Kopo Oromeng '18, PhD candidate, shares recollections of OC and POC in STEM

Oromeng at GSA 2019 Conference

We're celebrating Juneteenth with a look at a few* Black women in science and medicine who began their careers at Oberlin.

Kopo Oromeng’18 (Economics and Geology)

MS in Hydrology, University of Delaware ’20
PhD candidate in Geography & Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware

At Oberlin: Oberlin gave me a very wholesome undergrad STEM experience. I learned to be the kind of scientist who interrogated social structures, wrote well, and engaged in community service. As a Bonner Scholar, I spent my time at the Oberlin Public Library working at the children’s desk. My position challenged me to make science fun for pre-k and first graders (which requires a lot of free toys and glitter), but I also noticed that many younger children of color at Oberlin struggled with reading and writing. As a double major in Economics, I took classes in Urban and Development economics along with Geology classes.

Advice: The first time I met a black female geologist was at the National Association of Black Geoscientists. She was an Obie and would later mentor me over a summer research internship at the University of Arizona. Seeing someone who looked like me excel in a STEM field validated my aspirations. My advice to current Oberlin students is to seek out alumni, connect with us, and we’ll meet you wherever you are because we’ve been there too.

We, of course, need more people of color in STEM now more than ever before. We need Black data and artificial intelligence scientists, physicists, marine biologists, mathematicians, and so many more scientists who can design systems that do not exclude people who look like us, and who will contribute to science that challenges the status quo and changes the way we understand the world.

--contributed by Kopo Oromeng at our invitation, with minor editing

*Please look for the other Black women in science and medicine we will profile this Juneteenth: Matilda A. Evans, MD;  Jé Judson, MPH; Lauren V. Wood, MD; in the Science Library's Instagram, Twitter and tumblr posts.  Thank you!
#oclcelebratesjuneteenth #ocjuneteenth #POC in STEM #BlacksInSTEM #Juneteenth2020