The Science Ambassador Scholarship
A full–tuition scholarship for a woman in science, technology, engineering, or math.
Funded by Cards Against Humanity. Applications for the 2023 academic year open this fall.
If you'd like to be notified when applications open, sign up for our mailing list here.
Congratulations to Fiona, our 2022 Winner
Fiona is a college sophomore at Amherst College studying Geology and Math. Here's the moment we told her she won:
Fiona is our seventh Science Ambassador. Read about our previous winners here.
How does it feel to be the Science Ambassador?
I feel so delighted to have been chosen by this panel of supremely successful and inspiring women. I can't wait to use this platform to share my passion for geology, shining some light onto the forgotten member of the STEM family. Because — yes, it's true — geology rocks! Get ready for many more rock puns.
What are your future plans? Where do you see yourself after graduation?
I plan to pursue a career tied to repairing our relationship with the environment and its creatures. Maybe scientific journalism, or environmental law. Another possibility is working in museums. I fell in love with my job at my college's natural history museum; giving tours, learning about fossils, and interacting with curious people is a big source of joy for me.
Runners–Up
We also award tuition stipends to our runners-up. You can watch their videos here.
How To Apply This Fall
Applications for the 2023 academic year open this fall. To apply, film a three–minute educational video of yourself explaining a STEM topic you're passionate about. To apply, you must be a high school senior or an undergraduate college student. To view videos we've liked in the past, check out our previous winners. Your video should be:
- A mini–lecture, not a personal statement. Pretend you're a lecturer speaking to a class. Teach us something.
- Clear, creative, accurate, and a demonstration of your passion for the subject. We value novel, memorable approaches to topics. Your video doesn't need to be fancy or high–tech. Production value is not a factor.
- Three minutes or less in length. Videos longer than this will not be considered. No exceptions!
- About any STEM topic, not necessarily your field of study. Pick a topic that excites and fascinates you. We don't need to hear about the latest thing in science news (unless that's your jam).
- Scientifically accurate. We encourage you to cite the sources used to research your topic. Ideally, this would be in a slide or frame at the end of your video. You can use any citation format you'd like.
- Uploaded to YouTube and marked ‘public.’ No exceptions!
Please note: Part of being a science communicator is leading by example. If applicable, please film your video in a way that complies with your local safety regulations related to COVID-19.
An advisory board of women who hold higher degrees and work in a broad range of STEM fields will review applications and select finalists. Finalists will be notified in early 2023 and will move onto the next round to submit additional materials. A winner will be announced in April 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Applications open fall 2022.
You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to apply. You do need to attend college (or plan to attend college) in the United States or a United States Territory.
Nope! You can explain any STEM topic you find exciting. Remember to deliver a mini–lecture, not a personal statement.
No. The Science Ambassador Scholarship is only open to undergraduate students and high school seniors.
We'll pay the winner's undergraduate tuition expenses for up to four years, starting with the 2022-2023 academic year. Please note that we do not reimburse the winner for tuition expenses incurred prior to winning this scholarship.
All fields within science, technology, engineering, and math are eligible. For a full list of STEM fields, click here. STEM must be your major field of study (not your minor).
Yes, you can apply, as long as you will study a STEM field for the entirety of your undergraduate career.
You can link to ScienceAmbassadorScholarship.org or download this flyer.
You can spread the word to as many eligible students as possible. Also, you could grab the Cards Against Humanity Science Pack. All sales fund the scholarship.
Meet the Winners
Every semester, we ask winners of the Science Ambassador Scholarship to create new videos explaining STEM topics they're learning about in school.
Meet the Science AmbassadorsThe Science Pack
Our goal is to highlight outstanding women in science, technology, engineering, and math. To date, we've funded seven full–tuition scholarships and created a community of mentors and students who work in STEM fields.
Scholarship funds are provided from Cards Against Humanity's Science Pack, a 30–card expansion pack co–authored with Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal's Zach Weinersmith and Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait.
$1,316,186 raised so far
Buy the Science PackMeet the Judges
Advisory Board Co-Chairs
Diana SM Buist, PhD, MPH Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Erin Diel, PhD Image Application Specialist, Glencoe Software
Kayt Havens, MD Medical College of Wisconsin
Jen Indovina, CEO Tenrehte Technologies, Inc.
Sarah Mitchell, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola Marymount University
Julie Nadel, PhD Johns Hopkins University
Prof. Esther Ngumbi Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Advisory Board
Leigh Abrams, PhD Research Scientist, Honeywell UOP
Brittany Allen-Petersen, PhD Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
Anne Lord Bailey, PharmD, BCPS Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Dr. Laurie Bayet Department of Neuroscience, American University
Dr. Amanda M. Burkhardt Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Southern California
Prof. Sarah Cannon Department of Mathematical Sciences, Claremont McKenna College
Lisa Carter-Harris, PhD, APRN, ANP-C, FAAN Associate Research Director, Tobacco Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Elena Chartoff, PhD Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Amanda Childers, PhD Research Scientist, Honeywell Aerospace
Emily Davenport Department of Biology, Penn State University
Natalie Davidson Postdoctoral Fellow at CU Anschutz
Dr. Camille S. Delavaux Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich
Dr. Melody Di Bona, PhD Research Fellow, Radiation Oncology/Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Y. Frances Fei Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Molly M. Foote, PhD Research Data Analyst
Casey Hall, PhD Head of Research at Cards Against Humanity
Kathryn Henley, PhD Associate Director of Scientific Writing, PTC Therapeutics
Dr. Jennifer Hirsh, PharmD, MS Clinical Informatics Pharmacist, Veterans Health Administration
Prof. Renée Hložek Dunlap Institute and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Paula Hock, PhD Lead Operations Analyst, Lumen
Dr. Christina M. Ignarra Project Scientist, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Dr. Michelle Kline Senior Lecturer, Department of Life Sciences, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London
Sarah Kolitz, PhD, VP Translational Medicine, Immuneering
Annalena La Porte, PhD Pfizer
Professor Lisa Manglass Department of Physics and Engineering, Francis Marion University
Heather M. Maranges, PhD Wake Forest University
Lindsay Marjoram, PhD Study Director, Powered Research
Prof. Mackenzie Mathis Bertarelli Foundation Chair of Integrative Neuroscience, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
Sarah Mitchell, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola Marymount University
Meghan (Morrison) Joly, PhD Sr. Scientific Project Manager, Vanderbilt Institute of Clinical and Translational Research
Anna Mullins, PhD RPSGT Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Nirupama Nishtala, PhD Associate Research Program Manager, Regeneron Genetics Center
Prof. Christine Sierra O'Connell Department of Environmental Studies, Macalester College
Dr. Nadija Rieser Emergency Medicine Resident Physician, Advocate Christ Medical Center
Ali Rosenberg, PhD Rosenberg Scientific Consulting
Dr. Molly Rossow Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Kate Sippel, DVM, DACVR
Catherine Situma PhD, CSP Risk Management and Safety, Auburn University
Sharda Umanath, PhD Department of Psychological Science, Claremont McKenna College
Kathleen Vincent, PhD Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Valerie Were Social and Behavioral Science Analyst, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University
Karina Wernecke Software Engineering Manager, McMaster-Carr
Melissa Wilson Associate Professor of Genomics, Evolution, and Bioinformatics
Dr. Kaitlin Stack Whitney Rochester Institute of Technology