TV's Woman of STEM

Happy Women's Equality Day! Today, let's celebrate T.V.'s awesome and inspirational women of STEM.


10. Maura Isles, Rizzoli & Isles

Dr. Maura Isles is the most chic, fashionable, kickass medical examiner in Boston. She even takes on a serial killer and lives to tell the tale.


9. Cristina Yang, Grey's Anatomy

If there's one word to use when describing Cristina Yang, it's awesome. She's driven, she's smart, she's tough. And as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and Cristina Yang is the only member of staff tough and smart enough to leave "Seattle Grace Mercy Death Hospital" while she still can.


8. Sandy Cheeks,  Spongebob Squarepants

Who lives in a treedome under the sea? Why it's Sandy Cheeks, the scientist squirrel! Sandy is always ready to get her friends from the Krusty Krab out of a pickle (get it?!) as long as she can use science--or karate--to do so.


7. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Bones

She's an anthropologist, she's a medical examiner, and she works with the F.B.I. If all you remember of Bones is a strange, awkward woman, watch the pilot episode which shows Brennan as a fearless adventurer who'll do anything to get her man...behind bars.


6. Princess Bubblegum, Adventure Time

She might be sweet and made of candy, but make no mistake, this teenage princess is a super scientist, capable of creating life itself, curing zombie-ism, and saving the day. Princess Bubblegum puts other pink princesses to shame.

5. Mac, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Dr. Elizabeth Macmillan, Mac to her friends, is always available to help her friend Phryne Fisher solve another murder. The only female doctor on the show, the only female to routinely wear trousers, the only woman allowed in autopsies without police permission, Mac is the one person Phryne can always count on.


4. Violet Baudelaire, Series of Unfortunate Events

Perhaps the most overlooked of all the female STEM protagonists, 14-year-old Violet also has the distinction of being one of the few female engineers on page or screen. Using her inventions and knowledge of physics, Violet repeatedly saves herself and her two siblings, Sunny (the baby) and Klaus (age ten), from the clutches of Count Olaf, who wants the orphans' inheritance. Luckily for the children, Violet inherited more than just money from their parents--she seems to have also inherited their love of knowledge, justice, adventure, and engineering.


3. Joan Watson, Elementary

No matter how you feel about the gender switch for Watson, you have to admit this Watson is a bad ass. She's a medical doctor who gives up the surgical suite to become a companion for recovering drug addicts, helping them through the process. This is how she meets Sherlock, a recovering addict, but instead of being just his companion, she becomes his protege, and even strikes out on her own as a detective. She fights bad guys, shoots guns, and uses her know-how to help Sherlock save the case.


2. Gemma Simmons, Agents of SHIELD

Smart, strong, brave, Gemma Simmons is everything the Agents of SHIELD need to face terrorists, super villains, aliens, and anything else the universe sends her way. She is the glue that holds the team together, and the one member they really can't do without.


1. Dana Scully, The X Files

F.B.I. Agent Dana Scully, MD, is not only one of the greatest female protagonists on television, but she's credited with increasing female interest in the sciences, with studies showing that her female fans are more likely to go into a STEM field. Maybe that's because on this still-popular show, Scully is the voice of reason, the skeptic who requires hard facts and evidence before she'll even consider Mulder's theories. She's originally brought onto the X-Files to debunk the cases and Agent Mulder, but instead she uses science to lend credibility to his investigations. Plus, she's calm under fire, super resourceful, and always saving Mulder's life.