Gabrielle Birchak is what happens when a mathematician walks into a comedy club and never fully leaves.

A science communicator, podcast host, and author, Birchak helps students and educators see “science” not as an intimidating subject but as something everyone already does every day without realizing it.

In her keynote, “You Already Think Like a Mathematician (You Just Don’t Know It Yet),” Birchak draws on history’s overlooked scientific figures to show audiences that curiosity, reasoning, and problem-solving aren’t special skills reserved for “science people;” they are tools everyone already has. The talk blends storytelling, history, and humor to make scientific thinking feel accessible, human, and immediately usable, whether in a classroom, a research lab, or everyday life.

As host of Math! Science! History!®, a podcast with over 200 research-based episodes reaching a worldwide audience, Birchak has spent years researching and telling the stories of the people history forgot to credit. Her work draws on her early experience in media relations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, her background in mathematics and journalism, and her contributions to the Mathematical Association of America.

Birchak is currently bringing this keynote to stages for the first time, and is especially drawn to educational audiences, students, educators, and institutions looking to make science feel less like a subject and more like a mindset.