Women In Science Dinner Brings Four Women Leaders To Speak To Students
The Women in Science Development Outreach and Mentoring student club brought together four women leaders to speak to students at the May 10th dinner.
The panelists included:
– Dr. Jane Andrews, Senior Consultant Healthcare and Lifesciences at Frost & Sullivan
– Dr. Naomi Sayre, Assistant Professor of Research Department of Neurosurgery UT Health San Antonio
– Ann Salamone, President Rochal Industries LLP
– Dr. Jessica Ibarra, Assistant Professor School of Osteopathic Medicine University of the Incarnate Word
The panel was moderated by Wendy Rigby, Bioscience and Medicine reporter for Texas Public Radio.
Meghan Guzman, vice president of WISDOM and graduate student in Dr. Phillip Loverde’s lab, said that the WISDOM dinner went really well especially for being the group’s first event.
“The speakers were strong, amazing female scientists who gave excellent advice on a wide range of topics,” she said.
Tara Holmgren, president of WISDOM and graduate student in Dr. Jun Hee Kim‘s lab explained that the group wanted to provide professional development for attendees in the form of advice from accomplished scientist, give networking opportunities in the San Antonio community to young scientists, and provide inspiration to female scientists by showing examples of women who have succeeded in various scientific fields.
“Events like these give young scientists the opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and get insight into what their future may look like in terms of their career,” she said. “It also provides role models from young women scientists to look up to so they can more easily envision themselves as successful scientists.”
Guzman explained that one of the goals of the event was to provide the audience with different career opportunities that master’s and doctoral degrees can provide.
“We had women from different fields with different degrees give us an insight into what they had to do, what one has to do to be successful, the struggles they faced, and how they persevered,” she said. “We also wanted to highlight female leaders in science.”
Sadiya Ahmad, a graduate student in Dr. Naomi Sayre’s lab said that Dr. Ibaara’s was her favorite speaker.
“I want to teach after my graduate studies and hearing her talk about what it takes to become a teacher was useful and inspiring,” she said. “Dr. Sayre is a fantastic mentor who I look up to and was also at the top of my list!”
Guzman said that Dr. Sayre’s advice about not getting too caught up in the failures one experiences in science really resonated with her.
“While that may seem like a no brainer, it is quite difficult to not let the negativity bring you down, especially in our field. So it made me think “hey i’m not the only one,” she said.
Holmgren explained that her biggest takeaway from the meeting was a piece of advice given by Ann Salamone.
“When answering a question about how to ensure proper self care while working hard as a scientist, Ann Salamone expressed the importance of sleep….this was something that really resonated with me because sleep is something I know my body needs.”
WISDOM plans to hold more events like this and will be resuming their breakfast club meetings in June. Please contact Tara Holmgren for more information.
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