What inspired all these Arizona State University cheerleaders to pursue science degrees?
Find out by watching this short video interview with the Science Cheerleader!

The Science Cheerleaders – professional cheerleaders pursuing science and technology careers – often are asked, “What’s it like to be a cheerleader AND a scientist?” or “When did you first know you wanted to be an engineer?”

During our live events, fans and youngsters have the opportunity to ask questions and get them answered by the Science Cheerleaders on the spot. Now, we’re extending this opportunity to you, too!

The 2011-2012 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders, six of whom are pursuing science and engineering careers, have offered to answer the most popular questions submitted through Tuesday August 23rd. Questions with the most votes from the public will be answered by the cheerleaders during a videotaped interview at their Tempe, AZ, training facility.

You can submit your questions to these Science Cheerleaders by tweeting to @SciCheer or commenting on this blog post, the YouTube video, or our Facebook Page. Extra points to anyone who leaves a YouTube video response. If you like someone else’s question, retweet it, up vote it, like it — whatever you have to do to let them know you’d like that question answered.

Below, each of the Arizona Cardinals Science Cheerleaders has shared a little about themselves. Take a look and then ask ‘em anything by August 23rd.

Hi, I’m Samantha, and I’m not just you’re average cheerleader; I’m studying Engineering Management with a focus in Mechanical Engineering at Arizona State University. I am also a national member of the Society of Women Engineers and currently interning at Microchip Technology. This is my rookie year as an Arizona Cardinals Cheerleader, but I have been dancing my whole life and even won the national pom championship my senior year of high school.

Hi, my name is Kristi, and I work professionally in the two best professions anyone could ask for: cheerleading and science! I started cheerleading when I was very young, continued throughout high school and college,and now I am a proud second year member of the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. Outside of cheerleading, I obtained a Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree and am blessed to currently work in my third year as a Registered Nurse with emphasis on Women and Infant services.

My name is Emily, and I am studying Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University. I am currently an intern at Intel and love it, but hope one day to work on research and development in medical technology after receiving a Masters degree. This is my first year on the Arizona Cardinals cheer team, but I was Captain of my varsity high school team, part of the dance company and cheer for all four years, and was a part of the Arizona State University Spirit Squad for one year.

Hi, my name is Maria, and I am a rookie member of the 2011 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. I graduated from Rice University with a degree in political science and earned my J.D. from the University of Arizona in 2010. When it’s not gameday, you can find me at work as an Advocacy Specialist for the Girl Scouts, where I collaborate with local lawmakers on policies to provide increased exposure to the national STEM initiative. Helping to promote the next generation of female scientists, engineers, IT professionals, and mathematicians is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job!

Hi, I’m Nicole, and I am a fourth year member and line captain for the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. I studied kinesiology and earned my Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University. When I am not on the field, you can find me at a local physical therapy clinic working hands on with the science and physiology behind body movement.

My name is Jacque, and I am a Licensed Professional Civil Engineer who received my B.S.E. in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University. I have been cheerleading since the age of five, and I am proud and honored to now be a professional cheerleader and a rookie member of the amazing Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders.

Our favorite SciCheer videos in one playlist. Featuring the Philadelphia Eagles, Penn and Teller, the Science Cheerleaders, a fake Obama and McCain, 76ers cheerleaders and much more.

Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

To remind us of our natural love affair with space, I’d like to share this Time video created by my talented pal, Brian Malow (AKA, the Science Comedian). I hope this stirs something in you as it did for me.
Farewell to the glorious Space Shuttle program.

The Science Cheerleaders–scientists and engineers who are also current and former professional cheerleaders for the NBA, NFL and other pro sports leagues– performed at NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. as part of the White House’s celebration of Women in History Month in March! After their performance, they shared the stage with NASA education specialists and answered questions posed by some of the 200 young female students in the audience. Then, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, NASA deputy director Lori Garver, and astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson (who just returned from six months in space in the International Space Station) inspired the audience (including me!) and even gave some shout-outs to the Science Cheerleaders. Hands up!

Here’s a brief highlights video reel, showcasing their appearance. (And here’s a BBC report on the Science Cheerleaders, recorded at the event.)

Hey! It’s me, Wendy, from the Atlanta Falcons. I’m one of eight, current Falcons cheerleaders pursuing careers in science. I’m working towards a biomedical engineering degree at Georgia Institute of Technology. SciCheer invited me back to help introduce the ninth of 10 Science of NFL Football segments, produced by NBC Sports and NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation and the National Football League. Science Cheerleader worked on this awesome series and is an official partner brought on to broaden the reach to young women everywhere!

This segment’s all about Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Tony Schmitz, from the Univ. of FL (who, played football at Temple University where Darlene’s pretty sure he bumped her college boyfriend from his starting position as a running back…nice, real nice, Tony!), explains that Newton’s Third Law means each action or force has an equal and opposite reaction. “So,” explains Tony, “if I were to push against a body, that body is going to push back against me with an equal and opposite force.”

NBC News’ Lester Holt, the narrator of the series, adds that an important part of Newton’s Third Law is the concept of momentum, “which in football is the mass of a player, multiplied by his velocity, represented by the formula P = MV. NFL players may not know the formula, but they’re keenly aware of the role momentum plays in tackling.”

They sure are! Check this out:

If you’re an educator, be sure to visit NBC Learn to download free supplemental educators’ guides. Goooo science! And Goooo National Science Foundation for making this possible. Previous Science of NFL Football segments can be found here.

Dr. John here… If you’re anything like me, your dancing skills can be summed up by a poorly executed routine performed to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean at about two weddings per year.

The same cannot be said for my friend, Dr. Kiki Jenkins, a marine conservation scientist who was once recruited to be a professional dancer.

Kiki began dancing as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. There as a dance minor, she regularly performed in modern, jazz, and African dance pieces as well as choreographing her own work. Throughout graduate school, Kiki taught and performed with the Dance Arts Studio in Morehead City from 1999-2006. After finishing her PhD, she moved to California in the Bay Area, where she danced for Bonner Odell and was also recruited and joined a local professional dance company.

You can see one of her performances in the video above. “Can’t Give Up Now” was choreographed and performed by Kiki as a farewell to the Dance Arts Studio, where she taught dance throughout graduate school.

As Kiki describes it, “The dance depicts the struggles of pursuing a PhD., the final push to finish writing my thesis, and the sustaining grace of God that carried me through it all.”

I had the opportunity get to know Kiki when we were both Science and Technology Policy Fellows with the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 2007-2009. I had a chance to ask Kiki a few questions about what motivated her to pursue a career in science and how she was able to integrate both dancing and science into her life. Stay tuned for more…

Over the past few years, we’ve met superstar scientists and engineers, champion track stars, Pro Bowl Cheerleaders, celebrieties and more. Apparently our very own Dr. John is a different kind of champion — a world record holder at Super Mario Kart!

In January, John was invited to the gaming and music conference known as MagFest, so attendees could challenge him to a video game duel. As an added bonus, the conference staff agreed to give a free t-shirt to anyone who could beat him. In over four hours, he went an amazing 75-2!

None of that is depicted in the above video. However, you will get to see John (wearing his good luck Science Cheerleader t-shirt!) attempt and fail to beat his current Twin Galaxies world record on Mario Circuit 1.

After the event, John said, “It was a strange experience. Upon losing/winning, I felt the same smorgasbord of emotions that Bobby Fischer must have experienced after playing himself in chess. Yes, I am comparing the two.”

As record levels of snow blanket much of the United States this year, SciCheer’s sister site, Science For Citizens, is collaborating with an important climate research project at the University of Waterloo called Snow Tweets. We’re pleased that this is the first of many scientific projects that you’ll be able to do on Science for Citizens.

To help researchers track climate change, we’re requesting that you find a ruler, put on a warm coat, go outside, and measure the depth of snow wherever you happen to be. And then report the depth to us right here. That’s all there is to it! Your simple action will help the planet. Your data will advance climate science, and you’ll get to see your depth report appear on our world map of snow tweets.

To help you get started, Dr. John put together the above “How To” video complete with some empirical evidence from your fellow citizen scientists. Enjoy, and please share wildly on your social network of choice.

This project is part of the Changing Planet series on NBC: a collaboration between the National Science Foundation, NBC News, Discover Magazine and ScienceforCitizens.net.

Learn more about Changing Planet!

Here’s my story. What’s yours?