Our Team
Tamra Blue
Creative Director and Founder
(she/her/hers)
Tamra Blue has over five years of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specific diversity, equity, inclusion (D.E.I.) mentorship, leadership, and program design. As a chemist whose identity intersects with African American, women, and scientist, she has lived experience of varying degrees of effective D.E.I. leadership and its effect on at-risk persons. She has had the unique educational experience of obtaining a high school diploma from a primarily black environment at Arabia Mountain Highschool, obtaining a B.S. in chemistry in a highly diverse environment at Georgia State University, and obtaining a graduate education in the primarily white environment of Emory University. In addition, she has obtained a professional D.E.I. certification in Race, Gender, and Workspace Equity, focusing on inclusive leadership, intersectionality, and unconscious bias. Her diverse lived experience, STEM-focused educational background, and passion for helping others “be the change they want to see” makes her qualified to lead this team.
Joseph Ambarian
Data Analyst Intern
(he/him/his)
Joseph (Joe) is a 4th year undergraduate at Emory University, majoring in Chemistry and Theater Studies. In collaboration with the Department of Chemistry at Emory, Joe has helped execute several DEI-relevant initiatives—especially regarding race, sexual orientation, and gender identity—in the context of chemistry education and student life. Joe joined the Alchemist Letters team in the summer of 2022; since then, he has been contributing to the design of our Data Talks page and analyzing data relevant to our cause. He is proud to work with the rest of the AL team to build a more inclusive community in STEM academia.
Samantha Hortwiz
Communications Director
(she/her/hers)
Funded in part by the Emory Chemistry Department
Stacey Jones
Content Recruiter
(he/him/his)
Ulrich Lahom
Website Management Director and IT Administrator
(he/him/his)
Ruth Nelson
Data Analyst Intern
(she/her/hers)
Ruth is a senior at Emory University majoring in neuroscience and minoring in statistics. She believes that Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in STEM are absolutely critical to enabling all people, regardless of their background, to follow their passions and realize their potential. With her strong belief in the importance of DEI and her passion for data analysis, at Alchemist Letters, Ruth is proud to work on the Data Analyst team. As part of the AL team she aims to share data-based phenomena and trends pertaining to DEI in the world of STEM. By presenting these data, she hopes to provide Alchemists with a greater understanding of the STEM DEI landscape, both the progress that has been made and the tremendous amount of work still to be done to create a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment in STEM.
Advisor Board
- Theresa Gaines, Ph.D. – Haverford College (they/them/their)
- Bentley Gibson, Ph.D. – Spelman College (she/her/hers)