Raychelle Burks is a professor of analytical chemistry at St Edwards University in Austin Texas Her research focuses on developing lowcost colorimetric sensors for detecting chemicals of forensic interest including explosives and regulated drugs As a science communicator Burks has appeared on the Science Channels Outrageous Acts of Science the American Chemical Societys Reactions videos Royal Society of Chemistry podcasts and at genre conventions such as DragonCon and GeekGirlCon Burks was awarded the 2020 American Chemical Society GradyStack award for excellence in public engagement