Welcome New Staff Member: Shanta Outlaw as the newest member to our team at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
We would like to welcome Shanta Outlaw as the newest member to our team at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health San Antonio.
Shanta will work closely alongside Understanding Interventions’ co-directors, Dr. Nicquet Blake, senior associate dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Dr. Anthony DePass, professor of biology at Long Island University as the program manager for the Understanding Interventions Conference. She will be responsible for the planning, execution, and management of program and conference activities, including the annual meeting, satellite meetings, and outreach and training activities of UI.
Shanta is a proud native of Turkey, North Carolina—a small, rural eastern North Carolina town—where she witnessed common challenges faced by people in rural, underdeveloped areas. Such events ignited Shanta’s strong interest in increasing STEM access and equity in pursuit of quality education for underprivileged individuals.
She has worked to translate this passion into her professional endeavors in teaching and higher education leadership, and has since developed a passion for inclusion and equity within teaching and service practices of STEM higher education professionals. Shanta is a results driven and team oriented leader with broad experience and skill in the successful implementation of highly effective programs and projects. She is an expert in the analysis of a project’s critical needs and developing innovative solutions for increasing productivity.
Shanta obtained her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Elizabeth City State University, and Master of Science in Chemical and Life Science from the University of Maryland College Park. She has taught courses in chemistry and physical science at the secondary level at three of northeast North Carolina’s most impoverished high schools where she earned recognition for the growth of student content knowledge.
Additionally, she has also lectured physical science, biology, general chemistry, and analytical chemistry at the undergraduate level for more than a decade. During which time, she also taught and transformed laboratory science courses in chemistry using more research-based and process-oriented guided inquiry with an introduction to experimental design, responsible conduct of research, and effective oral and poster presentation to develop critical thinking and prepare students for advanced STEM careers.
As an ambitious, performance-oriented professional, Shanta has also been managing and directing student training and academic support programs for more than a decade. As program coordinator of Elizabeth City State University MBRS-RISE program, the ECSU-Support Program for Academic and Research Enhancement (ESPARE), and the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) program, and lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Geology and Physics she played a key role in STEM student’s first-year experience, academic support and research training, and senior academic and post graduate advisement. After leaving Elizabeth City State University, she continued her higher education administration career at Long Island University, Brooklyn as the program manager of the national science conference, Understanding Interventions that Broaden Participation in Science. She was in charge of faculty development in the ADVANCE program and student development in the RISE program. At LIU, she oversaw all conference planning, all program related activities, and coordinated program outreach, in addition to managing multimillion dollar budgets to accomplish all program goals and objectives.
Memories last a lifetime, and Shanta enjoys making memories with her family. Whether crafting, painting, traveling, hiking to discover new waterfalls, trying new recipes or restaurants, or discussing goals and visions with her three girls, Shanta believes in empowering the next generation of black and brown girls and boys through realization of their own potential, and exposure to new impactful opportunities.