Jamie Orr
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grew up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, just as Silicon Valley was starting to really take off. As a kid, I loved going to local museums and parks, which the Bay Area is full of, including NASA Ames. I remember that in third grade, I had the opportunity to be the “Teacher for a Day” as part of a contest at my elementary school. From then on, I knew that I wanted to teach. As I progressed in school, although I loved many topics, science definitely rose to the top. My favorite TV show was the 80s drama “Macgyver”, I really just wanted to be him, which is something I rarely admit to anyone because it both dates me and is pretty nerdy. In eighth grade, I participated in my first science fair, and won with a project on the Gaussian distribution. I got to meet with a few scientists who made me feel really good about my accomplishment and encouraged me to pursue physics or math. In high school, I fell in love with physics. I got the opportunity to take a tour of Stanford’s Linear Accelerator Center and knew that’s what I wanted to do. From there, I was laser focused on pursuing a PhD in physics. I did so by completing a BS degree at CalPoly San Luis Obispo with some amazing professors, and my PhD from UC Davis. It wasn’t an easy path, but I will never regret doing it.
While in school, it’s pretty normal to assume that you will get a PhD and then become a professor. I think this is primarily because that’s who you are surrounded by. I had very little exposure to anyone who completed a degree in physics and went outside of academia. But that’s exactly where I, and most of my colleagues, have ended up.
I taught for a few years at a community college while finishing my PhD. Then, when I finished, I began working on developing new engineering curriculum for the college in renewable energy, bioengineering, and 3d printing. The curriculum development process gave me a lot of time flexibility (I was married, then pregnant at this point, then had an infant). It also gave me the opportunity to keep learning, which is really my true passion. I also became very familiar with a lot of different industries and companies, in addition to the community college system.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
To continue my story from question 1 –
After a few years of teaching, developing curriculum, and networking with industry, my husband and I decided that the Silicon Valley lifestyle just wasn’t right for our family. We picked up and moved to Lake Tahoe, our favorite vacation spot in the world.
There, we decided to combine our talents. His, in start-up business development, mine in education, to open a coworking space and business incubator in Lake Tahoe. Although a small community, there are a lot of residents that work remotely, free-lance, or have start-ups, but they had no central place to go to work or find support. We are now providing that service. Day to day for that is varied. One morning I might be planning a start-up retreat, meeting with economic development officials from two states, or just chatting about the latest drone technology with a member. Start-up life means wearing many hats – you have to be the janitor, the secretary, the manager, the concierge, the mentor. I now mentor and advise a wide range of start-ups in both California and Nevada and love every minute of it.
I haven’t dropped my connections to higher education, however. I also have a full time position doing workforce and economic development in the energy efficiency, construction, and utilities sector for the California Community College system. I work with 28 colleges in the SF Bay Area from Santa Rosa to Monterey to improve, update, and grow their educational programs in my sector to suit the needs of their students and the companies that want to hire them. It is also a job with no set day to day schedule, but offers me a continued learning platform and an excellent professional network.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
While it may not seem obvious how theoretical biophysics fits into economic development work, I feel like it was an excellent preparation. Number one, it serves as leverage when I meet someone new. As a woman, I need to prove myself right off the bat in order to have my opinion be respected. Have a doctorate in physics gives me that “street cred.” So, although I am the youngest person on my team by at least 25 years, and the only woman, I still am afforded the same level of respect as my colleagues. The PhD isn’t the only reason for that, but it certainly has helped.
I also use a systems thinking viewpoint in all of the work I do. Strategizing on how to make statewide or regional efforts work requires being able to see the big picture, and also knowing how the pieces of the big picture can work together. That’s just physics, but with different variables.
The energy efficiency industry is also highly technical. Because of my physics training, I have a strong understanding of the technology, and can also learn very quickly if I don’t.
If I feel like I’m missing some of that pure science, I will still teach an occasional class at the local college in math, physics, or chemistry. I also do workshops with elementary school students on 3D printing and design, and give lectures on modern physics topics to anyone who asks.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
Unfortunately, I have to answer yes. One of the best descriptions I have read about the discrimination faced by woman, in STEM in particular, is “many little cuts”. Often times there was not a concrete event that I could easily point to – I wasn’t asked bluntly to sleep with a male professor (although I’ve had colleagues face that), or told point blank I wasn’t good enough because I was a woman. I was however pushed out of a research group by a professor who has yet to graduate a woman from his group. He made the excuse that I didn’t work hard enough, although I put in more work than most of my male colleagues. I was sometimes questioned on my clothing choices while working in a lab because my male counterparts couldn’t understand someone wearing a skirt and doing science. I was subjected to being pointed out as the only woman in a large physics class. I doubt that most of the things that hurt me were intended to do so, but it adds up and is why many women leave STEM fields. It gets exhausting.
I dealt with it as an undergraduate by becoming the first woman Society of Physics Students president my college had ever had. I stood up to the “boy’s club” humor in the physics club room and made sure that the other women in my department felt comfortable doing work there.
After getting pushed out of the graduate group, I found the professor with the most women in his group and joined it. He was incredibly supportive and I showed my former professor that I was worth my salt by finishing and attaining my PhD.
The advice that I often give to up and coming women in STEM is to not put up with it. You are not alone, you are not “just being sensitive”, and you are just as smart as any man in your program…. probably smarter. It’s also really important to find a mentor. It doesn’t have to be another woman in STEM, although that certainly helps. What you need is a mentor that will show you your own strengths and help you through when you face challenges, whether they stem from the subject matter, or what its like to have a family as a woman in STEM. All those questions are important.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is constantly meeting and learning from amazing people, and watching them succeed as a result of working with me. I love the pace and that I never really know what my day is going to bring.
The worst part – the fast pace can also be exhausting when some days all I want to do is take my daughter skiing.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I wish I had the secrets to balance, but I’m still figuring it out. One thing that has really helped was making the conscious decision to work where I wanted to live, not the other way around. I love the outdoors, I wanted a wonderful place to raise my daughter, and I wanted to be part of a community where I could make an impact. For me, that place was Lake Tahoe. Lots of friends thought I was crazy to leave the center of the start-up universe and move to the mountains, but I haven’t looked back once. Those same friends are now jealous, too.
7. What do you define success as?
For me, success is making a difference in someone else’s life, whether that is my child, a client, a student, or a total stranger. If I have helped someone, I have had a good day. The other things – money, recognition, promotions – those will fall into place if you stay true to making the world a better place.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Open-mindedness. If you aren’t open to new ideas or opportunities, you will never get anywhere.
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I have been lucky enough to have several – my music teacher in high school that helped me gain confidence and taught me to follow my passions, not someone else’s, my physics advisor in undergrad that showed me that women could rock at physics no matter what anyone else said, my graduate advisor that trusted me to be a successful researcher and gave me the room to learn how, my first dean who pushed me to develop an entirely new skill set outside of teaching that really led to my new found career as an education-industry liaison.
What they all showed me were strengths I already had, especially when I had a hard time seeing them for myself. They all opened doors, and then supported me when I walked through.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
Keep yourself open to opportunities, and then take advantage of them by working hard and being persistent. You never know what amazing journey they will take you on.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, just as Silicon Valley was starting to really take off. As a kid, I loved going to local museums and parks, which the Bay Area is full of, including NASA Ames. I remember that in third grade, I had the opportunity to be the “Teacher for a Day” as part of a contest at my elementary school. From then on, I knew that I wanted to teach. As I progressed in school, although I loved many topics, science definitely rose to the top. My favorite TV show was the 80s drama “Macgyver”, I really just wanted to be him, which is something I rarely admit to anyone because it both dates me and is pretty nerdy. In eighth grade, I participated in my first science fair, and won with a project on the Gaussian distribution. I got to meet with a few scientists who made me feel really good about my accomplishment and encouraged me to pursue physics or math. In high school, I fell in love with physics. I got the opportunity to take a tour of Stanford’s Linear Accelerator Center and knew that’s what I wanted to do. From there, I was laser focused on pursuing a PhD in physics. I did so by completing a BS degree at CalPoly San Luis Obispo with some amazing professors, and my PhD from UC Davis. It wasn’t an easy path, but I will never regret doing it.
While in school, it’s pretty normal to assume that you will get a PhD and then become a professor. I think this is primarily because that’s who you are surrounded by. I had very little exposure to anyone who completed a degree in physics and went outside of academia. But that’s exactly where I, and most of my colleagues, have ended up.
I taught for a few years at a community college while finishing my PhD. Then, when I finished, I began working on developing new engineering curriculum for the college in renewable energy, bioengineering, and 3d printing. The curriculum development process gave me a lot of time flexibility (I was married, then pregnant at this point, then had an infant). It also gave me the opportunity to keep learning, which is really my true passion. I also became very familiar with a lot of different industries and companies, in addition to the community college system.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
To continue my story from question 1 –
After a few years of teaching, developing curriculum, and networking with industry, my husband and I decided that the Silicon Valley lifestyle just wasn’t right for our family. We picked up and moved to Lake Tahoe, our favorite vacation spot in the world.
There, we decided to combine our talents. His, in start-up business development, mine in education, to open a coworking space and business incubator in Lake Tahoe. Although a small community, there are a lot of residents that work remotely, free-lance, or have start-ups, but they had no central place to go to work or find support. We are now providing that service. Day to day for that is varied. One morning I might be planning a start-up retreat, meeting with economic development officials from two states, or just chatting about the latest drone technology with a member. Start-up life means wearing many hats – you have to be the janitor, the secretary, the manager, the concierge, the mentor. I now mentor and advise a wide range of start-ups in both California and Nevada and love every minute of it.
I haven’t dropped my connections to higher education, however. I also have a full time position doing workforce and economic development in the energy efficiency, construction, and utilities sector for the California Community College system. I work with 28 colleges in the SF Bay Area from Santa Rosa to Monterey to improve, update, and grow their educational programs in my sector to suit the needs of their students and the companies that want to hire them. It is also a job with no set day to day schedule, but offers me a continued learning platform and an excellent professional network.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
While it may not seem obvious how theoretical biophysics fits into economic development work, I feel like it was an excellent preparation. Number one, it serves as leverage when I meet someone new. As a woman, I need to prove myself right off the bat in order to have my opinion be respected. Have a doctorate in physics gives me that “street cred.” So, although I am the youngest person on my team by at least 25 years, and the only woman, I still am afforded the same level of respect as my colleagues. The PhD isn’t the only reason for that, but it certainly has helped.
I also use a systems thinking viewpoint in all of the work I do. Strategizing on how to make statewide or regional efforts work requires being able to see the big picture, and also knowing how the pieces of the big picture can work together. That’s just physics, but with different variables.
The energy efficiency industry is also highly technical. Because of my physics training, I have a strong understanding of the technology, and can also learn very quickly if I don’t.
If I feel like I’m missing some of that pure science, I will still teach an occasional class at the local college in math, physics, or chemistry. I also do workshops with elementary school students on 3D printing and design, and give lectures on modern physics topics to anyone who asks.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
Unfortunately, I have to answer yes. One of the best descriptions I have read about the discrimination faced by woman, in STEM in particular, is “many little cuts”. Often times there was not a concrete event that I could easily point to – I wasn’t asked bluntly to sleep with a male professor (although I’ve had colleagues face that), or told point blank I wasn’t good enough because I was a woman. I was however pushed out of a research group by a professor who has yet to graduate a woman from his group. He made the excuse that I didn’t work hard enough, although I put in more work than most of my male colleagues. I was sometimes questioned on my clothing choices while working in a lab because my male counterparts couldn’t understand someone wearing a skirt and doing science. I was subjected to being pointed out as the only woman in a large physics class. I doubt that most of the things that hurt me were intended to do so, but it adds up and is why many women leave STEM fields. It gets exhausting.
I dealt with it as an undergraduate by becoming the first woman Society of Physics Students president my college had ever had. I stood up to the “boy’s club” humor in the physics club room and made sure that the other women in my department felt comfortable doing work there.
After getting pushed out of the graduate group, I found the professor with the most women in his group and joined it. He was incredibly supportive and I showed my former professor that I was worth my salt by finishing and attaining my PhD.
The advice that I often give to up and coming women in STEM is to not put up with it. You are not alone, you are not “just being sensitive”, and you are just as smart as any man in your program…. probably smarter. It’s also really important to find a mentor. It doesn’t have to be another woman in STEM, although that certainly helps. What you need is a mentor that will show you your own strengths and help you through when you face challenges, whether they stem from the subject matter, or what its like to have a family as a woman in STEM. All those questions are important.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is constantly meeting and learning from amazing people, and watching them succeed as a result of working with me. I love the pace and that I never really know what my day is going to bring.
The worst part – the fast pace can also be exhausting when some days all I want to do is take my daughter skiing.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I wish I had the secrets to balance, but I’m still figuring it out. One thing that has really helped was making the conscious decision to work where I wanted to live, not the other way around. I love the outdoors, I wanted a wonderful place to raise my daughter, and I wanted to be part of a community where I could make an impact. For me, that place was Lake Tahoe. Lots of friends thought I was crazy to leave the center of the start-up universe and move to the mountains, but I haven’t looked back once. Those same friends are now jealous, too.
7. What do you define success as?
For me, success is making a difference in someone else’s life, whether that is my child, a client, a student, or a total stranger. If I have helped someone, I have had a good day. The other things – money, recognition, promotions – those will fall into place if you stay true to making the world a better place.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Open-mindedness. If you aren’t open to new ideas or opportunities, you will never get anywhere.
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I have been lucky enough to have several – my music teacher in high school that helped me gain confidence and taught me to follow my passions, not someone else’s, my physics advisor in undergrad that showed me that women could rock at physics no matter what anyone else said, my graduate advisor that trusted me to be a successful researcher and gave me the room to learn how, my first dean who pushed me to develop an entirely new skill set outside of teaching that really led to my new found career as an education-industry liaison.
What they all showed me were strengths I already had, especially when I had a hard time seeing them for myself. They all opened doors, and then supported me when I walked through.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
Keep yourself open to opportunities, and then take advantage of them by working hard and being persistent. You never know what amazing journey they will take you on.