Women in STEM - Sarah Peters
Sarah Peters knew that she was not heterosexual when she was in high school. Coming out as bisexual to her friends and family then, she went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada.
Sarah then spent a number of years working as an engineering project manager and the vice-chair and secretary of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration's Reno chapter, before being elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2018.
Now, Sarah brings her engineering expertise and knowledge to the process of crafting legislation that protects the environment and land-use for her fellow Nevada residents.
Sarah has focused most of her legislative work on strengthening indigenous sovereignty rights, addressing environmental issues, and increasing access to quality healthcare in Nevada. She even used her background in environmental engineering to make a case against the US Air Force purchasing acreage in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and turning it into a bomb testing site.
In testimony related to an Equal Rights Amendment that was being proposed, Sarah decided to make a very public statement about herself:
“Today, as a pansexual, cisgender woman, I stand out for equity and remind us to be inclusive in our LGBT+ community as we work to make Nevada a more equitable place.”
While her sexuality certainly does not change her ability to serve the people of Nevada, nor does it change her background in environmental engineering and the expertise she brings to her position, her coming out as pansexual in such a public way does give others a role model for inclusion and success in both a STEM career and in fulfilling a duty to the country through political service. Sarah is the first openly LGBTQ representative in Nevada, and the third openly pansexual representative nationwide.
To learn more about Sarah, take a look at her WikiPedia Page:
And you can also watch her give her statement on the Assembly Floor:
