Designing STEM outreach programs for K-12 classrooms often becomes a balancing act between ambitious goals and limited resources. Scientific equipment is just one kind of resource, but one that is unavailable to many schools. Time is a less obvious resource, but time away from classroom curriculum is becoming increasingly hard for teachers to justify with their administrators. And personal access to relevant experts – face time with actual scientists – is a resource that many programs don’t even get to add to their wish lists.

For Cammi Valdez, undergraduate research was a pivotal moment in her life. It was her first exposure to thinking critically about a single question and the first time she could delve into thinking about creating something novel. Now program manager for the Harvard University Amgen Scholars Program, Valdez loves seeing that transformation occur for students participating in the undergraduate research experience.

Whirlpool Corporation has risen in the Newsweek Green Rankings to 50 and 82 on the national and global lists respectively. The rankings assess the environmental performance of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. and the world. This year, Whirlpool Corporation was classified as a "top-ranked company," a designation awarded to fewer than 100 companies on either list.