text: Burks is a popular science communicator, using pop culture as an anchor to explore chemistry. She appeared on the Science Channels Outrageous Acts of Science and Reactions, the video series for the American Chemical Society. She has appeared on Mother Jones Inquiring Minds podcast to share how chemistry can save you from a zombie apocalypse and on The Story Collider podcast with a story from her time working in a crime lab. In early 2020, she appeared on the NPR [https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510351/short-wave Short Wave] podcast on the episode "A Short Wave Guide to Good - and Bad - TV Forensics". Burks has also contributed to scientific interest pieces for St. Andrew University on using chemistry in every day life. Her writing has been featured in Slate, The Washington Post, UNDARK, and Chemistry World.
  Burks is also an advocate for women and underrepresented groups in science, speaking from her experiences as a black woman in STEM. In 2018, Burks was a co-principal investigator for a $1.5 million NSF STEM grant to fund the establishment of the St. Andrew's Institute for Interdisciplinary Science (I4), which would promote internships and research opportunities for underrepresented groups in STEM. She founded the DIYSciZone at [https://geekgirlcon.com/ GeekGirlCon], bringing scientists and science educators together to give convention attendees hands-on experiences with science experiments. The citation for her American Chemical Society [https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2019/october/raychelle-burks-phd-wins-acs-grady-stack-award-for-science-communication.html#:~:text=1%2C%202019%20%E2%80%94%20Raychelle%20Burks%2C,News%20Service%20Directors%20James%20T. Grady-Stack award] read, “Raychelle is a public-scientist extraordinaire... She inspires a love of chemistry by bringing chemistry directly to where her audience is. This direct engagement — her commitment to finding chemistry that can entertain and enlighten people who wouldn’t normally think of science — is nothing short of phenomenal". Burks is active on social media to promote her field and fellow scientists. 
  In 2020, Burks appeared in the Tribeca Film Festival in the film "Picture a Scientist."