Skeptoid Media, a science education nonprofit whose podcast began in 2006, created the Asteroid Awards in 2020 to honor science communication, entertainment and education
Raven Baxter won the Award for Diversity and Inclusion in Science Communication at The Outpost's first Asteroid Awards on Oct. 24, 2020. Skeptoid host Brian Dunning and David D. Perlmutter, dean of Texas Tech University's College of Media & Communication, led the online ceremony.
The award recognizes "excellence in ensuring that every child who dreams of a career in STEM has role models with whom they can identify," according to The Outpost. The Texas Tech college sponsored the award. The other finalists were the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and Out in STEM, according to an archived copy of the awards page.
The four 2020 Asteroid Award trophies. Baxter is not pictured. Photo: The Outpost
The 2020 awards had four categories. Kyle Hill was named Science Influencer of the Year, Hip Hop Science won Best Streaming Content, and FIYAH Magazine won Best Science Fiction. Locus, the science fiction magazine, reported on Oct. 26 that the winners were announced on Oct. 24.
Baxter also spoke on two convention panels. On Oct. 24 she joined Hill, Ashley Gary and Asheley Landrum on "Streaming Science." The panel asked how YouTube creators fit science, communication and entertainment into a few minutes of video. On Oct. 25 she joined Maynard Okereke and Gary on "Science Doesn't Typecast: Diversity and Scicomm." That panel covered the need for more visibility and diversity in science.
The photo of Baxter that The Outpost posts beside its 2020 winners list. Photo: The Outpost
Skeptoid Media, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit based in Bend, Oregon, produces The Outpost, a convention on science, entertainment and science fiction. Its weekly Skeptoid podcast launched in 2006 and passed 100 million downloads in 2017, according to Skeptoid Media. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Outpost 2020 ran online from Oct. 23 to 25. The Texas Tech college was its chief sponsor.
Baxter, then a doctoral candidate at the University at Buffalo, had worked as a research scientist in drug discovery before turning to public science education. Earlier that month she founded and co-organized the first Black in Science Communication Week, held online from Oct. 4 to 10.
The Outpost lists the 2020 winners on its awards page and the convention's sessions on its schedule. An archived copy from January 2021 also records the result.
Cohort Sistas presented Dr. Raven Baxter with its Living Legacy Award and heard her keynote at the doctoral support network's fifth anniversary gala in Washington on March 7, 2026.
The Creative Collective NYC named Dr. Raven Baxter to its 2025 Creative Class, a list of 63 Black culture-shifters revealed by Essence on Feb. 3, 2025.
The Williamsville Education Foundation inducted Dr. Raven Baxter, a 2010 graduate of Williamsville North High School, into the Williamsville Wall of Fame on Nov. 8, 2024.
