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Opening Young Minds to Science
By Jeanne Kouhestani
Photos
by Jeanne Kouhestani
Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields is on a mission complementary
yet separate from her mission to support NOAA's diverse science programs
as director of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA
Commissioned Officer Corps. She is determined to make a difference in
the life of a child by opening his or her mind to the world of science
and the possibilities within.
A visit to Randle Highlands Elementary School in Washington, D.C., to
talk to a fourth grade class during Black History Month, was like many
she's made before on her quest. Sitting at the front of the class, surrounded
on three sides by kids who were delighted to have this break in their
routine, she read from a book about NOAA's hurricane hunters - those hardy
aircraft flown into hurricanes by NOAA Corps pilots, civilian crew and
scientists to gather data about these severest of nature's storms. It
soon became clear that many of the kids had no idea what a hurricane was.
Hurricanes were out of the realm of their experience.
So Rear Admiral Fields hunkered down and told them about hurricanes and
the people who study them. She asked how many of them liked math and science,
then told them why it is so important to study these subjects. She talked
about some of the ways math and science are used in real life and showed
them pictures of NOAA employees conducting scientific activities that
affect the lives of Americans every day. She opened their eyes to possibilities.
By the end of her visit, kids who had looked at her without comprehension
at first were excitedly vying for her attention with questions and stories
about their own experiences.
Rear Admiral Fields never turns down an invitation from any school to
talk to its students. "I realize that so many of the kids - especially
from inner city schools - don't have a support system that gives them
the push they need to reach out and do something with their lives other
than what they see in their neighborhoods," she said.
She knows what she's talking about because she grew up poor in the projects
of Norfolk, Va. Unlike many of the kids she sees today, though, she had
a close-knit family and parents who instilled in her and her siblings
the importance of education. "I am very grateful to my parents, who understood
that with a good educational underpinning, there is nothing we cannot
achieve. From the time we were old enough to understand, they always stressed
the value of education and got us started down the right path. They told
me I could accomplish anything I really wanted in life. They gave me a
"can do" attitude that has helped me reach the top of my profession at
NOAA, " she said.
Indeed, she took her parents' values to heart at an early age and has
reached higher and achieved more ever since. After graduating from Norfolk
State College in 1970 with a degree in mathematics, she began a career
with NOAA as a cartographer at the Atlantic Marine Center in Norfolk.
From then on, she started a long string of "firsts."
She was the first African-American woman to join the NOAA Corps, shortly
after the agency started recruiting women in the early 1970s. The NOAA
Corps is a uniformed service of about 250 scientists and engineers who
operate and manage the agency's fleet of research ships and aircraft.
It is the nation's seventh and smallest service. She was the first woman
to command a federal ship for extended periods at sea. She was the first
woman to serve as chief of NOAA's Hydrographic Surveys Division, the first
to serve as an exchange hydrographer for the U.S. and Canada, and the
first to become director of the NOAA Corps Commissioned Personnel Center.
Rear Admiral Fields was the first woman and first African American to
be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as director
of the NOAA Corps and Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, under
which the Corps falls. She started at the bottom and climbed to the top
with no special privileges - just a big dollop of gumption and a basic
education that she received from public schools and a state-supported
college.
She believes that the life she's achieved started with the gift her parents
gave her so long ago. And she is determined to pass that gift on to other
children, in other places. "I feel strongly that in the black community
- through no fault of its own - there are so many opportunities people
aren't aware of," she said. "At Randle Highlands Elementary, for example,
the teacher and aide were there listening just as intently as the kids
were. That happens a lot. There doesn't seem to be a connection between
information being taught, as in math and science, and how that information
can be used. They certainly aren't aware of the kinds of science NOAA
does and how it affects them every day."
While she gives many presentations about NOAA to senior and civic groups
as well as to high school and college students on career days, she feels
strongly that her work with younger kids will reap more long-term results.
"I like to work with elementary and middle school students the most,"
she said, "because by the time kids reach high school, it's usually too
late. Young kids are still searching to see what's out there; they're
still inquisitive. High schoolers are in a different mode. They're interested,
but not focused.
"I've been fortunate in working at NOAA because there are so many kinds
of careers here that kids can have when they grow up. I really believe
they can be good productive members of society, but not without goals
to aspire to when they're young. My hope is that they'll see me and think
I'd like to do something like that-I can do that too," she said. "I don't
ever know what has happened to kids I've talked to over the years, but
I feel there may be one out there that I've gotten to. If so, it's all
been worthwhile."
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