The Scientist Ivanka Trump meme originated from a series of photographs taken in March 2018 during her visit to the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center in Iowa. Clad in a crisp white lab coat and safety goggles while peering intently at a test tube, the image's staged nature immediately drew comparisons to someone merely 'playing' a scientist. The photo quickly went viral across Twitter and Reddit, evolving into a versatile template for representing situations where someone is clearly out of their depth, attempting a dubious life hack, or pretending to possess expert knowledge. It is frequently used to satirize performative professionalism or to highlight the humor in amateurish attempts at complex tasks.