Why Science Needs Diversity

created by Nautilus’ marketing team

For the month of February, the Nautilus Marketing Team will feature interviews with organizations and institutions working to increase opportunities for young Black people to imagine and succeed in STEM career paths—and we’ll donate 10 percent of all new member subscriptions toward their initiatives.

Black representation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields totaled only 9 percent in 2021, as reported by The National Science Foundation.

Wilbur Walters was fascinated by plants. Before he was the Dean of a scientific college at Jackson State University, or getting Ph.D. in materials engineering, he was introduced to the wonders of biology by his scientist parents. He began his earliest studies “figuring out what life was doing around me—going outside every day to investigate the bugs that started chirping at 5:30 in the morning.” 

Jackson State University is a historically Black university known for its College