# Serena McCalla: Educator Who Built a Science Empire

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/life-s-tough-explorers-are-tougher-3600599/serena-mccalla-educator-who-built-a-science-empire
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/life-s-tough-explorers-are-tougher-3600599/serena-mccalla-educator-who-built-a-science-empire.md
Podcast: [Life’s Tough, Explorers Are TOUGHER!](https://stenobird.com/podcast/life-s-tough-explorers-are-tougher-3600599)
Published: 2026-05-20T16:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2440723/episodes/19210033-serena-mccalla-educator-who-built-a-science-empire.mp3
Audio file: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2440723/episodes/19210033-serena-mccalla-educator-who-built-a-science-empire.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/life-s-tough-explorers-are-tougher-3600599/episodes/serena-mccalla-educator-who-built-a-science-empire
Duration seconds: 1861

## Resource

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese sits down with Serena McCalla — National Geographic Explorer, molecular scientist, educator, and mentor featured in the acclaimed documentary Science Fair. Serena shares her journey from growing up in a hardworking immigrant family to building one of the most successful high school science research programs in the country. She explains how curiosity, discipline, and sacrifice shaped her path, and how she pushed students bey...

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## Transcript

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