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Kate Biberdorf

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Katherine Alexis Biberdorf (née Crawford), also known as Kate the Chemist, is a popular science communicator and professor of chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. She serves as the Professor of Public Understanding of Science at Notre Dame.

Kate Biberdorf
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BS)
University of Texas, Austin (MS, PhD)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas at Austin
ThesisDirect comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous palladium(II) catalysts for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions (2014)
WebsiteKate the Chemist website

Early life and education

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Biberdorf was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.[1][2] She became interested in chemistry during high school, and her mother encouraged her to try out different experiments at home.[3]

Biberdorf earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, where she majored in chemistry and German. Biberdorf completed her doctorate in inorganic chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 2014. Her research considered heterogeneous catalysis for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. She became involved with undergraduate teaching, and enjoyed getting young people excited about chemistry.[4] After completing her PhD, she was teaching faculty at UT Austin between 2014 and 2024. [4][5] She was appointed professor of chemistry and Professor of Public Understanding of Science at the University of Notre Dame in September 2024.[6]

Career

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Dr. Kate Biberdorf holds the newly established position of Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Notre Dame. This role is among the first of its kind in the United States. As the Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Dr. Biberdorf is bridging the gap between the scientific community and the general public, ensuring that scientific knowledge is widely disseminated and valued across society.[7]

Before joining Notre Dame, Biberdorf served as Director of Demonstrations and Outreach in the College of Natural Sciences in the University of Texas at Austin.[8] She teaches general chemistry and scientific literacy to classes of five hundred students.[4][9] After a few months, she created the program Fun with Chemistry,[10] which introduces elementary, middle and high school students to chemistry experiments.[4][11] The program reaches more than 20,000 students every year.[4]

Outside of her teaching role at the University of Notre Dame, Biberdorf is active in public engagement and science communication. Most of the demonstrations involve explosions or fire. She created a series of chemistry shows called the Puking Pumpkin Tour, which she performed at the USA Science and Engineering Festival.[12][13][14] She has presented a science show at the Simmons University Leadership Conference.[15][16] CNN, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls program have all featured Biberdorf for her demonstrations.[17]

Biberdorf also promotes women in STEM.[18] Biberdorf delivered a TEDxDetroit Creating a STEM Army of Women in 2018.[19] That year, she was selected by BuzzFeed as one of the world's top women scientists and was included in Amy Poehler's Smart Girls.[20][21] She is regularly featured in the media, including on Great Big Story,[22] The Wall Street Journal,[23] Today,[24] The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,[25] The Wendy Williams Show,[26][27] and CBS.[28]

Biberdorf is writing a series of children's science books with Penguin Random House.[29] The "Kate the Chemist" fiction series explore the activities of Kate, a ten year old who uses her understanding of science and technology to solve problems in her everyday life.[30] Kate the Chemist: The Big Book of Experiments includes science experiments for children to try at home.[31]

References

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Scholia has an author profile for Kate Biberdorf.
  1. ^ "My Science My Life — Kate Biberdorf Bio". My Science My Life. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  2. ^ "Kate Biberdorf". USASEF. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. ^ Jazynka, Kitson (2018-03-26). "This teacher aims to get kids fired up about chemistry". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Next Bill Nye". Austin Woman Magazine. 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  5. ^ Alcalde, The (2019-04-16). "The Texas Ten 2017". Medium. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  6. ^ "'Kate the Chemist' joins the University of Notre Dame as new professor for the public understanding of science". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  7. ^ "'Kate the Chemist' joins the University of Notre Dame". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  8. ^ "Biberdorf, Kate - Chemistry - CNS Directory". cns.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  9. ^ "Kate the Chemist Blows Stuff Up for Girls in STEM". Exhale Lifestyle. 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  10. ^ Dr. Kate Biberdorf | Chemistry Professor | International Women's Day, 8 March 2019, retrieved 2020-02-12
  11. ^ "Chemistry Lecturer's Science Demonstrations Ignite STEM Interest". cns.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  12. ^ "Kate Biberdorf | FabFems". www.fabfems.org. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  13. ^ KWTX (30 October 2017). "An explosive Halloween segment on The Buzz". www.kwtx.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  14. ^ "Explosive Science at USASEF with Kate Biberdorf". Innovation & Tech Today. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  15. ^ "Changing Mindsets – An interview with Kate the Chemist". MindScope. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  16. ^ Ruhlin, Helen (7 April 2019). "Laverne Cox Speaks at 40th Annual Simmons Leadership Conference". The Simmons Voice. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  17. ^ "Chemistry lecturer's science demonstrations blow up - The Daily Texan". www.dailytexanonline.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  18. ^ "The Next Bill Nye". Austin Woman Magazine. 31 July 2017.
  19. ^ Biberdorf, Kate (17 October 2018), Creating a STEM Army of Women, retrieved 2020-02-12
  20. ^ Smyth, Cassie (2 September 2018). "23 Badass Women In STEM They Should Teach You About In School". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  21. ^ Staff, SmartGirls (2018-05-22). "Meet the explosive 🔥 Dr. B!". Medium. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  22. ^ "Blowing Up Stereotypes With a Chemistry Professor". www.greatbigstory.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  23. ^ Kornelis, Chris (2018-08-16). "3 Super-Fun Experiments for Pint-size Scientists". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  24. ^ Kate Biberdorf The Chemist Uses Fire And Fun To Attract Girls To Science | TODAY, 8 May 2019, retrieved 2020-02-12
  25. ^ Molina, Maribel. "UT Austin's 'Kate the Chemist' gets Stephen Colbert to 'breathe fire' on the late show". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  26. ^ "Kate the Chemist". The Wendy Williams Show. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  27. ^ Steinberg, Don (2018-12-05). "The Female Scientist Who Wants to Blow Up Your TV". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  28. ^ Austin, We Are (2019-12-04). "Boom! Kate the Chemist creates a thundercloud on the ground!". KEYE. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  29. ^ "Kate the Chemist". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  30. ^ "Dragons vs. Unicorns by Kate Biberdorf: 9780593116555 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  31. ^ BIBERDORF, KATE. (2020). KATE THE CHEMIST'S BIG BOOK OF EXPERIMENTS. PHILOMEL BOOKS. ISBN 978-0-593-11616-6. OCLC 1120962277.
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