By Minnie Stephenson

Chemist Mercedes Taylor was never interested in playing with test tubes or trying on lab coats as a child. 

“I didn’t think that chemistry was an immediately gripping topic for me,” Taylor said. 

But recently, the Smithsonian recognized Taylor for her work in STEM with a statue at its gardens.

Taylor, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, is an ambassador for IF/THEN. The program seeks to empower the next generation of women in science, technology, engineering and math. 

In partnership with the Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building’s FUTURES exhibit, the #IfTHenSheCan exhibit kicked off Women’s Futures Month at the Smithsonian. It ran from March 5 to March 27, and Taylor’s statue was displayed in the Smithsonian Gardens.  

Taylor started her undergraduate studies at Amherst College as a political science major. She took a few chemistry classes but said they were too challenging. Then she worked in a chemistry research lab for the summer with her professor. 

“I found that extremely fun and hands-on … it was really exciting to be able to do my own experiments,” she said. 

After switching her major and earning a bachelor’s in chemistry, Taylor started working at the National Institutes of Health. There, she was inspired to go to graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. Taylor earned her doctorate in chemistry seven years later and started working at the U.S. Department of Energy in New Mexico. 

The Washington native said she was excited to apply to UMD after three years of working in New Mexico. She started working at the university last summer. 

“I’m really happy to be back in my hometown,” Taylor said. 

Taylor has been an ambassador for the Dallas-based IF/THEN program for three years. Her work with the program includes visiting local schools and encouraging students to pursue STEM fields, especially girls. 

The exhibit honored the 120 IF/THEN ambassadors with orange, 3D-printed statues placed around the National Mall, Smithsonian museums and the Smithsonian Gardens. 

Taylor said when she originally joined the IF/THEN program, each ambassador had to stand in place while cameras took visual scans of their bodies. She said she had no idea what those scans would eventually be used for. 

Ashley Molese, a curator for the FUTURES exhibit, did a walk-through of the #IfThenSheCan exhibit during its opening, along with the U.S. secretary of energy and some of the ambassadors, including Taylor. 

Molese said she was inspired by the work of the IF/THEN ambassadors. She was told she couldn’t pursue a STEM career at a young age because she wasn’t good at math.

“There’s truness in, ‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it,’” Molese said. 

Molese isn’t the only one inspired by women like Taylor. 

Min Chieh Yang, a graduate student studying chemistry, is one of Taylor’s research assistants. Yang said he had a choice between multiple professors to work for. He chose Taylor. 

“She’s definitely really good at chemistry, and as a person, she’s awesome” 

The professor didn’t announce the opening of the exhibit to her research assistants, Yang said. Taylor said she wasn’t used to all the attention. 

“It made me feel weird and embarrassed at one level that there would be a statue of me,” Taylor said. 

Eventually, she decided that being honored was an important representation.

“In a way, there’s power to see people who are regular people doing things that are basically attainable,” Taylor said. “Doing a Ph.D. is hard … scientific research is also hard because a lot of experiments don’t go the way you want them to, they don’t go how you plan, so it takes a lot of perseverance. But it’s far from impossible.”

Featured image: Mercedes Taylor poses with her statue in the Smithsonian Gardens. Photo courtesy Sydney Street.