Laura Schmidl
Work
I serve as Director of Education for the Discovery Cube of Orange County and Los Angeles, where I oversee all of the organization's educational content. I began my career with Discovery Cube by managing the Volunteer Department. I work with everyone from operations specialists to UX designers to drive the Cube's educational mission in all our content.
.png)
Background
Prior to joining the Cube, I spent five summers working for the Girl Scouts of Orange County at Camp Scherman in the mountains near Idyllwild, California. I'm a Gold Award recipient (Girl Scouting's highest rank) and love "paying it forward" to help today's kids excel. I'll always take the mountains over the beach.
Education
I earned my bachelor's degree in humanistic studies (HUST) from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. (Yes, that Notre Dame - Go Irish!) My sophomore year was spent living the emerald isle dream in Maynooth, Ireland. I earned my master's degree in the history of the book (yes, books) from the School of Advanced Study, University of London. As a STEM education leader, I advocate for a broad-based, well-rounded education, because STEM in a vacuum doesn't work.
Hobbies
In my spare time, I'm an avid maker and tinkerer. I do mosaic work and wood burning, and I've even designed and built a bar! I also dabble a bit in marquetry and other miscellaneous projects. As a Halloween bride, I love everything pumpkin. And I will never, ever drive an automatic transmission as long as I have a choice.
