September 2010 Scientist of the Month: Jameela Jafri

by Heather King

Jameela Jafri has just spotted a red-tailed hawk, calls out to the group, and raises her arms in triumph over her head.  “There it is!”  she shouts, and we all look into the sky to see the majestic bird of prey ride the thermals above us.  The ‘we’ is myself, Jameela, two other educators, and nine high school girls from Chicago’s inner city.  We are in Yellowstone National Park for the week, participating in the All Girls’ Expedition, a yearly program run by Project Exploration (PE), a non-profit organization dedicated to science education and outreach in the Chicago area.

Jameela has coordinated girls’ programs at PE since 2007, but her interest in science and science education began much earlier.   Her father, a medical technologist, and her mother, a math teacher, came to New York from Karachi, Pakistan in the 1970s and brought with them their passion for the natural world.  They passed this knowledge and passion on to Jameela and her sisters by taking them on camping and fishing trips while the girls were growing up.

Jameela felt as a child that she was meant to be a part of science, but didn’t do well on tests and was weeded out of science honors classes in middle school.  She also struggled with her identity as a first-generation American and a woman of color.  “I really needed encouragement, and someone to believe in me,” Jameela said of her middle school days.  She got that encouragement while enrolled in high school at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY.  The most influential experiences Jameela had were outside of the classroom, and included school camping trips and birding expeditions.  These experiences with her high school teachers reinforced her passion and curiosity for the natural world and inspired her to share that passion through education.

In 1997, Jameela graduated with a Batchelor’s degree in Biology and a minor in Anthropology from Barnard College (Columbia University), and in 1999 with a Master’s degree in secondary science education from Teachers College (Columbia University).  She taught science at several high schools, including the Masters School, where she created curriculum that is still being used today.  “It was such a privilege to give back to a place that had given so much to me,” said Jameela of her time teaching at the Masters School.

After teaching science in the United States for several years, Jameela lived in Damascus, Syria for sixteen months to accomplish a life-long dream of learning Arabic.  While there, she met educators and informally spoke with them about how science is taught in Syria.

In 2007, she returned to the United States and moved to Chicago, where she began working for Project Exploration.  Project Exploration was founded in 2000 by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and his wife, educator Gabrielle Lyon.  The mission statement of the organization is “to ensure that communities traditionally overlooked by science, such as minority youth and girls, have access to personalized experiences with scientists.”  PE acts as a bridge between local scientists and Chicago youth through after-school programs.  Scientists volunteer to design and execute lesson plans with the guidance of program coordinators like Jameela.  Since many PE programs are held weekly, the students involved become part of something larger, building lasting relationships with the program coordinators and scientists.

Perhaps because of her own experiences as a student, Jameela was very interested in how students’ after-school time complimented their time in the classroom, and understood the potential of afterschool programs like PE:  “The power of this format, with the scientists coming to give personalized lessons to the students after school, is that the lessons can be more hands-on and in-depth.  In addition, the lessons are informal, and once a scientist starts sharing about her personal challenges and triumphs, the students can see that this scientist is a real person, and that they could someday follow that same path.  The scientists can also learn about the students, and this turns the tables as if to say to the students ‘you’re just as interesting as I am.’”

Jameela began as the Girls’ Programs Coordinator and was promoted to Manager of Girls’ Programs after two years.  She and PE co-founder Gabrielle Lyon recently published an article about their work in the June 2010 issue of Afterschool Matters.

After three and a half years with PE, Jameela will be doing some scientific research of her own.  The seeds planted during her time in Syria have grown into a Fulbright fellowship to perform a case study on the teaching practices of a female science teacher in urban Damascus.  The study will address why science is important to Syrians culturally and socially, and what factors affect teaching practices in science.  “I’m interested in a cross-cultural understanding of how science is taught to youth, but I don’t think ultimately that we’re all that different.   I predict that many of the same factors that influence teaching and learning in the United States, such as race, gender, and economic status, will also influence teaching and learning in Syria,” says Jameela of her study.

I nominated Jameela for AWIS Scientist of the Month because she has been such a role model to me, and has inspired and encouraged me to become involved in my community and reach out to young women in the Chicago area.  Some of my first teaching experiences were through the PE programs, and she helped me expand my definition of a ‘scientist’ to see that there isn’t much separating me from a seventh-grade girl from the Chicago urban area; we both have a curiosity for the world around us, and we want to learn more about it.  We wish Jameela the best of luck during her time in Syria and beyond.

Learn more about Project Exploration.

To read the Jameela’s June 2010 article published in Afterschool Matters click here.

Nomination and article submitted by AWIS Chicago Staff Writer Heather King.  Ms. King is a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago.

*Know a scientist you think should be featured in an upcoming “Scientist of the Month” article?  Send nominations to Jessica Reimer.  Your nominee does not need to be an AWIS member or a woman, but should promote the advancement of women in science, technology, mathematics and engineering.

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