Dr. Andrea Eller, PhD (Biological Anthropology)

How would you describe your college experience?

For me, I side with Forrest Gump when he says: “College was confusing times”. On the one hand, it was so exciting to be exposed to all this knowledge, all these ways of thinking that I had never considered before. I took lots of social science courses in sociology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and the effect they had on me was profound. I wouldn’t be who I am today without some incredible MTSU faculty. On the other hand, I was dealing with a lot of life issues, shall we say, during that period. I worked part time to make ends meet, and my studies were frequently interrupted by bouts of mental health distress and alcohol abuse. Fairly common college antics, I’m afraid, but they created a lot of drama in my life before I learned how to deal with stress and relationships more positively. It took a long time to sort out what I really wanted to do with myself.

When did you know that you wanted to major in a STEM discipline?

I didn’t enter STEM until graduate school, actually, except a few preparatory courses. In fact, in college I was still reeling from all the negativity around being a female who was good in math and science. I still believed it wasn’t feminine to show off how smart I am. And my MTSU biology class was very careful about discussing evolution, my favorite scientific subject, and by that I mean the professor didn’t discuss it much at all. So, I knew if I wanted to study nature and life sciences I would have to find that somewhere else. Sad, but true back then.

I went on to find a different focus, and I took courses in biology, chemistry, and math to be competitive for graduate school in biological anthropology at the University of Oregon. And now I work at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum as a postdoctoral fellow, studying human evolution and urban environments.

What would you tell a middle or high school girl about careers in STEM?

We need you!! We need your perspectives, your voices, your talents. We need your creativity, and your ability to work well with others. We need your attention to detail, and willingness to help others succeed while you do the same. We need your courage, and your brilliance. We need you to show the world that girls and women are the key to returning the US to being one of the best countries in the world for producing innovative science and technology which can help all of us live more healthily and more sustainably. 

And STEM has a lot to offer in return! We have the coolest toys (lasers, anyone? Also rockets, a whole slew of innovative digital scanning techniques, genomic sequencers, microscopes, maps, and GPS tracking). We get to travel all over the world collecting data and sharing ideas. We also get to have an impact o