S14E9 - Darrell "SciPoet" Stover on storytelling in science and biotech

GES Colloquium, 11/10/2026:

Three Science Stories: Botany, Biotech, IT, and I; or, Lee, Finley, Witherspoon, and Me

Mr. Darrell Stover, aka SCIPOET

Lecturer in Science, Technology, & Society, and in Africana Studies at NC State / Head of NC Science Museum Grant Program at NC Museum of Natural Sciences | Profile 

Full details at https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/colloquium-2026-11-10/ 

Watch the video

Related links:

• Darrell “SciPoet” Stover – Science Poetry: Case of the Two Rita’s | GES Colloquium, Feb 25, 2020 (our most watched colloquium recording!)

AI-generated Overview and Summary

This colloquium presentation, delivered by Darrell Stover (also known as SciPoet) at the GES Colloquium, explored the intersection of science, history, storytelling, and poetry. The talk centered on three pioneering African American microbiologists — Dr. James Sumner Lee Sr., Dr. Harold Eugene Finley Sr., and Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon — and their significant yet underrecognized contributions to microbiology, institution-building, and science education. Stover also wove in his own personal journey through science, from childhood microscopy to working at the National Cancer Institute (NIH) and later becoming a science communicator, poet, and educator.

Key Concepts or Theories

• Science storytelling as a tool for broadening public engagement with and appreciation of science
• The role of African American scientists in advancing microbiology, biotechnology, and academic institution-building
• The tripartite relationship between academia, government, and the private sector in advancing biotech
• Science poetry as a bridge between scientific knowledge and general audiences
• Afrofuturism as a lens for examining Black contributions to science, mathematics, and culture

Important Questions Raised

• How can science poetry and science art help people understand science from different perspectives compared to traditional science education?
• What does the election of a PhD microbiologist (Jasmine Clark) to Congress mean for the future of the field?
• How do the stories of underrepresented scientists like Dr. Lee, Dr. Finley, and Dr. Witherspoon reshape our understanding of the history of science?
• What is the significance of community and institution-building alongside scientific research?

Key Takeaways and Summary of Learning Objectives

• Three pioneering African American microbiologists — Dr. James Sumner Lee Sr., Dr. Harold Eugene Finley Sr., and Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon — made foundational contributions to microbiology, science education, and institutional development that remain largely untold.
• Stover's personal trajectory — from childhood microscopy and science fairs to NIH research, science editing, and science poetry — illustrates how early exposure to science shapes lifelong engagement.
• Science storytelling and poetry are powerful tools for making science accessible to broader, non-specialist audiences.
• The biotech ecosystem in the Triangle and beyond was built through the convergence of academia, government, and private sector investment, with African American scientists playing key roles.
• Representation in science — through stories, art, and poetry — is essential for inspiring future generations and correcting historical omissions.
• The election of Jasmine Clark, a PhD microbiologist, to Congress signals a potential shift in how science informs public policy.

Topic 1: Stover's Personal Journey in Science

Stover opened by situating his talk within his own biography, tracing a lifelong relationship with microscopy that began in childhood. As a young person in Prince George's County, Maryland, he received a microscope as a gift — an experience he is developing into a children's book. He went on to participate in science fairs at the University of Maryland College Park, where all of his projects involved microscopes, covering topics such as pollution and protozoa, black flies and parasitism, chlorella symbiosis in hydra, and the effects of organic substances on chlorella growth.

He studied microbiology at the University of Maryland College Park under Rita Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation and president of the American Society for Microbiologists. Concurrently, he worked in the viral oncology program at the National Cancer Institute at NIH, where he gained experience in electron microscopy and contributed to published research on retroviruses. He later pursued graduate studies in Science, Communications, and Writing at Johns Hopkins University, and worked in the private sector as a microbiology and biotech editor, helping to establish research databases and recruiting Rita Colwell as an editorial advisor.

More recently, Stover developed a Science of Storytelling workshop for the Morehead Planetarium and Museum of Science at UNC Chapel Hill, which has been used by community colleges across North Carolina to train instructors in communicating science through narrative. He also serves as Grants Director for the North Carolina Museum of Science and is a lecturer at NC State, teaching courses on science and technology and society, and Black popular culture from blues to Afrofuturism.

Relevant Q\&A

Question: Can you talk about how science poetry and science art can help folks understand science from different perspectives than straight science education?

Answer (Stover): Science poetry and storytelling raise science to a higher level of engagement by stimulating different areas of interest and making scientific concepts more accessible. The poem "Mad Baby," for example, popularizes the organism Pfiesteria piscicida, the environmental science surrounding it, and the researcher Joanne Burkholder, while also addressing the real-world challenges she faced in having her findings accepted. Most people on the planet are not raised in science and are not familiar with its vocabulary, so stories and poetry create an attachment and passion for science that traditional education alone may not achieve.

Topic 2: Dr. James Sumner Lee Sr. — North Carolina Central University

Dr. James Sumner Lee Sr. was a microbiologist at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) who made significant contributions to the understanding of bacterial genetics. At a time when the distinction between animal cells and bacterial cells was still being debated, Dr. Lee developed methods to visualize what he called the "nucleus" in bacteria — now understood as the nucleoid — setting the stage for identifying bacterial genetic material. He published an early paper in AAAS Science Magazine in 1941 examining paramecia and the contractile vacuole.

Dr. Lee was instrumental in bringing NCCU into the National Science Foundation research grant pipeline and was a member of the American Biological Society (now the American Society for Microbiology). He also established NSF-funded summer institutes to immerse young people in science. His legacy extends through his students, most notably Dr. Thomas C. Malone, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at NCCU under Dr. Lee, received his PhD from Harvard in 1952, and served as the sixth Deputy Director of NIH from 1977 to 1986 — a period that overlapped with Stover's own time at NIH.

NCCU's campus is also home to the Julius Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute, which focuses on health disparities research using molecular biology and gene sequencing, and the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), which focuses on biomanufacturing.

Relevant Q\&A

Question: What does the election of Jasmine Clark, a PhD microbiologist, to Congress mean for the field, and what recommendations would you give to propel it forward?

Answer (Stover): The answer is straightforward — more funding. The return on investment in science has consistently exceeded the initial dollar invested, and the byproducts of that investment have had major societal impacts. The priority should be to correct disruptions in funding chains and to find ways to invest in science as a means of investing in ourselves as a society.

Topic 3: Dr. Harold Eugene Finley Sr. — Howard University

Dr. Harold Eugene Finley Sr. was a microbiologist at Howard University whose primary research focused on the structure and biology of Vorticella — microscopic, ciliated organisms that Stover described as "upside-down vacuum cleaners." Dr. Finley's earliest paper, derived from his PhD dissertation, was published in the Transactions of the American Microscopical Society. He also published work on what he called the "paratricha," an older term for ciliates, in the proceedings of the First International Congress of Protozoology (1961), a volume that Stover had studied as a young science fair participant at the Library of Congress and later acquired personally.

Dr. Finley was known for conducting microscopy workshops not only at Howard University but globally, including in Brazil. He was a towering figure in the field, and two volumes of the Transactions of the American Microscopical Society were issued in tribute to him in 1975 and 1976, the year after his death. These volumes, sent to Stover by Dr. Corliss (a former professor at the University of Maryland), contain letters and papers from researchers around the world honoring Dr. Finley.

Stover later realized that Dr. Finley had been one of the judges at the University of Maryland science fairs where he had won first place two years in a row — a connection he only made after acquiring the tribute volumes and recognizing Dr. Finley's photograph. Dr. Finley's students went on to distinguished careers in academia, federal research, and university administration, including Will Sutton, who became a vice president at several universities and always identified first as a scientist trained under Dr. Finley.

Relevant Q\&A

Question: Have you written poems about Vorticella?

Answer (Stover): Yes — Vorticella appears in a poem he is developing, "I Got a Microscope," which references Vorticella, paramecia, and green chlorella embedded in hydra as organisms he explored through his childhood microscope.

Topic 4: Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon — NC State University

Dr. Augustus McIver Witherspoon was the second person to receive a doctorate from North Carolina State University. He studied botany with a focus on algae, specifically green algae (Chlorophyceae), and conducted field research on the ecology of green algae in Cumberland County, North Carolina. His doctoral dissertation examined Chlamydomonas, and he also published research on phytoplankton and water quality in the Chowan River system, which flows into the Albemarle Sound.

Dr. Witherspoon taught the graduate-level course in phycology (the study of algae) at NC State and served in multiple administrative roles, including assistant dean, associate dean, acting dean of the graduate school, and eventually Associate Provost and Coordinator of African American Affairs. He was a champion for making NC State more inclusive and welcoming to Black students and the broader community. The Witherspoon Building on NC State's campus, which houses the African American Cultural Center, is named in his honor — a testament to his dual legacy in science and institutional transformation.

Topic 5: Science Poetry and Storytelling as Science Communication

A central thread throughout the presentation was Stover's argument that science poetry and storytelling are essential tools for science communication, particularly for reaching audiences who are not embedded in scientific culture. He performed two poems during the session: "Cloud Cruise," written in response to artist Joel Ong's installation Terra et Venti for the "Arts Works in the Age of Biotechnology" exhibition, which explored the role of Pseudomonas bacteria in cloud formation and weather seeding; and "Mad Baby," a poem about Pfiesteria piscicida, the organism identified by NC State researcher Joanne Burkholder as responsible for major fish kills in North Carolina's coastal waters.

Stover argued that giving organisms and scientific phenomena memorable, humanizing names — like "Mad Baby" for Pfiesteria — draws people in and creates emotional and intellectual engagement with science. He noted that the "Mad Baby" poem is used as a central example in the Science of Storytelling workshops he developed for community colleges. He also discussed his forthcoming essay, "Strange Mathematics," to be published in the Edinburgh Companion to Afrofuturist Studies, which examines the contributions of Black women mathematicians of the 1940s and 1950s, including the first Black women to receive doctorates in mathematics in 1943.

Relevant Q\&A

Question: You should recite "Mad Baby" if you have it memorized.

Answer: Stover performed "Mad Baby" in full, engaging the audience in a call-and-response format, and explained that the poem was inspired by a microphotograph of Pfiesteria piscicida sent to him by Joanne Burkholder's news office at NC State. The organism's appearance — resembling a large-headed baby with big ears, a bald head, a protruding tongue, and sunglasses — inspired the poem's title and imagery. He noted that Joanne Burkholder faced significant resistance in having her findings accepted, partly due to concerns about the fishing industry.

Actionable Next Steps / Assignments

• There will be no Colloquium next week due to a personal matter with the scheduled speaker. Communications will be sent out with further details.
• Students who are enrolled in Stover's courses are reminded of the extra credit question from the midterm exam related to the North Carolina biotech ecosystem (naming three areas of the ecosystem).
• Attendees interested in submitting public comment to Jasmine Clark's office regarding science funding are encouraged to do so, with submissions expected to open in February.

Supplemental Resources

• Book: Plants by Numbers Art, Computation, and Queer Feminist Technoscience, which includes Stover's poem "Cloud Cruise" written in response to Joel Ong's installation Terra et Venti. Available through the NC State library collection thanks to a request by Fred Gould.
• Publication: The Molecular Biology of the Gene (7th edition) — a foundational text in molecular biology referenced throughout the presentation as a marker of the field's evolution.
• Forthcoming essay: "Strange Mathematics" by Stover, to be published in the Edinburgh Companion to Afrofuturist Studies, examining Black women mathematicians of the 1940s and 1950s through the lens of Afrofuturism and the TV series Lovecraft Country.
• Transactions of the American Microscopical Society (1975 and 1976 tribute volumes to Dr. Harold Eugene Finley Sr.) — referenced as key archival material on Dr. Finley's life and legacy.
• Science of Storytelling workshop — developed by Stover for the Morehead Planetarium and Museum of Science at UNC Chapel Hill, currently in use at community colleges across North Carolina.

__ Recorded from NC State’s GES Colloquium, this podcast examines how biotechnologies take shape in the world: microbiome engineering in built environments, gene editing and gene drives, forest and agricultural genomics, data governance and equity, risk and regulation, sci-art, and public engagement in practice.

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