Dr. Andrea Medina, director of grants and outreach for California State University, Bakersfield’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering, has been named the president of the Kern County Science Foundation for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Each year, the foundation supports several countywide projects in the realm of science, technology, math and engineering, including the annual Kern County Science Fair, which is affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair and allows winning students to move on to higher competition levels. Other events the foundation supports include Math Field Day, Physics Olympics, AP Math Competition, MATHCOUNTS and the Tech Trek summer camp.
It also provides scholarships for graduating high school seniors pursuing STEM in college and mini grants for schools to implement innovative STEM projects with their students, and it has discretionary funds to support new programs like the Kern Codes Programming Competition. The foundation is supported entirely by donations, both corporate and private.
Dr. Medina joined the board in 2016 and had served as its vice president since 2018 before being named its president. At CSUB, she helps fund and organize educational STEM programs for the university’s students as well as local K-12 students. She also oversees CSUB’s Fab Lab, where students and community members alike can take advantage of a plethora of fabrication tools.
“I am honored the board has faith in my ability to lead our efforts in STEM for the county,” Dr. Medina said. “Working at CSUB, I have seen firsthand the way early science education can plant the seeds for a brilliant academic, and later professional, career in STEM fields. Getting kids interested in science at a young age can completely transform their lives, and I’m so happy to get to be a part of that.”
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