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We recently held a Tweet Up about women in in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). During the event, experts in STEM wrote more than 1,500 tweets as part of a conversation about the challenges they've faced, who and what inspires them, and what we can be doing to close the gap for women in STEM fields. Below, the Energy Department's Dr. Karina Edmonds answers questions that came in after the event.

If you're joining our Tweet Up on Women in STEM (that’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) today, you’ll have a chance to learn about some of the innovative ways that the federal government is investing in women in STEM – and the areas where we can do more. Here are some of the topics we can cover today on #STEM at 2:30pm ET:

Join us for a conversation about women in STEM on Twitter on Thursday, March 22 at 2:30pm EDT by following the hashtag #STEM. You'll be able to to ask experts how we can advance women's education and empowerment to bring women into STEM careers.

Associate Deputy Secretary Mel Williams visits the Black Engineer of the Year STEM conference, one of many national groups advancing diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Secretary Chu details President Barack Obama's $27.2 billion fiscal year 2013 budget request for the Department of Energy.

Employees across the Department honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Tuesday, saluting the civil rights legend during a lively ceremony at Department headquarters.

America’s entrepreneurs are on the front lines of the global clean energy race, and the Department of Energy and the Administration want to hear from you about the barriers that are standing in your way and what we can do to help remove them.

“For our own good, we want as wide of a talent pool as we can get,” Secretary Steven Chu said in his remarks to employees. “[Diversity] is a good thing and an important thing to do. It’s also the right thing to do.”

We celebrate Native American Heritage Month to honor Native Americans, their rich heritage, and their present accomplishments. Native Americans are innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and scholars, and our debt to them is immense.

"Hispanics United in Strengthening  America," this year's theme for the National Organization for Mexican American Rights, Inc. (NOMAR) Training Conference, speaks to recruiting, training, and engaging a diverse workforce to accomplish our country's goals.