Science Keynote Speaker · Dr. Raven Baxter

On tour

I am delivering keynotes, distinguished lectures and conversations through 2027. Your institution belongs here.

Feb 2026Oklahoma Research Day KeynoteTahlequah, Oklahoma

Mar 2026Science Talk 2026 KeynotePortland, Oregon

May 2026Distinguished Alumni PanelUniversity at Buffalo, New York

Fall 2026Statewide KeynoteNew YorkUp next

Spring 2027Distinguished LectureGeorgiaTo be announced

Spring 2027Distinguished LectureCaliforniaTo be announced

Signature talks

For general and corporate audiences

The Molecules Running Your Everyday Life

Wonder, delivered at the molecular scale

Chemistry shapes everyday experience, including coffee, hair and the scent of the air after rain. In this keynote, I guide audiences through the molecules behind an ordinary day, as I do for my online audience, with scientific accuracy and a sense of delight. Audiences leave with renewed attention to the science in familiar things.

Made for Corporate events, general audiences, museums and festivals

The molecular stories behind coffee, hair, soap, and the smell of rain
The process scientists follow to investigate a mechanism
A renewed appreciation for everyday phenomena

Take Up Space

You Don't Look Like a Scientist, my TEDx talk

For years, I heard the phrase “You don’t look like a scientist,” and it became the title of my TEDx talk. This keynote traces my path through a difficult first attempt at college to a Ph.D. and a large public audience for science, and what that path revealed about who feels welcome in science. Audiences leave with practical ways to open doors for others.

Made for Universities and colleges, people and culture leaders, STEM programs, and commencements

Why representation changes who tries science in the first place
Belonging in practice in labs, classrooms and teams
Ways to open doors from whatever seat you hold

You Don't Look Like A Scientist! · TEDxGreatMills

For institutions and the science communication field

In Science We Trust?

Trust is built by communicators, one audience at a time

Public trust in science is earned as trust is earned anywhere, through consistent presence, plain language and respect for the audience. I have studied trust as a science communication researcher and practiced it with a large online audience and with teams at Pfizer and the Reagan-⁠Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration. This talk identifies the practices that earn an audience’s trust and the habits that erode it, with examples from campaigns, clinics and comment sections.

Made for Pharma and biotech communications, public health teams, research institutions, and science media

Practices that build trust with an audience, and habits that erode it
Culturally responsive communication in practice
Ways to put evidence in people's hands instead of asking for belief

Photo: Amber Yost for Virginia Tech

What Your Science Communication Is Missing

An outside look at how organizations talk about their science

I have advised leaders across education, government, universities and industry, directed science communication in academic medicine and worked with teams at Pfizer and the Reagan-⁠Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration. Across these settings, the same gaps recur, including research that does not reach its audience, communicators without institutional support and audiences an organization assumes it cannot reach. This talk examines the practices of organizations that communicate well and identifies where to begin in yours.

Made for Executives and deans, communications and public affairs leadership, and federal and nonprofit leaders