Johnathan A. Tucker

I'm Johnathan Tucker, a senior undergraduate in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences program at The University of Colorado Boulder

My primary research interest is in robotic perception and how this extends to learning, motion planning, and control.

Outside of research, I am passionate about conducting outreach to ensure there is equitable access to STEM. The most rewarding part of my experience in the Army was being a leader. I found the process of nurturing other people and enabling them to be more successful as deeply rewarding. I have been fortunate enough to have had a solid network of mentors to help me through my research as well as the graduate school application process. It is not lost on me that this is an advantage that not everyone has. Therefore, I have made efforts to apply the leadership skills I have learned in the Army towards mentoring members of underrepresented communities. This began in my sophomore year where I was able to be a mentor in the American Astronautical Society’s STEM Student Career Arcs to Professional Engineers (STEM-SCAPE). The purpose of STEM-SCAPE is to take a group of 100 high school students from diverse backgrounds and expose them to the aerospace profession. I acted as a mentor to a team of 10 high school students guiding them through a mock mission that gave them hands on experience with aerospace engineering. I believe that STEM outreach programs such as this are imperative to continuing technological advancements and the realization of the vision outlined in the NSF Strategic Plan. Therefore, I am committed to STEM outreach that will allow me to mentor underrepresented students and guide them through the barriers of entry into STEM that currently exist. Pursuant to this commitment I have been volunteering as a tutor at the broadening opportunity through leadership and diversity (BOLD) center at the University of Colorado Boulder. The mission of the BOLD center is to ensure the university produces diverse engineers that are prepared to successfully change the world. My responsibility as a tutor is to devote time each week towards underrepresented students that require help either navigating coursework or their engineering careers in general.