Ms. Marissa Vara works for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Center for Science Education (SciEd) as the U.S. National Science Foundation Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (NSF SOARS) Interim Lead. NSF SOARS is a mentorship-driven initiative designed to support undergraduate students from broad communities across the U.S. in Earth System Sciences (ESS). It is an 11-week, multi-year internship program that guides students from undergraduate-to-graduate research and STEM careers providing comprehensive support, through personalized mentoring and community engagement with ESS professionals. Additionally, she is the UCAR Community Program (UCP) ACO Lead in which she acts as a liaison for UCAR OACO and consults on a variety of educational and training programs, supporting undergraduates, early career, and mentors to obtain an access and opportunity lens throughout these programs and the UCAR organization, as well as advising the UCP leadership on this subject.

Marissa has a Bachelor of Science in geoscience from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in geography with a focus on paleoclimatology from Louisiana State University.

She was encouraged to pursue the geosciences after participating in an outreach program, called GeoFORCE Texas, aiming to support students from rural and urban areas and expose them to Earth System Sciences. Marissa also has experience working in multiple sectors such as environmental state government, science policy and federal government, K-12 science education, and academia research. By incorporating her vast experiences, Marissa can share multiple career pathways to her students exposing them to the multitude of opportunities the Earth System Sciences have to offer future generations.