Marissa Vara

Ms. Marissa Vara works for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education (SciEd) as a Higher Education Specialist, working primarily with a bridge program, the U.S. National Science Foundation Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (NSF SOARS) mentoring students from systematically marginalized communities to create a sense of belonging in research labs, academia, and other STEM career fields. Additionally, she is the UCAR Community Program (UCP) DEI Lead, in which she acts as a liaison for UCAR ODEI and consults on a variety of educational and training programs, supporting undergraduates, early career, and mentors to obtain a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility lens throughout these programs and the UCAR organization, as well as advising the UCP leadership on this subject. 

Marissa has a Bachelor of Science in geoscience from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in geography with focus on paleoclimatology from Louisiana State University. She was encouraged to pursue the geosciences after participating in an outreach program, called GeoFORCE Texas, aiming to support marginalized students from rural and urban areas and expose them to Earth System Sciences. Marissa also has experience working in multiple sectors such as, environmental state government, science policy and federal government, K-12 science education, and academia research. By incorporating her vast experiences, Marissa can share multiple career pathways to her students exposing them to the multitude of opportunities the Earth System Sciences have to offer future generations.