Mirka Zapletal

Director of Education at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center and mother of 2-year-old Samuel, Mirka Zapletal gave birth to son Andrej in February 2020. Taking just 8 weeks maternity leave, Zapletal came back to work for 32 hours a week in time to spearhead a project to highlight women in STEM through virtual programs and exhibits, while designing and implementing virtual school field trips, virtual summer camps and leading a team in reopening our museum safely – all while enjoying co-parenting her two sons with her husband, being a great colleague to her coworkers, and while working toward her Ph.D. in evolutionary biology!