Productivity Alchemy podcast talks failure and Stellar Dreams with Dr. Raven Baxter

Dr. Raven Baxter was the guest on Episode 321 of Productivity Alchemy, the podcast hosted by Kevin Sonney, released on Oct. 19, 2023. In an interview of more than 90 minutes, she talked about failure, The Science Haven's Stellar Dreams telescope program and how she runs her days as a science communicator.

Sonney asked how she deals with failure. "Failure is not something that I strive for, you know, like we're striving for success, but I feel like my greatest successes have come directly from failure," Baxter said.

The episode arrived in a busy month for science news. On Oct. 2, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Baxter brought up the Nobel announcements as she described her mornings. Five days before the episode aired, an annular solar eclipse crossed the United States from the Oregon coast to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Failure and graduate school

Baxter told Sonney she failed out of college in her freshman year. Pre-med physics and calculus did not work for her. She aced biology and organic chemistry. That pointed her toward molecules, she said, and that is how she became a molecular biologist.

"I think a failure is an opportunity to get pointed in the right direction," she said. She compared it to a fork in the road with one path blocked. When she advised freshmen at Buffalo State University, she told them they would fail and that it was okay, because every failure would teach them how to move forward.

She also described graduate school, where she learned to let go of perfectionism and to expect support from her institution. "In grad school, I was learning how to hold other people just as accountable for my success as I was," she said. The university later nominated her for what she called the highest award a student can get in New York State. In 2021, SUNY gave her its Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.

The Science Haven and her daily work

Baxter opened the interview by describing her mission. "I'm a molecular biologist. I'm a science communicator. And my big thing is, I want to make everyone feel like they're a part of the science conversation. I want to make it feel like a big party," she said. She brings people in, she added, "whether it's through fashion, whether it's through music, or comedy, or pop culture."

She also described Stellar Dreams, the flagship program of The Science Haven, the nonprofit she founded. "I lead a really cool flagship project called Stellar Dreams, and we're getting 100 telescopes to 100 kids across America," she said. She said the program served students in grades 5 through 12, focused on underrepresented communities, and connected them with astronomy education and citizen science. She credited astronomers and the telescope maker Celestron for their support.

Baxter at the Stellar Dreams kickoff at Buffalo State University on February 19, 2024, four months after the episode. Photo: Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State University

Each morning, she said, she checks the news for science stories worth discussing. By the end of a day, she has often made a video on "the molecular biology of why leaves change colors in the fall or the molecular biology of dreams." She celebrates wins with good food, good drinks and good company, a habit she called new. "Now I'm surrounded by, I would say, people who more so align with what I want and we celebrate. Even the small stuff," she said.

Productivity Alchemy released its first episode on June 8, 2017. Sonney, who calls himself "a productivity junkie" on the show's about page, covers personal productivity and systems for getting things done. The show does not take money from listeners. Its final question asks each guest to name a cause for listeners to support instead. Baxter named The Science Haven. "I realized that building the science community is much bigger than I am. And it's not about me. It's about all of us," she said.

After the interview, Sonney told listeners, "Raven brings such, such a great energy that it is just unbelievable."

MetLife TTX Talks

Earlier in 2023, MetLife featured Baxter on TTX Talks, in a fireside chat with Bill Pappas, who led MetLife's Global Technology and Operations. The talk was titled "How I Unleashed My Inner Creative and Innovative Self Through STEM... And Why People Say: You Don't Look Like a Scientist." MetLife premiered the chat on July 20.

MetLife's promotional graphic for the July 20, 2023, premiere. Image: MetLife

Pew Research Center has measured the gap behind the title. In April 2021, Pew reported that Black workers made up 9% of STEM workers in 2019, unchanged since 2016. They made up 11% of all employed adults.

Baxter, known online as Dr. Raven the Science Maven, completed her University at Buffalo doctorate on Feb. 1, 2022.

The full Productivity Alchemy episode and its show notes are on the Productivity Alchemy website.