HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Darlene Cavalier is an American professor of practice at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society. She is the founder of SciStarter (a science portal and research platform), founder of Science Cheerleaders (a non profit organization consisting of current and former NFL, NBA and college cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers), cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology, and she led the ideation and a team of collaborators to develop ScienceNearMe.org to connect, promote and research all types of opportunities for the public to engage in science.


Biography

Cavalier (born Darlene Ebarb), is the sister of the late Mar Dixon, who created the popular #MuseumSelfie campaign to bring arts and culture to people from all walks of life. Cavalier earned a bachelor's degree from
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
and a master's degree from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
where she studied the role of the non formal scientists in science. She has served as a principal investigator on several awards from the federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and several private foundation grants. She is a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association, an Explorer and Fellow at National Geographic, She is the co-editor of ''The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science'', author of ''The Science of Cheerleading'', and co-author of ''The Field Guide to Citizen Science''. The book was translated into the
Kyrgyz language Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China and in the Gorno-Badak ...
in 2021. In 2024, Cavalier was honored with the Pop Warner Inspiration to Youth Award for her efforts in promoting STEM education for young women. This award recognizes leaders in sports who exemplify humanitarian principles through their voices and actions. In 2024, Cavalier was bestowed with the Wagner Institute of Science's annual Sip of Science Award for "sparking broad public engagement in science." In 2022, Cavalier was awarded the Arizona State University Medal for Social Embeddedness for her team's development of Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science. In 2016, Cavalier co-organized the Citizen Science Maker Summit, hosted by ASU. In 2017, Cavalier was appointed to the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
' Committee on Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning to identify and describe existing citizen science projects that support science learning in both formal and informal settings. The committee will develop a set of evidence-based principles to guide the design of citizen science. She is the founder of Science Cheerleaders, a non-profit organization of more than 300 current and former
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
and
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
cheerleaders pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math. They challenge stereotypes, inspire young women to consider
STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...
careers, and help people from all walks of life get involved in science. The organization plays on her former position as a cheerleader for the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...
basketball team. In 2012, Cavalier was the recipient of the Pop Warner Cheer Award. In 2013, the Science Cheerleaders partnered with the
Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...
organizations to lead the "world's largest cheerleading cheer," an event that was recognized by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
. The Science Cheerleaders have been featured on national and international media outlets] and serve as principal investigators in research projects including Project MERCCURI, a study of microbes on the International Space Station. In October 2020, SciStarter was featured on The Weather Channel and on Disney's ''Weird But True''. In December 2022, her work received the President of Arizona State University's Medal for Social Embeddedness. She was a senior advisor and contributor to
Discover Magazine ''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It is currently owned by LabX Media Group. History Founding ''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' magazine e ...
. She served on the steering committee of Science Debate 2008. Her writing has also appeared in science publications such as the
New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...
Magazine and Science Progress. The Science Cheerleaders were featured on the Today Show, CNN, Fox National Headline News, the Washington Post, and other media outlets.


References


External links


Science Cheerleader

SciStarter

Science Debate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavalier, Darlene American cheerleaders NBA cheerleaders Temple University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)