Ice Cream $cientist Dr. Maya Warren Gives Us the Scoop III: The Path
“Find what makes your heart flutter… my heart flutters with ice cream”
Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall… we love our ice cream. We love it so much that we find dairy alternatives to keep up the 20+ liters of it that we eat every year. But, what’s it really all about and who are the peeps in charge of our tasty treats?
Dr. Maya Warren, Food $cientist extraordinaire, gives us The Breakdown in this installment of IWA$ (Interview With a $cientist). She lets us into her cool as ice world in four scoops… The Work, The Nerdicus $tuff, The Path, and The Mix-Ins.
Here is The Path that Dr. Maya carved out to achieve her goals in academia and Industry. hear how She went from cool Chem nerd to discovering a career that helps to heal Earthlings as an ice cream scientist outside of medicine.
Ice Cream Sundays with Dr. Maya is one of the best ways to cool off this Summer! No-churn ice cream that based off Lucky Charms cereal is one of her many fantastically delicious creations. (Image: Dr. Maya Warren)
The Basics
JOB TITLE: SR. DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT & TASTE MASTER
YEARS IN THE GAME: 11
EDUCATION: PHD FOOD SCIENCE, BA CHEMISTRY
WHO: MAYA WARREN, PHD
WHAT: ICE CREAM SCIENTIST
WHEREABOUTS: COLD STONE CREAMERY, CITY OF ANGELS
Like many of us, Dr. Warren knew that she liked certain things- chemistry, ice cream, adventure. But what to do with that hard-earned degree? Hear her tell us how she found her path.
Getting $kooled
Senior year is a key year to make decisions that may impact the rest of our lives. I’m grateful to Dr. Maya for talking about how she had to make the decision for herself to pursue the path of food science with her degree instead of medicine. Hearing how the television show Unwrapped and an internship helped her decide to get a PhD is inspiring to young STEMmers all over the globe.
Nerdicus SOS
Reaching out to mentors and others for guidance can be the most difficult necessity for young $cientists in all fields. Dr. Maya points out that having a diversity of mentors on several levels is key, as is surrounding yourself ourselves with likeminded and supportive people. Listen to her point about needing a support team because we cannot always see where we can go.
ImPoster Syndrome
One would think a person as cool as Dr. Warren would not second guess herself. It is refreshing to see her explain how even she- Prom Queen, top of the class, athlete- was able to overcome bouts of imposter syndrome. She acclimated to college and worked through her self-doubt to achieve her goals. Her advice for young people interested in STEM is unbeatable… this is our favorite flavor!
$cience Is Beauty
Beauty is Science
