TV's 14 most fascinating women in STEM

If this list were ranked by something like cultural impact or popularity (rather than chronological order), it would still be hard to argue for anyone other than The X-Files’ Dana Scully to be at the top. Portrayed by Gillian Anderson with fierce intelligence, wit, and just the right amount of fond frustration with her partner Mulder’s crackpot conspiracy theories (many of which turned out to be true), Scully was a role model in more ways than one. A formidable FBI agent, skilled medical doctor, and the voice of reason in the face of some pretty far out phenomena, she excelled in areas traditionally dominated by men. There are a lot more women working in those fields now than there were 30 years ago, and we can credit Dana Scully for being at least partially responsible for that.

Fred Burkle, portrayed by Amy Acker, first appeared near the end of Angel’s second season and made such an impression that she was brought on as a regular for season three. Fred had quite a character arc during her three seasons on the show. Originally a graduate student studying physics, she was banished to the demon dimension Pylea by a jealous professor, until Angel & Co. arrived on a mission to rescue Cordelia and brought her home with them. She later became a vital member of the Angel Investigations team, headed the science division at Wolfram & Hart, and was eventually possessed by an ancient demon called Illyria. Fred was knowledgeable in several scientific disciplines, including quantum physics, engineering, and computer programming, but what made her special was her extraordinary resilience and regard for her friends.

As a crack forensics analyst with keen instincts and a positive outlook, Abby Sciuto wasn’t just the brains of NCIS, but also its heart. That’s all down to the performance of Pauley Perrette, who imbued the character with a quirky personality and a Hot Topic aesthetic that defied stereotypes and distinguished her as one of a kind. Perrette left the show after 15 seasons under unfortunate circumstances, including an ongoing conflict with co-star Mark Harmon that led to them refusing to film scenes together, but that shouldn’t take anything away from our appreciation for the character of Abby and the example she set, proving that anyone with the intelligence and ambition to work in a lab belongs there.

The nickname “Bones” may seem a little on the nose for a forensic anthropologist, but when you’re the leading authority in such a specialized field, it comes with the territory. A respected researcher at the fictitious Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C., Dr. Temperance Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel) uses her scientific expertise to help the FBI solve murders and other crimes. When we first meet her at the beginning of Bones, Brennan is socially awkward and emotionally distant, more comfortable with the remains of dead humans than living ones, but by the end of the show’s 12-season run, and with the help of her partner Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), she was able to open up. Eventually, she came to accept her friends and co-workers as the family she never had during her troubled adolescent years.

In the early seasons of Fringe, FBI agent Astrid Farnsworth had the thankless job of lab assistant to the brilliant but addled Walter Bishop, who couldn’t even get her name right most of the time. Though she studied computer science and was scientifically inclined, her job mostly consisted of providing Walter with material and emotional support. In season two, the show introduced Astrid’s alternate from a parallel world, a genius mathematician and computer specialist with autism, sometimes referred to as Austrid. Jasika Nicole played both characters and a few other alternate timeline versions of Astrid distinctly, and endearingly, for five seasons.

Before she met Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak was just another IT girl wasting her genius in the bowels of Queen Consolidated. Then the Green Arrow turned to her for help in a moment of need, and the rest is history. Emily Bett Rickards was only supposed to appear as a guest star in a single season-one episode of Arrow, but she quickly stood out as an asset to the show and eventually became a series regular. Felicity’s wild ride as a key member of Team Arrow included a cover position as Oliver’s executive assistant and a promotion to the role of CEO, while also using her considerable technical skills to help protect Starling City (a.k.a. Star City). Though she was prone to ramble, often making inappropriate comments she instantly regretted, Felicity was well respected and loved by her peers, especially Oliver, with whom she shared a tumultuous romance that culminated in their marriage and the birth of their daughter, Mia.

One of several clones played by the remarkably versatile Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black, biologist and grad student Cosima Niehaus was the brightest of the bunch. Easily identifiable by her dreadlocks and tattoos, Cosima stood out among her sisters in more ways than one. While working on her PhD in “evo-devo,” or experimental developmental biology, she studied the clones’ DNA in the hopes of discovering their true origins. She also worked to cure the defect that caused her own respiratory illness and threatened the lives of the other clones too. Whenever the rest of the Clone Club had a scientific question, it was Cosima they turned to for answers, and she always delivered. The end of the series saw her traveling the world with the love of her life, Delphine Cormier, delivering the cure to all the unaware clones like the true STEM hero she was.

From a young and eager biochemist recruited out of a S.H.I.E.L.D. lab to join Phil Coulson on their “journey into mystery” to a seasoned agent who survived harrowing ordeals, Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) did a lot of growing up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She had already earned two PhDs by the time S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited her to its academy, and would become one of its youngest graduates ever, along with her partner, best friend, and future husband Leo Fitz. During her time on Coulson’s team she made multiple scientific breakthroughs, including the development of a paralyzing dendrotoxin for the I.C.E.R. weapons and the discovery of a cure for a Chitauri virus while she herself was infected with it. She also became an expert in Inhuman biology after her teammate Skye (a.k.a. Daisy Johnson) was exposed to the mutagenic Terrigen mist. Throughout her adventures in time and space, she never wavered in her commitment to the ideals that drew her to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place.

Halt And Catch Fire’s Cameron Howe was a visionary coding prodigy born at the exact right time to put her at the center of the personal computing revolution in the 1980s and the rise of the internet in the 1990s. Mackenzie Davis brought Cameron to life with a fascinating mix of toughness and fragility. Her iconoclastic nature often clashed with the stuffed shirts and conservative bosses within the industry, so she forged her own path as the co-founder of Mutiny, a cutting edge gaming company and pioneer in online connectivity. Though she wasn’t really a people person, Cameron had many significant relationships over the years, particularly with Donna Clark. As two very smart women making their mark on the male-dominated tech world, they shared a bond of solidarity, even if they didn’t always see eye to eye.

S.T.A.R. Labs’ resident geneticist and bioengineer Caitlin Snow was the first to study Barry Allen after he was affected by the particle accelerator explosion and developed superspeed in the Arrowverse series The Flash. Through her work on Team Flash, she became an expert in metahuman biology, which came in handy when she became one herself. Through a series of complicated timeline events she developed ice powers and an alternate personality known as Killer Frost. Caitlin’s connection to Frost as both a part of her and a separate individual would change throughout the series, but no matter what else she could do it was her talent as a scientist that made her a valuable member of the team.

Miss Lopez (Aimee Garcia), as Lucifer affectionately called her, was the optimistic, friendly face of the LAPD forensic department on Lucifer, solving cases and catching criminals through the power of science. Along with Scully, she’s one of the few examples of a scientist who doesn’t buy into the rigid dichotomy between science and faith. Though she isn’t without doubts and even experiences a crisis of faith at one point, she insists that her religious beliefs enhance her work. Having grown up in Detroit with four brothers, she’s tougher and more capable than her bubbly personality implies. At the end of the series, Lucifer establishes a foundation in her name, the “Miss Lopez STEM Initiative,” with the goal of inspiring more women and girls to follow in her footsteps.

Aleida Rosales is proof that scientific potential can come from anywhere. In the alternate timeline of For All Mankind, Aleida developed an interest in the space program as a young girl in Mexico after watching the Russians land on the moon in 1969. After her father brought the family across the border and settled in Houston, he got a job as a janitor at the Johnson Space Center, giving her a closer look at the organization she would later join as a systems engineer. Inspired by her mentor, NASA flight director Margo Madison (whom she beat out for recognition on this list due to Margo’s epically bad life choices), Aleida (played as an adult by Coral Peña) learns to stand up for herself and earns the respect of her male colleagues at NASA. She even gets to go to the moon. Season four, which premieres on Nov. 10, will pick up the story in 2003. We don’t yet know exactly where the new season will find Aleida, but we anticipate she’ll play an important role in the further exploration of Mars.

As the lead engineer of Mythic Quest (on the show of the same name), Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao) provides the technical expertise that compliments creative director Ian Grimm’s vision. Whatever he dreams up, she’s the one who has to code it into reality. It’s an often frustrating partnership for her, and she becomes increasingly vocal about not getting enough credit for her contributions. After she and Ian left Mythic Quest to form a new company called GrimmPop, their relationship issues came to a head, but they eventually learned to accept their individual strengths and weaknesses. Nicdao plays Poppy with an intense energy and never shies away from sinking into her flaws and humiliations. She’s just as messy as she is brainy.

In the contained world of Silo, the remnants of a human society live and work in a multi-level, underground structure powered by a massive generator. For most of her life, Juliette Nichols was one of the engineers keeping everything running. Even after a series of mysterious deaths upend the order of things and Juliette is tapped as the Silo’s new sheriff, she maintains her connection to the people working in the deep down. The same analytical gifts that made her a great engineer help her to navigate the dangerous political world of the higher floors, where a murder investigation threatens to unravel long buried secrets. At the end of season one, we saw her take the first steps into a new world, thanks to some strategically placed electrical tape. Now we’re looking forward to seeing what she encounters out there in season two and whether those skills will come back into play.