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Circe Verba's Lego Ideas proposal is a 213-piece set depicting research geologists in the field and in the laboratory.

(Courtesy of Circe Verba)

You've probably heard of Lego Friends, the Legos for girls. How about Lego Scientists Who Happen to be Female?

That's the premise behind an Oregon research geologist's submission to Lego Ideas, an online forum where fans can submit proposals for new sets.

Circe Verba, 29, who works at the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Albany site, said she's been a fan of Legos since she was a kid. "They really enable you to use critical thinking skills," she said.

After seeing a successful Lego Ideas proposal for a "Research Institute" set containing three female scientists, which the toy company produced in a limited edition that swiftly sold out, Verba decided to try her hand at creating a set based on her own research career.

"I feel that it is critical to find fun ways to encourage Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related careers for children," Verba wrote in an email.

The resulting 213-piece set has two vignettes.

A "minifig," or Lego minifigure, of a research geologist.

In one vignette, two geologists are out in the field, exploring a crystal cave system and accompanied by an "obligatory geology dog." In the other vignette, a female geologist is back in the lab, using a scanning electron microscope to analyze her findings.

To turn her Lego Idea into Lego Reality, Verba needs 10,000 votes; if she hits that milestone, Lego will review her proposal and decide whether to create a limited-edition set.

Women are well represented in college geoscience departments, earning about 43 percent of geoscience degrees, according to a 2010 report from the American Geological Institute. But, the report said, women's representation in geoscience and environmental occupations "has not exceeded 30 percent since 2003."

Verba, a native of Pendleton, fell in love with science at age 14, after taking an earth science class. She participated in Oregon State University's Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences pre-college program and enrolled at OSU, where she earned a degree in earth science, which allowed her to combine her interests in astronomy, oceanography and geology. "It encompasses everything because you really can't just learn about one kind of science when it comes to the earth," she said.

Verba went on to earn a master's degree in geology with a minor in physics from Northern Arizona University and to work with NASA's HiRISE project aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission with the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center. "I studied Martian dust devils," she said. "It was really exciting ... To see something that's occurring on another planet is just amazing."

She also holds a doctorate in geology with a focus in civil engineering.

Today, her focus is once again turned toward the earth. Her research interests include carbon dioxide storage and hydraulic fracturing - more precisely, the geochemistry underlying both processes.

Whether or not her Lego Ideas proposal succeeds, Verba hopes to convey the idea that science can be fun and "that it doesn't matter what gender you are ... any gender can aspire to have any kind of career."

-- Amy Wang

awang@oregonian.com

503-294-5914

@ORAmyW