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Young girl who had the cops called on her for studying lanternflies wins a major award

“We were thrilled that she was doing that.”

Caldwell Police via Gregory Mascera

Body cam footage of the police approaching 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson and her mother.

On October 22, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was excited to go out into her Caldwell, New Jersey, neighborhood to see if a mixture she put together would be effective at killing spotted lanternflies. She had learned about the dangers that the lanternflies pose to the local tree population during the summer and created an insecticide that she learned about on TikTok.

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive species dangerous to trees because they feed on their sap.

“That’s her thing,” Wilson’s mother, Monique Joseph, told CNN. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.”

While Wilson was peacefully working on her sustainability experiment, her neighbor, Gordon Lawshe, called the police on her. “There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,” he said, according to CNN.

Lawshe told the dispatcher she was a “real tiny woman” and wearing a “hood.”

When the police arrived, they were calm and did their best not to upset the young girl. They assured Wilson and Joseph that they had done nothing wrong. But the mother couldn’t believe that the police were called on them by a neighbor they knew.

“Mr. Lawshe told Mrs. Joseph that had he known that it was her daughter that he had seen, he certainly would not have called the police. Mrs. Joseph did not accept Mr. Lawshe’s apology," Lawshe’s attorney, Gregory Mascera, told CNN.


Rebecca Epstein, the executive director of the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, says that the incident may have been an instance of “adultification bias” where young Black girls are treated like they are much older than white girls of the same age.

“It’s a very pervasive form of bias that does not know boundaries, in terms of which fields it occurs in. In emergency rooms, we’re seeing it affect the treatment and diagnosis of Black girls. In schools, we’re seeing it come up in the form of harsher and more frequent discipline against Black girls,” Epstein said in an interview with CNN.

The fact that a 9-year-old girl had the police called on her for any act is a depressing sign of the times in America. But thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. In the aftermath of the incident, a community of people stood up for Wilson and praised her for her dedication to sustainability.

A group of Black female scientists at Yale hosted Wilson and her family in November. She toured various laboratories and was invited to submit lanternfly specimens to the university's entomology department.

The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions honored Wilson with its Sustainability Award after it learned about her work with spotted lanternflies.

“We were thrilled that she was doing that,” Ann Marchioni of the ANJEC told the Daily Beast.

Wilson was given the award on Tuesday, December 6, and science communicator Jason Bittel was on hand to talk about spotted lanternflies and how he got into science writing.

“When I saw what happened with Bobbi, my heart immediately just sank," Bittel said, according to New Jersey Hills, "because what I saw in her I was doing as a young boy. We were celebrated, if anything, no one called the police on us or chided us in any way."

Bittel said that Wilson’s dreams could have been crushed the day the police were called on her. But the community stepped up to preserve her passion for science. To promote her interest in science, Bittel presented Wilson with a tub full of interactive materials and gave books to her mother so her daughter could learn more.

"When this incident originally happened, I had one goal. It was to change the trajectory of that day for Bobbi," Joseph said. "I can't say I've done it all myself. It wasn't just me, it was the community. … It was friends near and far that understood what happened."


This article originally appeared on 12.13.22

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Education & Information

No Field Trips? No Problem. How Teachers Are Taking Students on Adventures Without Leaving the Classroom

Via Verizon

Ms. Roque uses Verizon VR learning with her students

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Right before the pandemic, Rebecca Roque, a STEM teacher at Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM) Academy middle school, realized many of her students had never been to the beach—even though they live in Miami, FL.

“Many of our students come from low-income households,” said Roque. “So we thought, if they had never even been to the beach, because of lack of access to transportation or otherwise, there’s no way they’ve been outside of the U.S. So we wanted to find a way to expand their imagination and view of how big the world is.”

Since March 2020, when remote learning commenced, many students have struggled to stay engaged in their studies. Roque and millions of teachers across the country had to find ways to inspire creativity and get their students excited about education again. So Ms. Roque took them out of this world entirely—and into space—in virtual reality (VR).

Roque’s students began experimenting with Visceral Science, a VR app that allows students to virtually explore outer space in a multiplayer environment and learn how stars, gravity, and planetary orbits work. Through the immersive experience, her middle school students were also to grasp and visualize more difficult concepts, such as force and motion, energy conservation, and thermonuclear reactions.

“Being able to insert this gamification and learning experience into my curriculum was a game-changer, both in terms of teaching a hard subject and also with getting students excited to learn it,” said Roque. “Anything that takes kids into an immersive experience is the future of learning and I can’t wait to do more of it.”

Roque’s classroom had access to this technology and other innovative VR/AR learning apps as part of the Verizon Innovative Learning schools program. Since 2012, the program has equipped students and teachers at more than 500 Title I schools like SLAM Miami with technology, access, innovative learning programs, and professional development. The school this year also unveiled one of the first Verizon Innovative Learning Labs powered by 5G in the country—a space equipped with emerging technology like 3D printers, VR and AR devices, robotics and circuit-building supplies, powerful computers for model making, and 5G technology to help students get the most out of digital curricula.

Students Fabian and Kenneth use Mappers Delight to learn about different types of musicVia Verizon

It is stories like this one from Ms. Roque and her classroom that inspired Verizon to take the technology access provided by the Verizon Innovative Learning program to the next level and support more teachers who were grappling with the challenges of remote learning. The result is the launch of the Verizon Innovative Learning HQ education portal, a free online resource for educators that supplements existing lesson plans and gives them more access to next-gen digital tools to enhance the learning experience. The portal also features professional development courses aligned to research-backed micro-credentials.

Teams from Columbia University, New York University, Arizona State University, and other top institutions and nonprofits collaborated with Verizon to design sophisticated lessons that are easy to use, flexible and aligned with standards for integration into existing curricula. This all comes at a time when technology is experiencing a new renaissance of importance for today’s classrooms.

Students simulate how to fly a planeVia Verizon

Christopher Green is another teacher who is using the Verizon Innovative Learning HQ tools, lessons, and immersive technology to captivate students at home and bring lessons to life in the physical classroom at Jeremiah Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio, Texas.

When Mr. Green was a student, his U.S. history textbooks mostly featured white people. As a young man of color, he struggled to connect with the material. Now as a history teacher in San Antonio, Texas, he has the opportunity to show his students that Black and Brown people have made and continue to make history, too.

Green now uses the Verizon Innovative Learning HQ’s UNSUNG app to immerse his class in interactive stories that resonate and feel relevant to his tech-savvy students. Students don goggles to interact with Storybox, a maze of AR “rooms” that pop up on a desk or wall. Inside, 3D puzzles and short essay questions test students’ knowledge of U.S. history. The answers unlock additional rooms where the young people talk to the avatars of Black artists and activists who were instrumental in cultural movements like the Harlem Renaissance.

Through the app, Green’s students have conversed with icons like Ella Sheppard and Odetta Holmes to learn about their contributions to American history. Created by nonprofit Movers and Shakers NYC in collaboration with Verizon, the app’s content aligns with Common Core standards which makes it easy to integrate into existing curricula.

Green believes there are enormous academic benefits to integrating next-gen technologies like AR/VR into the classroom, especially for digitally native young people.

“One of the important things about using tech in the classroom is figuring out ways students can be creators and tell stories about themselves and their ancestors,” he said.

Though students are mostly back in person, teachers can still take advantage of Verizon Innovative Learning HQ to help bring more next-gen lessons to their classrooms, and unlock their own creativity and curiosity along the way.

“Access to technology makes students think bigger, dream bigger and it makes them the greatest resources in the classroom”, said Ms. Roque. “When you trust kids to take technology and run with it, you’d be surprised by the results and all that they can learn and the places they can go.

To learn more and sign up for a free teacher account, visit verizon.com/learning.

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Capital One Impact Initiative

This nonprofit empowers girls from underrepresented backgrounds to work in tech

Photo courtesy of Capital One
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Growing up in Virginia, Dominique Meeks Gombe idolized her family physician — a young Black woman who inspired Meeks Gombe to pursue her passion for chemistry.

While Meeks Gombe began her career working in an environmental chemistry lab, after observing multiple inefficient processes in and around the lab, she took the initiative to teach herself to code in order to automate and streamline those issues.

That sparked her love for coding and imminent career shift. Now a software engineer at Capital One, Meeks Gombe wants to be a similar role model to her childhood mentor and encourage girls to pursue any career they desire.

"I'm so passionate about technology because that's where the world is going," Meeks Gombe said. "All of today's problems will be solved using technology. So it's very important for me, as a Black woman, to be at the proverbial table with my unique perspective."

Since 2019, she and her fellow Capital One associates have partnered with the Capital One Coders program and Girls For A Change to teach coding fundamentals to middle school girls.

The nonprofit's mission is aimed at empowering Black girls in Central Virginia. The organization focuses on designing, leading, funding and implementing social change projects that tackle issues girls face in their own neighborhoods.

Girls For a Change is one of many local nonprofits that receive support from the Capital One Impact Initiative, which strives to close gaps in equity while helping people gain better access to economic and social opportunities. The initial $200 million, five-year national commitment aims to support growth in underserved communities as well as advance socioeconomic mobility.

Through the Capital One Coders program, girls can gain early access to computer science education which can directly inspire their confidence levels and interest in computer science.

In fact, a report from Code.org says that Black and Hispanic students who take computer science classes before college are seven times more likely to major in computer science.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Meeks Gombe helped to develop a virtual curriculum that included breakout rooms with custom games and quizzes. In her role as a lead teacher for Girls For A Change, Meeks Gombe's visibility as a Black technologist and leader is helping to create a lasting impact on her students.

"Just having girls see the variety of career opportunities led by people who look like them opens up that possibility. There's a connection made when girls see me in a role that they don't usually associate themselves with. I can't reach every girl, but I want them to know that they can do this," Meeks Gombe said.

Capital One Vice President of HR Technology, Maureen Jules-Perez echoed Meeks Gombe's perspective. For Jules-Perez, who served on the organization's board for a few years before becoming the new Board Chair of Girl's For a Change this year, the mission of the nonprofit parallels her motto of "Tech For Good" which uses tech to improve social, environmental, and economic outcomes. The organization's long-term programs give girls the option to see themselves as artists, entrepreneurs and technologists, among other career opportunities.

"I came from a similar background so I feel like I'm one of those girls," said Jules-Perez. "I know what it's like to have someone champion you, but also the opposite feeling of knowing someone who doesn't think you're worthy. I'm haunted by the thought that there's a Black girl or a person of color who doesn't feel seen or doesn't think the world wants them. Girls For A Change prepares Black girls for the world."

Beyond helping girls see their potential as future technologists, Girls For A Change's CEO Angela Patton is working hard on her action-oriented vision to help realize the unmet needs of all girls in Central Virginia.

Her focus is particularly on what she calls "at-promise" youth who have natural gifts and innate potential where their circumstances don't define their identities. For more than a decade, Patton has supported at-promise girls with incarcerated fathers through Dance With Dad, a rehabilitation program founded by a group of young girls who wanted to invite their jailed fathers into their lives on their own terms and define their futures. The girls, Patton explained, wrote to a police sheriff to allow them to hold a dance with their fathers in jail. More than a decade since the program began, not one of the fathers had been reincarcerated again.

"We're teaching girls to elevate their voices," said Patton. "We want them to experience the moment where they feel ownership and empowerment so that they can change their own lives."

Girls For A Change has partnered with Capital One since 2017 to connect girls with career and life opportunities for which they otherwise may not have access or insight.

Since the partnership began, Capital One has supported 15 different programs with Girls for A Change. Seven of these programs were Capital One Coders camps and nearly 80 Capital One Tech associates have supported Girls For A Change girls over the last few years through those programs.

"For some of the girls aging out of the Girls For A Change program, they had a chance to do mock interviews with Capital One associates and get feedback for entry-level positions," said Patton. "I love that I have resources to point my girls to so that they can have a chance at better outcomes."

All together, now: who runs the world?

GIRLS.

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Shaping Our Future Together
Equal Everywhere

This college student is inspiring a new generation of women in STEM

United Nations Foundation
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This story was originally shared on #EqualEverywhere — a campaign to champion the changemakers working to make equality for girls and women a reality. You can find the original story here.

Kritika Singh is a bioengineering and chemistry student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA who in 2014 founded Malaria Free World, an initiative promoting research and education about the epidemic. In 2017, she established Northeastern's Global Health Initiative (GHI) with support from faculty advisors. GHI is a student-led conference focused on public health issues around the world. Kritika is a recent Rhodes Scholarship awardee, a Truman Scholar, and a Goldwater Scholar.

What does #EqualEverywhere mean to you?
#EqualEverywhere means women and girls feel empowered to do whatever they want in whichever field(s) they want.

Why do you advocate for equal rights for girls and women?
I advocate for equal rights for girls and women because it is our right to be successful in any field we choose. The most important thing for the next generation of girls is to have role models in the fields they want to go into. Right now, there are not enough leadership positions in engineering, science, medicine, or policy held by women. This needs to change. Women are half the world's population — not having them seated at decision-making tables, especially in global health, impairs program development and undermines public health efforts. We need an equal balance of leadership so that all voices are represented at the highest echelons. For example, there has only ever been one female Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We need more women leaders to bridge the gaps between health policy, biomedical research, and clinical medicine, which is why I aspire to be a physician, a scientist, and advocate.

What motivates you to do this work?
Growing up, I was inspired by my mom – the first female engineer in her family. She worked hard, broke stereotypes of what a girl at that time in India should be, and was at the top of her class in her male-dominated electrical-engineering degree program. She inspired me to pursue math in middle and high school and then I fell in love with biology and chemistry. This led me to pursue a bioengineering degree at Northeastern University where I am surrounded by inspiring faculty and fellow students. My mentor at the lab where I work also inspires and pushes me to pursue my research at the intersection of bioengineering and chemical biology. Growing up at home with a strong female engineer, being part of women-in-STEM communities in high school, and now, working with strong female scientists, I understand the importance that these communities and mentors have played in my life and in motivating me to continue my path in science, medicine, and advocacy. I strive to help build and continue these communities through my work with Malaria Free World and the Northeastern University Global Health Initiative.

United Nations Foundation

What are the main challenges you experience in your work to advance gender equality?
Some of the main challenges are breaking into fields dominated by men. According to the Harvard Business Review, although 80 percent of the healthcare workforce is female, only 3 percent of healthcare CEOs and 6 percent of department chairs are female. Some early challenges that I encountered breaking into STEM were that, in middle school, I was the only girl on the chess team and the only girl selected for our competitive math team. There was lots of bullying, teasing, and being called 'a nerd' associated with this but, I was very lucky to have good mentors and role models who inspired me to keep going. Now, in my work, it is exciting to see girls so interested in STEM at an early age. I think the main challenge is to continue that enthusiasm through college and into the workforce or graduate school.

What progress are you seeing as a result of your work?
In the past year, as part of Malaria Free World's Malaria Masters program, we have recruited eight high-school girls who want to pursue science. These girls are in positions of leadership at their schools and in their states and are inspiring others to pursue careers in infectious disease research and advocacy. In our most recent Northeastern University Global Health Initiative Conference in February 2020, we had a majority of female attendees and speakers (28 women out of our 44 high-level speakers). This was a great move forward from our previous conference at which only 9 out of our 27 speakers were female. In survey responses this year, people noted that they were inspired by the strong women presenting on their leadership in global health efforts and by the diversity and equality that our speaker selection showed.

What progress are you seeing in the wider gender equality movement?
I am seeing more girls pursue science and engineering. For example, in my bioengineering core classes, there are now more girls than boys. Additionally, this year there are more girls than boys in the Rhodes scholarship class. This is very encouraging, because there will likely be more female leaders and role models who will help create gender balance in STEM as well as in public health.

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