Marie van Staveren

@chemdrv.bsky.social

1092 Followers 222 Following

They/them. Chemistry teaching faculty at UMBC. LongCOVID. Programming, equity, and non-traditional paths in chemistry education. Centering humans and hope. Opinions very much my own.

The cover of "Pushing electrons: a guide for students of organic chemistry"
Close up of a small blue flower with six petals and a tiny yellow center on the end of a long green stem
A hand drawn hexagon that's slightly wiggly and off kilter with a dotted line showing the perfect shape and a 90% rating
A wery old bottle of quinoline a blue and white Fisher label.
Screenshot showing Integrity in the forground, a crescent moon in the middle, and a tiny bright crescent Earth about to set on the Moon
Two black cats eating food off a minature bench feeder. The bench is painted bright colors and has a small blue umbrella.
The large or ate white dome of the US Capitol against clear blue sky. In the foreground is a sign that says "Indict, convict, imprison"
Photo of me sitting on the floor in front of three cats. All are sitting on orange towels facing me while I reach for more treats.
Screenshot from the newspaper The Baltimore Banner showing a couple stories, one of which is "Can AI-powered weapons detection protect school - without targeting students?"
A car selfie showing me in the drivers seat, a white person with purple hair in a brimmed hat. Behind me are three kids in the back seat, their faces covered by smiling emoji.
The cover of the mentioned book showing an illustration of a brilliant orange phoenix rising above a dark background with a small warmly lit house
A hanging pot covered in orange fabric with many tiny vines tumbling out
A plastic container labeled "soft spread", filled with dirt and with several green leafy pothos vines growing out
A blond child with a red bandaid on their arm, facing away from the camera
The inside of a bag filled with a jumble of whiteboard markers, rags, and a cord of some sort
This is an advertisement for UMBC Chemistry & Biochemistry's virtual graduate school open house. It takes place Friday September 26th, 2025 from 3 to 6 pm via WebEx. The schedule includes faculty meetings, a departmental overview, and a panel with current graduate students.
In the foreground, a pair of protest signs. Behind them are a tree, buildings, the mast of a tall ship, and bright blue sky
The vivid orange and blue cover of "Let this radicalize you" by Kelky Hayes and Mariame Kaba
A green colander full of a collection of small and medium potatos, close to a gallon's worth
In the foreground, a kid at the edge of a crowd watching a show. In the background, a screen showing Joan Jett playing an electric guitar, looking epically cool
The cover of "The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman" by Niko Stratis, rainbow gradient type on a plain navy blue background
A crowd of people marcbing in the street with many signs. The street sign says "Pratt"
A table. Headings across the top list five skills, including "Formal writing" and "Analysis skills". Headings along the side rank from Advanced to Basic. Each cell in the table lists assignments like "90% on two full reports" and "Literature presentation"
A green leafy tree branch studded with red and pink and pale green berries
Half a lemon with a peppermint stick stuck in it, held against a blue city sky
A large crowd of people gather3d in a plaza carrying signs and flags. In the background is a tall ship and the Baltimore world trade center
A brown stripey cat on a shelf next to a sunny window. He's sniffing a vase of lilac flowers.
Screenshot from an email. Text reads: "By the end of this workshop you'll be able to: Spot hiring trends across federal agencies to target your applications more strategically. Unlock the benefits of a federal career, from work-life balance to long-term security. Jumpstart your journey with insider info on student fellowships and internships that open doors."
A four pack of square tissue boxes
Screenshot showing the ACS Publications logo with title text saying "Help us understand the impact of funding reductions"
View from my front porch of two pink dogwood trees in full bloom, with pink cherry trees in the background. It's a riot of soft pinks and greens. A row of pots and a green vine frame the foreground.
Two dogwood trees in full bloom, simply a mass of lovely soft pink flowers with occasionally scribbles of pale green leaves. In the forground is a row of potted plants including tomato seedlings, all sitting on a wall.
View from a parking structure showing a public square full of people
The covere of the C&EN magazine with large letters proclaiming "Support science: ACS remains resolute in our support of science"
A single rose against an old wooden fence. The rose is shades of pink, orange, and yellow, and almost glows against the gray wood.
Screenshot with text: We are not alone. We don't have to do everything ourselves or keep going forever. We are not starting from scratch. Im our science and all the rest of our lives, we are the legacies of those who came before us. We might be refashioning their well-honed tools or building entirely new onrs, but we know it works best when we work together.
The view through my front door of the low wide wall between my porch and my neighbor's porch. A kid is sitting on the wall in front of a board game and a candalabra that looks like something of a movie. Behind the kid is part of an adult's head.
A crowd of people with signs in front of the Maryland statehouse. The sky is bright blue. The signs are pro democracy and anti-Trump
An old tray with five small pots of inch seedlings each with a few leaves
An anatomical drawing of the muscles in a cat's hip and thigh. My finger is pointing to one labeled "gluteus medius" which is rather wide. A smaller muscle next to it is labeled "gluteus superficialis".
A brown striped cat wearing a purple shirt with Pikachu on it. He's dozing on my lap.
Screenshot saying "It occurs to me that there are a lot of us in STEM fields who need to be thinking about our fields, not as technical disciplines where problems need to be solved by any means at the students' disposal, but as liberal arts where the path the student takes to the solution is as important as the solution itself. If only the answer matters, then absolutely we should be employing technology in any way we can. We need to take the attitude that it isn't just the answer that matters."
Five candles on a cluttered shelf, in a dark room
A bottle containing an orange liquid. On the bottle is a cartoon salt shaker and the text "Shake it till you make it"
The box to a microwave meal called "kid cuisine: level up" showing chicken nuggets, french fries, some sort of dessert, and cartoon dinosaurs
A picture of the trees across the street. They're of widely varying heights, with a smattering of red and orange leaves left. The understory is still kinda green. In the foreground is a jumble of pots with a few living plants sitting on my porch wall.
Selfie taken from my bathroom mirror with my phone visible in front of my face. The hair on top of my head is damp and dark purple. The hair on the sides of my head is buzzed short and brown. I'm wearing big purple headphones that match my hair.
Selfie of two people: an adult and child. The child has an emoji sticker over their face. Both have voting stickers on their shirts.
A lab bench cleared of almost all objects, freshly scrubbed, with several gas cylinders an other lrage lab equipment visible
The cover of "The pairing" by Casey McQuiston, showing a cutsey drawing of two people kissing
Screenshot showing a snippet of a gradebook. The top grade is nonsense symbols layered on top of each other. The second grade says "New submission". The third grade says "new submission" and "-/2" layered on top of each other.
A grassy slope with a wide trench several feet deep. Inside the trench are various plants and a deep pool of water. The weather is gray and rainy.
A prescription bottle with a green digital timer cap saying it's been 2 hours and 33 minutes since last opened
A simple graphic saying "celebrating 10M users, #149,483" with a stamp noting first ten percent
A hexasticks pictured from an angle showing four groups of pencils coming out of a central point
A selfie of me, a white person with short maroon hair. I'm wearing a green button down shirt, deep purple tie, salmon pants, and a black jacket.
A few round playing cards and several number stands with index cards of writing attached, all laying on a desk
A tray filled with office supplies. There are about three dozen dry erase markers of various colors, several red pens, a pack of note cards, post it pads, and clear tape.
A Dyson stick vacuum next to the box and packing material it came in. The vacuum is red with purple and gray accents and quite sleek looking.
The LED screen of a home built electronic device that says "CO2: 1094 ppm, Iffy CO2?"