In these infographics and accompanying article, we gathered information from primary and secondary sources to summarize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine on different aspects of the environment.  We found that mother nature earned some points, but lost on others.  For example, here in New York, Columbia University measured a 50% reduction in carbon monoxide emissions.  But, medical waste quadrupled due to the increased use of disposable PPE and other contaminated biomedical solid waste. 

In the article, I was cited as follows:
"One of the things that we can learn from the pandemic’s effects on the environment is that we CAN actually have an impact if there were a global effort to do so.  It is inspiring how in cities that had extreme levels of air pollution, from Los Angeles to New Delhi, people are seeing the difference that cleaner air can make to quality of life if we could reduce the number of cars and emissions from polluting industries.  Another lesson will be the realization of how productive many workers can be while working from home when they are given the proper tools. Many companies will see the value of having at least some workers work from home, reducing the need for commuting and also reducing the office space needed to conduct business." 

See the full article with the beautiful interactive infographics and the list of sources including other scientists and business leaders who contributed Here. 

ABSTRACT
Aims
In current clinical practice, prenatal alcohol exposure is usually assessed by interviewing the pregnant woman. An alternative method for detecting alcohol use is to measure the biomarker carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT). However, few studies measure CDT during pregnancy. This study examines the utility of CDT biomarker in the screening of alcohol exposure during early pregnancy.
Methods
A cohort of 91, first-trimester pregnant women assigned to a public reference maternity hospital, was screened using the Green Page (GP) questionnaire, an environmental exposure tool. CDT levels and other biomarkers of alcohol use were measured and compared with questionnaire data.
Results
About 70% of the mothers in the study consumed alcohol during early pregnancy and 22% met high-risk criteria for prenatal exposure to alcohol. CDT measurement showed a statistically significant area under the receiver operating characteristic curve with a value of 0.70. For a value of 0.95% of CDT, a specificity of 93% was observed. The most significant predictors of CDT were the number of binge drinking episodes, women’s body mass index and European white race.

Conclusion
Pregnant women with a CDT value >0.95% would be good candidates for the performance of the GP questionnaire during early pregnancy in order to detect potential high-risk pregnancy due to alcohol exposure.

Mothers who use beauty products containing chemicals known as parabens during pregnancy may be more likely to have overweight daughters, a small study suggests.
Babies tended to be heavier at birth, and more likely to become overweight by age 8, when mothers used makeup, lotions and other common beauty products containing parabens while pregnant, the study found. One of these chemicals, butylparaben, was associated with excess weight only in girls.

Even so, it makes sense for pregnant women to check product labels and steer clear of beauty items containing parabens, said Luz Claudio, an environmental health researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.

“The significance of this finding cannot be underestimated because girls and women typically used more personal care products and cosmetics containing parabens than do boys and men,” Claudio said. “Thus, this effect of early exposure to parabens in females could potentially continue to increase as they grow and use even more of these products, potentially affecting the next generation of girls.”

Read the full article at: Reuters, WebMD, Medscape 
Read the original research paper from Nature

Previous research shows that environmental and social factors contribute to the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  Many questions arise from these observations, including: Are there particular air pollutants that may contribute to ADHD?  How does exposure to air pollutants interact with socioeconomic factors?  Can you see this effect in very young children before a definitive diagnosis of ADHD can be determined?

We set out to determine the relationship between early-life exposure to common ambient air pollutants (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, also known as BTEX), household material hardship (a measure of socio-economic status), and ADHD-suggestive behaviours in kindergarten-age children.  We chose to assess BTEX partly because these are air toxins that are known to potentially cause effects on the brain.
To do this, we used estimated pollutant exposure from the 2002 National Air Toxics Assessment at each child's residential ZIP code at enrollment.  These data were linked to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (which had been following 4650 children). Material hardship was assigned as a composite score of access to food, health care, and housing. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behaviours and activity in the classroom using a five-point Likert scale. Children with summary scores in the bottom decile were classified as displaying ADHD-suggestive behaviours. 
We showed that both, early life exposure to toxic chemicals in the ambient air and material hardship were independently associated with ADHD-suggestive behaviours at school entry.  
These associations were stronger in children who lived in urban areas. There was no evidence of interaction between early life BTEX exposure and material hardship, although the effects of BTEX exposure were slightly greater in magnitude among those with higher material hardship scores.
We concluded that children exposed to air toxics, material hardship, or both early in life are more likely to display signs of ADHD-suggestive behaviours as assessed by their kindergarten teachers. The associations between exposures to air pollution and to socio-economic hardship were observed in all children but were particularly strong in those living in urban areas.  This work adds to the evidence of the detrimental effects of exposure of air pollution on the developing brain.

I am Roberto F. Refeca, born in Habana, Cuba, on September 30, 1973, to Olga and Roberto J. Refeca.  I am a college graduate with an MBA from the University of Miami, Miami, Florida and a Bachelor’s of Science (Biology, Chemistry) from Maryville University, St. Louis, Missouri.  I am a husband to Amy M. Refeca, and father to Sophia C. Refeca and Sammy Refeca.  Lastly, Currently I’m working in the field of Regulatory Affairs. I’m the Director, Regulatory Affairs at Clinical Genomics, Inc., a company focused on the early detection of Colorectal Cancer (CRC). 
I should explain this now, as it can get very confusing for those that are not familiar with the term Regulatory Affairs.  For a company to place a medical device on the market and make it available for sale to the public, they must meet the requirements set forth by the US FDA.  The US-FDA regulates products according to the risk/potential risks that they may pose to the user, the risks are largely based on the intended use of the product and the functional attributes and characteristics of the product.  The core responsibility for the regulatory professional is to guide companies through this process.  Once the product is on the market/distributed, the RA professional also helps companies by interacting with the Regulatory Bodies to maintain the registrations current.  Often times the roles for RA professionals within organizations can vary by also including responsibilities for post market surveillance, labeling, and more.  I hope that provides some color to my role/profession. 
What defines you? 
My experiences and my environment define me.  I’m an immigrant to the United States, arrived in 1980.  A childhood in a lower middle-class environment in St. Louis, Missouri, with friends that took every opportunity to play sports and go fishing.  I had many nights of searching our area for lighted spaces where we could play stick ball and basketball, or head to a fishing spot (creeks, lakes, rivers).  It was not uncommon for my friends and I to sneak into gymnasiums after hours and on weekends to play basketball during the St. Louis Winters.  The fever for sports and fishing started early for me, participating in baseball in middle, high school, and college.  The love for the study of Biology came later and was fostered in high school by a couple great mentors Mr. Don McLain and a Mr. Charles Shepperd.  Once high school was completed, fast forward through a couple years of undergraduate study (Barry University, Miami, Florida, and then Florissant Valley Community College, St. Louis, Missouri) and then I found myself at Maryville University majoring in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry.  To gain additional experience in science, I started volunteering at the Center for the Study of Nervous System Injury (CSNI), Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, with John W. McDonald MD, Ph.D., during my junior year at Maryville.  John’s research interests were focused on mechanisms of oligodendrocyte death, specifically spinal cord injury.  While working with Dr. McDonald, it was not uncommon to find ourselves in the lab at 1-3am in the morning on the weekends and during the summer. 
In sports, there is god-given talent, and then there is that grind that happens when you work and you know that putting in that extra effort will often yield a positive outcome.  I saw this in John, a relentless pursuit with passion for the work that he was doing.  It became familiar for me to see this type of behavior that I was so used to being a part of in sports….I was applying it to my love for biology/science, and I saw others with the common approach. 
Dr. McDonald invited me the Fall of 1997 to a conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, right around the Halloween time of year.  It was here where I had my chanced encounter with a Luz Claudio, Ph.D., if I recall correctly it was during the lunch period when everyone was taking breaks from the conference when we met.   As part of our brief conversation Dr. Claudio welcomed me to apply to her summer internship program. I was awarded the opportunity to participate in the program that summer in 1998, in Dr. Luz’s lab at the Environmental Health Sciences Center, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York.  My work included trying to establish a cell culture model of the blood brain barrier using astrocytes and HUVEC (Human umbilical vein endothelial cells). 
After that summer I ended up in Miami, Florida.  After working as a baseball instructor at Red Berry’s baseball academy, I then started my professional working career (after being a college graduate) working at the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI), University of Miami School of Medicine.  The work was amazing, I was a part of the Human Islet Transplant team. In short, the program leaders were Camillo Ricordi, MD, Norma Kenyon, Ph.D., and Rodolfo Alejandro, MD.  Our focus was finding a cure for Type I diabetes via the transplantation of islets, the insulin producing cells within the pancreas.  My job was to isolate islets for transplant and for research from cadaver pancreas, it was not uncommon for the harvesting procedure to take 4-12 hours in the lab.  As part of the DRI program I was also able to experience technology related to the processing and harvesting whole bone marrow for transplant from cadaver bone marrow, and living donor iliac crest aspirates.  The science that was happening at the DRI was second to none, and I enjoyed every part of it. 
After working in science/the lab for a number of years at the DRI, I had thoughts of graduate school/focus on science.  It was always my dream to drive research to a clinical benefit in people.  I also started to yearn for a different challenge within science that would include more interaction in non-lab settings, getting closer to the interphase between research and clinical practice.  That lead me to my decision to pursue an MBA at the University of Miami, Miami, Florida.  After I finished the MBA program, I then took a job with Cordis Neurovascular in Miami, Florida which was a division of Johnson & Johnson.  It made more sense than what I knew at the time. 
 
How did you decide on this career path? 
This is a great question, I have not met a person yet in my career that by design ended up in the field of Regulatory Affairs (I’m sure that they are out there), most persons including myself end up in Regulatory Affairs in a “sideways” type of manner in that there are not many college programs that offer RA degrees.  I have had colleagues with undergraduate training in: science, engineering, communications, and graduate degrees such as MBA, MSc., Ph.D., JD.
What you like, don't like?
 What I love about my current role and the field of Regulatory Affairs.  It is very broad: I’m at the forefront of a technology/science in bringing new things to market and it also requires me to communicate effectively with a broad group of persons/groups within my organization.  Regulatory Affairs also requires me to communicate effectively with persons outside of my organization which can be customers to the business and regulators globally.  It is common for me to have routine conversations with: sales, marketing, operations/manufacturing, research & development, legal, and finance/accounting.   
In my various roles I have interacted with a very diverse group of professionals in all of the global markets, the professional relationships that I still keep today are priceless.  And because my roles have been global in nature, I’ve had the chance to interact with regulators from around the world including: Canada, EU-Notified Bodies, Mexico, Costa Rica, Australia, and of course our US-FDA.  In today’s world, business is global and regulatory is a key partner to any company’s global success whether it be the introduction of new products or maintaining products in existing markets.   
 
What do you wish you had known before you embarked in your career? 
In hind sight, I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have started earlier in the field of Regulatory Affairs….but that is only a brief thought, I enjoyed my time in research too much: Washington University School of Medicine (Study of Nervous System Injury); Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (Environmental Health Sciences Center); and the University of Miami, School of Medicine (Diabetes Research Institute), Miami, Florida.  The places, people, and experiences, I’m thankful for each.

What would you advise others thinking of similar career paths?
With regards to the field of Regulatory Affairs, my belief is that it is helpful to bring a skill set to the profession (science, technology, engineering, math) and that one of the most important attributes is to have good interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate effectively (verbally and in writing). 
 
What have been some of your biggest obstacles and how have you overcome them?
Myself.  We often get in our own way by over analyzing things or lacking self confidence.  The way to overcome is to take chances, and if things don’t workout you re-direct.  I believe this is a key to life and to success.  Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, acknowledge it, own it and move on.  If you miss “acknowledging” it, I believe this can be a detriment to leadership and slow your development. 
Don’t pass up opportunities, take chances! 
 
How has your background, gender, race, or any other aspects of yourself been an asset?
The fire inside of me comes from my background, gender, race.  Being an immigrant to the United States, which I believe is truly a place of opportunity whereby you can own your trajectory…what was instilled in me since being a very young boy is that I was different and that I had to work, work, work to have access to the things I wanted.  In sports, in school, in my work, I was raised to not be outworked.  I have learned in sports and in my profession that hard work does not always immediately yield what you expect, but if you keep at it…the model stands up and the results are there. 
This approach is common in sports and has a common thread in life with work and relationships.   
Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri my parents and family, we routinely spoke Spanish in stores, around town which was not as common in the early 1980’s compared to today.  We would get funny looks at times. This language skill that I did not think much of in my childhood also had a significant impact on my professional development when I entered the field of Regulatory Affairs.  English is the global language for business, however, when I interacted with my colleagues in Latin America being able to read and speak, and write Spanish was a huge asset.  The best part was that I routinely take the opportunity to work on my Spanish while my international colleagues use the opportunity to work on their English. 
 
Overall, I’ve had the kinds of experiences that any ethnic minority has in the United States.  I can say with certainty that the eyes and ears of your colleagues and bosses are blinded to your differences when you bring value and success to the work.
 
I am very thankful for the persons that I have shared my career with, very thankful and humbled by my experiences.

Along with greening up our living rooms and workspaces, houseplants have been shown to elevate mood, sharpen mental focus, and even boost productivity. Plants are also hyped as being all-natural indoor air purifiers, cleaning the air and sucking up airborne toxins that make us sneeze, wheeze, and develop cancer — well, that’s what an infamous 1989 NASA study led us to believe, anyway.
The reality: Potted plants don’t work like living HVAC devices, neutralizing nasty chemicals to help us breathe easy. It would be awesome if that were true, but experts today say it’s simply a myth. Despite what old research implied, houseplants have very little if any impact on indoor air quality.
According to Luz Claudio, Ph.D., an environmental medicine and public health scientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, common houseplants can indeed draw certain VOCs out of the air — but the degree to which they do so is negligible. “The amount that houseplants may reduce chemicals in a real-world environment is likely not enough to have a noticeable impact on human health,” she says.

People in all kinds of careers would benefit from having mentors.  But it can be difficult to ask someone if they can be your mentor because it can be intimidating, you don't know who to ask, or you don't know how to ask.  
In this article, 27 experts in various industries, including science, business, and finance, give tips and recommendations on how to ask someone to be your mentor.  My advice was: 
Be prepared to answer some questions
I’ve had students ask me to be their mentor just because someone else told them that it would be a good idea. Whether the person who recommended me was another student or even the person’s academic adviser, the potential mentee must be prepared to answer the question – Why?
Your answer should include why you are seeking a mentor at this time? Are you moving to a different department and need advice about that? Is there a particular reason why you are seeking me specifically as a mentor?
Answering the question -Why?- will help clarify the goals of the mentorship.
What kind of advice you are looking for?
Do you need advice on career advancement? Are you looking for someone to help you with a particular research methodology? Are you looking for someone to take a look at your resume to see if you are ready for a promotion?
The more specific you can be in the “What?” the more prepared you will be to know whether you are getting what you need from the mentoring relationship.
Think of how the mentoring relationship will progress
Will you meet in person, by phone, online? Will you check-in once a month or as needed? Will you meet at the office, for a coffee? The How of the mentoring process should be negotiated and should be open to change depending on need.
However, some programs require that students meet with their mentors regularly; therefore, I need to know that in advance, to determine whether I can serve the mentee in the way they need."
So, think about these three questions, the WHY you want this person to be your mentor; the WHAT you want this person to mentor you on and what would be the expected outcomes; and the HOW you want them to mentor you.  

Advice from the other 26 experts included:

• Be appreciative of their time. Thank the mentor is small but meaningful ways.
• Outline a plan for the mentorship and discuss it with your mentor.
• Do your homework, don't expect the mentor to do it for you.
• Give back, don't just take.  
• Stay committed to the mentor relationship.  Showing lack of interest, will undermine it.  

 To download my Checklist for First Meeting with New Mentor go HERE.
Previous blog posts on this topic can be found HERE.

Someone gave me a T-shirt that says “#GirlBoss” on it.  It's cute, but I never wear it.  All I knew is that it’s a trendy hashtag on Twitter.  But what does it mean really to be a girl who is a boss?
I was recently asked this questions for an interview, so I had to come up with something.  Now that I've had time to reflect, to me, it means being in control of yourself.  To be able to decide to do something, then actually do it.  And to feel the fear, but not be afraid.  Being a GirlBoss is to be the boss of you, before being the boss of anyone else. 
In this interview, 12 influential Latinas were asked to offer tips to other Latina women about becoming a GirlBoss.  Here is my response:
     “If you speak Spanish and English, let it be known. Add it as an important skill in your resume. Step up to translate in your workplace when a Spanish-speaking client needs assistance. Offer to lead outreach to Latinx communities at your organization. Be the go-to person at your industry for everything Latinx. Realize that your language and your culture ARE part of your unique skills that make you a valuable employee or girl boss. Flaunt it and others will start to see the value in your dual language and culture.”
To read the responses of the other 11 influential Latinas, click the button below.

Halloween is a time to celebrate everything scary.  We laugh at witches and ghosts and dress up as the Addams family.  But what do we do when real fear holds us back from achieving our greatest potential?
I have mentored hundreds of graduate and medical students, most of whom are underrepresented minorities.  We get into in-depth conversations about their career choices and the opportunities and the obstacles that stand in their way.  Some common patterns emerge, including fears.  Fear can be healthy.  It can keep us from harm.  But fear can also be paralyzing.  As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 
Below are some of the fears that I have found most commonly in my students and some of my advice to them:     
Fear of making the wrong decision:  I would say that this is their fear numero uno!  Many of my students are already deep into a career path.  They are already out of college; most of them have already graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the sciences.  Now they are deciding what to do next.  They ask things like “Should I go to med school?” “Master’s program?” “Ph.D.?” and worst of all, they ask; “Did I make a mistake choosing my major in college?”  They have so many choices in front of them that, as if it weren’t hard enough, they second-guess choices they no longer have because those choices were made in the past.Too many choices can paralyze a person with indecision because the fear of making the “wrong” decision is too strong.  In his book  The Paradox of Choice, psychologist  Barry Schwartz argues that too many choices create anxiety.  He recommends a systematic approach toward making a choice that involves six steps. Some helpful choice-making steps from this book that students can apply to make their career decisions are:

1. Figure out your goals: For students, confronting their fear of making the wrong decision can mean asking themselves: What do I really want for myself?  This can take the form of exploring their values and beliefs about what is important in their life.  Stepping back to thinking about your life goals can help clarify your career path.
2. Evaluate the importance of each goal: I take this to mean that you accept that you won’t get it all, so figure out what you really can’t live without.  This is a good way to face this fear by already accepting the fact that whatever path you choose, it will not be perfect. This can be a way to narrow things down to what’s most important to you.
3. Ask yourself if the options are likely to meet your goals: Would the career paths that you are considering get you closer to achieving your most important goals? 
4. Pick your option, make a decision: Sometimes, not making a decision is in itself a decision.  I have seen this lack of decision-making play out on many occasions with students that continue on to a master’s program out of inertia.  They continue to study as a holding pattern for their indecision.  I advise that if you choose to continue your graduate studies, make it a conscious decision, not something you end up doing by default.  Once you’ve made a decision on your career path, give it your all.  Second-guessing your choice is as damaging as making the “wrong” decision.  This is because, in your mind, you can imagine the choice you didn’t pick as if it would have been wonderful, which in turn will make you miserable.  Instead, think of the choice you didn’t select as a choice that could have been unsatisfying for you.  Banish the ghosts of the paths you did not take and revel in where you are now headed instead. 
5. Modify goals: Goals, like fears, are all in your head.  You can change them to be anything you want.  So, use your superpower.  Change your goals if the ones you had before no longer fit your career path. 

FOMO: Yes. Fear of missing out is a big one for my students.  This one is about fearing that the career path they didn’t choose is more: fun, lucrative, fulfilling, etc. than the one they chose.  This fear is intensified when they view posts on social media or messages from people who did choose that other career path.
As we all know, the day-to-day of any career is much less glamorous in reality than it seems on social media.  But my students still fear that other friends or classmates have it better than them because they seem to have made a better choice. 
To alleviate this fear, I have told students to look at their own social media postings.  Did they post any pictures of the all-nighter they pulled to create a poster for a presentation or did they only post a picture of themselves in front of the poster after it was done?  Did they post pictures of themselves working for 12 hours in front of the computer, or a picture of themselves receiving the diploma after their dissertation was accepted? 
Just in the same way, what their friends post on social media is not always an accurate representation of the hard work and determination it takes to actually achieve a successful career.  Who knows, there’s probably someone out there having a major case of FOMO over the life they think you have. ;)
 
Fear of disappointment: Many students I see have a fear of disappointing others.  Even students who are far into their career experiences want to please their parents, teachers, and mentors and make them proud.  For some, this means that they have to pursue a career as a medical doctor because this is something their parents want or expect.  Choosing another career path can seem like a terrible disappointment that no good son or daughter would want to impose on their parents.
I try to help students understand two things. First, that it is their own life they are living, not their parents’ lives.   Second, I try to reassure my students that their parents will understand (eventually) if they take the “disappointing” career path, as long as they do well in what they choose. However, I must admit that sometimes this is not exactly the case. Some parents are really vested in their children’s career choices and others not so much.  I’ve had parents call me and tell me how important it is for their child to go to medical school, and have even received a threatening letter when a student was not accepted into my program.  I try to explain to these parents that the alternative is worse.  Who hasn’t met someone who is miserable in their profession?  I bet many of them are miserable because they pursued the profession that their parents chose for them.
A healthier approach to this fear could be having a heart-to-heart conversation with your parents.  I know that it can be super scary.  But it beats a lifetime of trying to live someone else’s life.  Most parents wish a life of fulfillment and happiness for their children.  We parents need to understand that sometimes, the career we set out for our children is not the path they can or want to take.

Test Anxiety: Apparently, this is a real thing.  Many of my students can know a subject very well, be able to do everything correctly in class, explain all concepts perfectly, and be as sharp and smart as can be.  But, when it comes to testing, (especially standardized tests), they fail to show that same brilliance.  I have seen students study a whole year to take the GRE then not show up on the day of the exam.  I’ve also had several students who, while trying to get into medical school, take the MCAT over and over again, only to get worse scores every time they take it.  Putting the issues with standardized testing aside, test anxiety can be a real paralyzing fear for some students. 
Of course, feeling some worry and even some fear about taking an important test is normal, and may even be beneficial.  That little void at the pit of your stomach can be a good motivator.  But when that feeling becomes real cold-sweated fear and doesn’t let you show what you know on a test, that is test anxiety.
According to the Mayo Clinic, these are some of the things you can do to alleviate test anxiety:

1. Learn how to study efficiently. We teach students the materials they need to learn, but we rarely teach them how to learn.  This is something that most students have to research and learn on their own. Do what you need to do to learn how to learn for your own particular situation and style.    
2. Study early. Some of us only get motivated to do something unpleasant when there is a looming deadline.  One solution may be to create a personal deadline.  I had a friend who would prepare for an exam one week in advance in order to feel confident enough to take the test.  Although this technique requires one to be decisive about meeting a self-imposed fictitious deadline, it worked to alleviate my friend’s test anxiety. 
3. Establish a consistent pretest routine. I like having a consistent routine for doing hard stuff.  This can be anything that will make you feel more confident and relaxed.  For example, I used to walk to school a couple of miles every morning.  But during test days, my Mom would take me to school.  This helped me feel more relaxed since I did not have to rush to school.  For you, a pretest routine could be having a warm bath, or a particular breakfast, or dancing to an uplifting beat.  Anything that you can do as a ritual or routine to lower the stress before test-taking can be hugely helpful.
4. Learn relaxation techniques. Meditation, mindfulness, and breathing techniques have helped me with my fear of public speaking. I am sure that they can also help students with test anxiety.  There are podcasts, apps, classes, and many other resources.  Remember that meditation is not something that you do once, it is a practice.  The more you do it, the easier it will be to call upon that skill when you need it during stressful situations like taking a test. 
5. See a professional counselor, if necessary. Of course, if nothing else works and this fear is interfering with your success, you should seek professional help.  

 
Lack of Fear of Student Debt: Interestingly, not so many of my students have expressed financial fears, even though most of them have student loans that are, to me, horrifying.  Most don’t mention their student loans unless I ask, which is scary in itself because I think that many students don’t want to face their financial situation.  This denial of fear allows them to borrow more money, but at what cost?!   I would argue that denial of fear also has its consequences.  Having some degree of fear of student debt is be a healthier approach to career decision-making.
Helping our students face their fears, address the ones that block their path to success, and face the real obstacles that can truly derail them is part of our job as mentors.  Students, you are not alone in your fears.  Being open about your fears and having a plan for dealing with them will set you free.
Happy Halloween! 

As scientists, we are used to giving seminars, presentations, and speeches to different audiences.  For some people, it is easy.  For others like me, it is the stuff nightmares are made of.  But no audience is more challenging than a group of children.  If you don’t catch their attention quickly and retain it, you are doomed.  I have seen colleagues who are brilliant tenured professors in their jobs, have epic fails when presenting to a classroom full of schoolchildren.  I know, I’ve been one of the epic fails.
And the thing is, there is an increasing need for engaging children in doing science.  To have a more diverse and dynamic scientific workforce, children need to be exposed to role models early and often.  They need to see what it might be like for them to be a scientist, that there are scientists who look like them, and that science is, well, awesome!
Here are five quick tips to keep in mind whenever you have an eager and demanding audience of children for your presentation, whether your presentation is on national TV or at your child’s school. 

• They will ask you surprising questions, answer them – Once, I went to a school to make a career day presentation hauling a microscope, boxes of slides, microscopy oils, camera attachment, and dressed in my crisp but ill-fitting lab coat.  After setting everything up in the classroom, dropping the slides a bunch of times, and discovering that I forgot to bring the adapter for the camera, the children got a chance to see some microscopic slides.  Then, it was time for questions.  Some of the questions they asked: “Where did you get your shoes?” “How did you get here by car or subway?” “How much money do you make?” “Can I eat tons of candy and still be healthy?” “What is the most faraway place on earth?” “Why rotting things smell so bad?”.  My answers: “On 8th Street, The #6 Subway, Enough, No, Depends where you are, Because of bacteria that decompose the rotting things, like the bacteria we looked at in this microscope…”

The children will have surprising, off-topic, personal, and even inappropriate questions to ask you.  It is their job to make us uncomfortable and try to take control of the situation, but they also have genuine curiosity.  And, when it comes to science, children have very different perceptions of what that is, and of what a scientist does.  So take it in stride, answer their questions as crazy as they may seem, and try if possible to stir the conversation back to the topic at hand. ​

• Ask them questions – During your presentations to children, and when trying to answer their questions, see if you can turn it around and ask them questions?  Frequently, children will come up with the answers on their own when prompted in the right direction with open-ended questions that make them think and ponder. The key is not to dismiss their answers outright.    Go with it and see where the discussion takes you.  Sometimes they will come up with far-fetched ideas.  Other times, they will come up with the right answer, just expressed in a different way.  It’s fun to see their minds working, their little gears turning until they have their own aha moment.

I also use the time asking them questions to buy myself some time while I think of an answer to a question that is off-topic to try to get the conversation back on track.  For example, I was doing a TV interview about my career as an environmental health scientist.  At the end, I was asked to read questions asked by children.  One of the questions was, “How useful would you be in a zombie apocalypse?”.  I know nothing about this.  Apparently, it has to do with a TV horror show?  I have no idea.  So I asked a series of questions about “What kind of zombies are they?”.  I asked questions about these hypothetical zombies until I found a way to get back to the topic – my career as an environmental health scientist.  Although it was a little convoluted, I finally got there, and it was a big hit!  Judge for yourself here: https://youtu.be/4xyNrobkO2s

• Do not be condescending – This is a big one.  When you act or say things to show that you are superior, smarter, and more experienced than the children – that is condescending.  Children can pick up on our condescending tone or attitude like fresh meat in a tank full of sharks.  And they will be perplexed, hurt, mortified.  They will tune you out, or worse. 

 
One of the most cringe-worthy videos that I have ever seen online is the one of Senator Dianne Feinstein talking to a group of young climate activists.  Agh!  The video has everything: interrupting the children, the “I have 30 years of experience,” dismissive comments, and, gasp! Telling a girl of color to “take that back to whoever sent you here”  Even the senator’s body language, with her arms crossed and literally talking down to the children is the very definition of condescending.  It’s as hard to watch as a terrible car crash. Ugh!
 
The looks of disappointment, frustration, and sadness on the children’s faces is just heartbreaking.  You don’t want to break children’s hearts, do you?  If you can stomach watching this video to the end, remember it next time you are talking to children about science or any other topic.  Let it be a cautionary tale of what not to do.  Believe me, I know.  I may have done something like this in the past, especially before I had children.  Thankfully, it was not caught on tape, but now I know better.  There is no excuse for treating children like this.
 
Instead of a condescending attitude, try to remind yourself of what you are there to do.  You should not expect that the children will learn all that there is to know about your topic from that one presentation.  Your purpose is to encourage their curiosity and to leave them inspired.  Remember that.  See the infamous video here: https://youtu.be/jEPo34LCss8
 

• Get into it – It is not necessary to act like a clown, be excessively animated, or try to string a bunch of inauthentic jokes into your presentation.  Some of the most effective presentations for children that I have seen given by scientists have been serious.  But the presenters are passionate and genuine. 

 
When you are the real you, it is palpable.  If you love your career in science, this will naturally show through your presentation, whether you are funny or serious.  One way to get yourself into it is to start your presentation by saying something about that moment.  Offering a comment about the nice room where you are giving the presentation, or the weather, or anything that is happening in the now, will get you in touch with yourself at that moment and help you feel more present.
 
In my presentations, I just try to let my real personality show and be authentic.  Even if that gets me off the script a little bit, it helps me to get into it and enjoy giving the presentation.
 

• Keep it simple, but don’t dumb it down – Yes.  These are two very different things.  As Einstein is credited in saying, “Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I know, your science is very complex. It takes a rocket scientist to understand it because perhaps you are a rocket scientist.  But believe me, there’s always a way to distill your concepts to the essentials. 

 
There is a whole field of study on communicating science to the general public.  Sometimes, it is not so easy to do.  Use any tools that may help you visualize and explain your concepts.  Can you use analogies?  Can you create an infographic?  Can you make a diagram or use props to illustrate your ideas?  Think creatively.  The act of simplifying your content to its core will also help you in generating new ideas and seeing your science with a different perspective.  It is worth also doing this when you are presenting to diverse audiences that are not in your field, and even for grant proposals. 
 
We have studied how groups of lay audiences, such as study participants, can gain increased knowledge when complex information is presented in simple but impactful formats.  Here is one of our studies in this area: https://www.drluzclaudio.com/uploads/2/6/2/6/26264188/claudio_et_al_communicating_environmental_health.pdf
 
And above all, do not reject invitations to speak at your local elementary schools as unimportant or a waste of your time.  You never know if you will spark an idea in a young mind.  This happened to me as a young person.  The first time I met an actual working scientist, I was in 12th grade.  It was the US energy crisis, and scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory came to my school in Puerto Rico to teach us how to save energy.  I will never forget the scientist’s presentation in which he asked: Which razor saves more energy to the country, the electric razor, or the disposable blade?  That was it!  I was hooked on science.