to visiting, celebrating, and sharing more of your science outreach adventures in a classroom soon!

The mission of CRS is to empower teachers and STEM professionals serving schools in historically marginalized communities to activate TK-8 students’ curiosity about the world, foster critical thinking, and inspire children to imagine future career pathways. We envision a community of educators, scientists, families and partners working together to build school cultures that equip all children to explore the world around them and build the skills needed to become innovators, problem solvers, environmental stewards, life-long learners and leaders. CRS leads a dynamic network, fostering relationships and collaborations that leverage expertise and resources to transform science teaching and learning toward greater equity, opportunity, and success for all students.

Our goal is simple: help teachers give students more opportunities to “do science” – to ask questions, test ideas, get their hands on real science activities. We need to inspire the next generation of thinkers, makers, problem solvers, and leaders!