From Cheerleader to Citizen Science Leader: Meet Darlene Cavalier
As part of our STEM leadership series, we are proud to feature Darlene Cavalier.
Tell us about your journey.
I’m Darlene Cavalier, founder of SciStarter.org, Science Cheerleaders, Inc., and ECAST Network.org, as well as a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University. I appreciate this opportunity to share my journey into citizen science.
Like many career paths, mine has been full of unexpected turns. I grew up in a working-class town, where my passion for dance shaped much of my early life. Through a combination of Pell Grants and income from teaching dance, I earned my degree in communications from Temple University. I was also a cheerleader for the football and basketball teams at the university. In my senior year, I was selected for the inaugural dance team of the Philadelphia 76ers. Such fun!
After graduating during a difficult job market, I took a part-time mail-room position at a small company near my home in Bucks County, PA, which managed educational programs and external programs for major clients, including Discover Magazine. That role led to an unexpected introduction to science. As I advanced to editing Discover’s Educator’s Guides, I developed a deeper interest in science through exposure to the magazine’s content and its network of award-winning scientists through the Discover Magazine Awards for Technological Innovation.
When Discover was acquired by Disney, I was asked to help manage the Awards program and transitioned to New York City where after a few short years I became Executive Director of the Discover Awards, a major event at Disney World featuring a public expo, a televised awards program, and a special edition of the magazine reaching over seven million readers. This experience sparked a key question for me: How can people without formal science degrees play a role in scientific progress?
To explore this, I pursued a Master’s in Liberal Arts at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on science policy, public engagement, and education. My research led me to the growing world of citizen science—volunteers contributing to scientific research in fields like astronomy, environmental science, heath and medicine etc. However, I noticed that opportunities were fragmented and difficult to access.
This realization led me to create Science Cheerleader, which was a simple blog on WordPress where I started organizing citizen science projects, making them searchable for the public, and inviting people to add those they were aware of. This evolved into SciStarter, a global hub connecting people with citizen science projects. Around the same time, I co-founded ECAST (Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology) to organize public forums that help government agencies, including NASA, make informed decisions.This was a result of when I was randomly assigned to write a paper on the rise and the fall of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), a congressional agency that once provided science policy advice. I focused on the success of Denmark’s incarnation of our shuttered OTA in that they engaged citizens in informed discussions before setting policies.
Meanwhile, due to my background and the name of my blog, an unexpected community emerged—professional cheerleaders with STEM careers. Recognizing the power of their stories, I founded Science Cheerleaders, Inc., a nonprofit that playfully challenges stereotypes, promotes citizen science, and inspires young women to pursue STEM careers.
Since then, SciStarter has grown into a leading citizen science platform with millions of users and over 210,000 registered members, backed by grants and service contracts. ECAST now operates in collaboration with Arizona State University, the Boston Museum of Science, and other partners. Science Cheerleaders continues to thrive under the leadership of the incredible women it represents.
Ten years ago, I joined Arizona State University as a Professor of Practice, where I continue my work in citizen science engagement. Last year, I became a Fellow at Southern Denmark University to help connect citizen science to their participatory science policy methods. On a personal note, the youngest of my four children, born just two months after I completed graduate school, is now a freshman at ASU—bringing my journey full circle…almost! I’m not done yet.
I’m honored to share my experiences and hope they inspire others to embrace unexpected opportunities and contribute to the world in meaningful ways.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in pursuing a career similar to yours?
I would advise people to trust the process, but only if you are pursuing what you’re interested in and can commit to it. Do what it takes to get your foot in the door (waitress, work in the mail room, etc).
Aim to support yourself (jobs lead to income, new skills, and new networks).
Be the problem solver (there’s always a solution and since there’s no shortage of problems, there’s always a need for new or better solutions).
I’ll add that most of the SciStarter team started as volunteers. They reached out to get involved as volunteers because of their interest in doing more in the realm of citizen science or because they wanted to build a science communications portfolio. So their blog posts and social media posts helped us, for example, while they were able to hone their skills and develop a portfolio. Their commitment and talents led to paid roles at SciStarter.
What drives your desire to contribute and make a difference?
Because I can! We all can! And because my mom (a single mom for most of my childhood), made sure my siblings and I volunteered, engaged in community activities, and gave back through frequent visits to the nursing home, singing in the church choir, making crafts for
fundraisers, delivering gifts to those in need, etc (when, it turns out, we were considered “those in need”).
If you could go back and advise your younger self, what would it be?
I’d probably say, “you were right to listen to your mom.”
How can GlobalMindED support STEM leaders like yourself in achieving your goals and advancing your aspirations?
GlobalMindED can share STEM sources like SciStarter.org. Create a free account and try out some projects near you. It can change your life. It will help science!
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