Jill Ott
CEO and Co-Founder, Science Coach
Jill Ott used her 5 years of science teaching experience and her 30 years as a successful executive and entrepreneur to invent and co-found Science Coach, an innovative STEM nonprofit. Based in St. Louis, Science Coach has built a robust research ecosystem that provides critical support/resources for 6th-12th grade level teachers to coach students as they conduct authentic research and guide them through an immersive career introduction experience to help them discover their own STEM career passions.
Jill also served as Ex Director of the Mastodon Fair, the largest art and science fair in the US. During her tenure, Jill expanded the fair’s geographic reach, increased student participation, and created a commercially-available software product, E-Fair for the complete administration of a fair. Additionally, as CEO of an entrepreneurial software development company, Jill raised $3M in venture capital, had one patent awarded, and secured multiple corporate and government contracts.
All Sessions by Jill Ott
Track B - A Novel Approach to Creating a STEM Pipeline Workforce in K-12 (Presentation)
3rd FloorThis breakout session features a case study of two implementations of a successful St. Louis invented, STEM pipeline-building program - Science Coach Pro-Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS). With unique collaborations (Science Coach/Quest Diagnostics and Science Coach/Cigna Corporation), the program’s dual goal was a) give high school students an extended, real, and positive experience in MLS so they choose it as a career and b) diversify the pipeline for these occupations. Results Of the 450 students participating: - 200 conducted advanced authentic research, with 128 of those being underrepresented students. - 96 declared MLS as their degree area, with 65 of those being underrepresented students. - 14 teachers received MLS skills training, providing them with critical MLS knowledge and making them more comfortable in encouraging students to conduct MLS-focused research projects. As a result, 71 percent more teachers had students complete MLS research than the year prior.