Bridgette Shannon

I am a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. I received my Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry from Henderson State University and Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

I decided to pursue science because I was always motivated by my science classes and found them to be a fun challenge. As a teenager, I participated in several STEM-related activities mainly summer programs that focused on the medical sciences. I also shadowed several physicians to gain a better understanding of what it takes to be in that profession. I did not do it alone. Fortunately for me, I had my family, mentors, and very special teachers who made sure that I was exposed to several professions to help me decide where I wanted to be in life.

In my professional career, every project that I have worked on has been fun, which makes it difficult for me to rank them. However, my current project is really cool because I have the opportunity to develop mineral that can cut through metal, ceramics, and wood. As a result, I get to operate different machining equipment to test the mineral performance which gives me a better insight about tooling, machining processes, material characteristics. I probably would not have explored this area if it were not for my prior exposure to STEM related projects. I am glad that I did!

I learned throughout the years that you cannot be shy about asking for help, and persistence will take you a long way. A wise man once said….”Nothing is hard, but everything takes time”.