Our Team
Zoe Hinck, President
Zoe leads SB Women in STEM out of a love for community connection and continuous learning. SB Women in STEM has helped her provide opportunities to others in STEM industries and it has helped her own career - she has grown as an engineer and manager, developed a network of supportive people, and has improved her public speaking skills (still a little scary, but less scary). Zoe manages an engineering team at KARL STORZ, where they design and build camera systems for minimally invasive surgery. She is passionate about the medical device industry and loves that every day she gets to work alongside other engineers to bring new technology to surgeons and patients to improve and save lives. She has a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO (go Mustangs!) and an MBA from CSU Channel Islands (go Dolphins!). When she's not working, studying, or collaborating on event ideas, Zoe enjoys traveling, exercising, going to concerts, and cuddling her dog.
She founded SB Women in STEM in 2018 to create a community of folks interested in supporting womxn in spaces where they are typically the minority - fields like science, technology, engineering, and math. What started as a casual happy hour quickly grew as more passionate community members got involved, including all of our amazing board members!
Maygan Cline, Professional Development
Maygan is a Senior Principal Professional Geologist at Geosyntec Consultants, in their Santa Barbara office. Maygan has been part of the SB Women in STEM community since 2018. Zoe and Maygan met at the first happy hour event Zoe planned for the STEM community, and after that initial meeting, Zoe and Maygan began collaborating to deliver free professional development workshops for the benefit of the local Santa Barbara area community. Those initial events were hosted at LogicMonitor, SONOS, Geosyntec, and various co-working spaces, and were well attended (150 people!). The strong turnout at those early events confirmed for both Zoe and Maygan that the SBWiSTEM community was engaged, further driving their passion to facilitate professional development content for the benefit of the community.
When Maygan is not planning or facilitating a professional development event with SBWiSTEM, she’s overseeing strategy and delivery for a variety of environmental consulting programs and projects with Geosyntec. Maygan leads a diverse team of environmental engineers, geologists, compliance and due diligence experts, groundwater and geologic modelers, risk assessors, sustainability / carbon accounting / life cycle assessment experts, and information & data management experts across Southern California and the US. Maygan also collaborates closely with colleagues across Canada and Europe to deliver projects for global clients. Maygan is also deeply involved in local Santa Barbara County projects focused on water resources, waste management, odor mitigation, and environmental remediation - all of which bring her immense joy by serving her local community.
Kim Gentzler, Community Engagement
Coming Soon…
Shelby Le, Director of Educational Outreach
Shelby has dedicated her career to paying forward the mentorship that shaped her own journey. After earning her Master’s in Teaching from UC Irvine, she returned to the Santa Barbara community that first inspired her during her undergraduate years at UC Santa Barbara. Her background includes three years as a K-6 educator in the Goleta Union School District, where she prioritized creating inclusive environments where every student felt a profound sense of belonging. This foundation in empathetic leadership and community-building remains the heartbeat of her professional mission.
Currently, Shelby is the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator for the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP) at UC Santa Barbara, where she empowers underrepresented, low-income, and first-generation students to pursue careers in STEM and research. In this role, she bridges the gap between potential and opportunity by coordinating internships, professional development workshops, faculty panels, and large-scale research colloquiums. As the Director of Educational Outreach for Santa Barbara Women in STEM, she leverages her expertise in event coordination and science communication to ensure that the voices of individuals are heard, seen, and uplifted within the local scientific community and that ample opportunities are presented to those interested in pursuing STEM fields. In her free time, she likes to read, work on wheel-throwing pottery, and play pickleball.
Brina Aceves, Director of Marketing
Brina has been apart of SBWiSTEM since 2020, starting as our Student Liaison, during her time as an undergraduate at UCSB. Her initial role connected local students to our SBWiSTEM community. After graduating with her Bachelor’s she continued to pursue her Master’s of Science in Molecular Biology at UCSB. She now works in Research and Development at Agilent Technologies and continues to support her community as our Director of Marketing.
On her free time Brina enjoys exploring new coffee shops here in Santa Barbara, taking in the sun in any outside activities and salsa dancing. She loves to connect with women in the area and create community all around her.
Elaina Rife, Treasurer
Elaina has a master’s degree in statistics from UCSB, and has been working in the Santa Barbara tech industry ever since. For the last 7 years she has held various roles at Sonos, and currently works there as Director, Business Operations Enablement and Analytics. A lifelong puzzle enthusiast, the problem solving nature of mathematics was always compelling. Originally applying to college as a math major, through the course of study found that the practical nature and usefulness of statistics was a magical blend of both.
Elaina joined the board of SB Women in STEM after attending a few of the events, where after spending time with the rest of the members she knew she had to get involved. She loves the opportunity to meet, mentor, and network with other women in the sciences.
When not working or volunteering with SBWiSTEM, Elaina enjoys spending time with her spouse Peter, and their two dogs, Thor and May. She is very involved in her dog agility club, in which she has been competing for the last 6 years. She also enjoys solving escape rooms, and the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Nicole Greco, Secretary
Nicole is a Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator for UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and NSF Arctic Data Center where she’s thrilled to combine her two greatest passions: geoscience and science communication. Prior to moving to SB, Nicole earned her PhD in geology at the University of Florida and a BS at James Madison University where she found her love for polar science, mud, and advancing the inclusion and visibility of women in science. She is now the secretary for Santa Barbara Women in STEM and is so excited to continue bringing together the amazing people that make science so fun and exciting. When she’s not working or volunteering, Nicole loves collecting sea glass, tidepooling, attending concerts, hiking, and visiting her family in Maryland.