Online Course - NYAS

November 5, 2024 | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

Session 3: Promoting Inclusive Pathways through Mentorship

Mentorship is a collaborative learning relationship that benefits all participants, no matter their background or mentor/mentee status. Effective mentorship is a significant factor contributing to a high rate of degree attainment, increased social and self awareness, sharper communication skills, career satisfaction, and other benefits that last for many years.

In this session, learn about how mentorship promotes inclusive career pathways and become inspired and empowered to improve or pursue your own mentoring relationship(s).

About the Series

The Inclusion in STEM series delves into a few of the many topics that are essential for actively cultivating a culture of inclusion in STEM, including defining inclusion, promoting inclusive pipelines through mentorship, finding solidarity and power through joining affinity groups, being an inclusive leader, and communicating research in a way that centers inclusion, equity, and intersectionality. Learn more about the series and explore the full lineup of events.

Speakers

Magdia De Jesus, PhD, is Director, Scientific Strategy and Portfolio Lead at Pfizer’s Chief Medical Office. Previously, she was a professor in Microbiology and Immunology, conducting research at the New York State Department of Health. Her work focused on developing fungal derived vaccine delivery vehicles and studying medically important fungi. In 2019, she joined Pfizer’s Vaccine Research and Development team to pursue her passion for vaccines and infectious diseases. In 2021, she transitioned to the Chief Medical Office, contributing to the scientific portfolio across Pfizer. Dr. De Jesus recognizes the importance of mentors in her career and credits her success to pipeline mentorship. She developed the “A Scientist Looks Just Like You” program to inspire youth to pursue science regardless of background and volunteers with the Rise High STEM program for underserved students in Schenectady, New York. At Pfizer, she led and participates in various STEM initiatives, including Growing STEM Futures and The Pfizer School of Science, to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Marcus Lambert, PhD, is the Associate Vice President for Research at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. He oversees efforts to expand the university’s extramural research portfolio in health equity and clinical research and co-leads programs focused on recruiting and training underrepresented scientists in health disparities research. He is one of the Principal Investigators of the TRANSlational Program Of health disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT) and the Clinical Research Scholars Training Program (CREST).

Dr. Lambert is one of New York’s Life Sciences Power 50 and one of Cell Press’ 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. He is a member of HHMI’s Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership and Culture Advisory Board and the NIH Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) Study Section. He has a PhD in biomedical science from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, an MS in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research from Weill Cornell, and a BS from Howard University.

Sponsor

Thought Partner

Pricing

Member: Free

Nonmember: $10.00

By attending this session, you will receive an exclusive 50% discount for upcoming events in the series.

Inclusive Science Communication

October 30, 2024 | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

Session 2: Inclusive Science Communication

Cultivating a culture of inclusion in STEM necessitates that scientific information is accessible and understandable to diverse audiences, regardless of their background, identity, or abilities. By practicing inclusive science communication, we can make scientific knowledge more accessible, relevant, and engaging for everyone, fostering a more informed and scientifically literate society.

In this session, participants will learn about some best practices for effective and inclusive science communication that is accessible, culturally competent, and builds trust in STEM fields and practitioners.

About the Series

Speakers

Elizabeth Bojsza is passionate about community engagement, empowering voices, and asking good questions. She has been a faculty member at Stony Brook University for over two decades, where she has taught 25+ distinct courses for graduate and undergraduate students. She is currently a facilitator and curriculum designer for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and finds it incredibly rewarding to apply the skills of analysis and feedback that she honed as a theater artist to designing curricula and facilitating experiential learning for scientists and healthcare professionals. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in theater and trained instructors and teachers in various contexts including non-profit theater and higher education. She is the program director for the Academy of Civic Life, a pre-college program for local high school students to earn college credit learning about democracy and civic engagement. Ms. Bojsza served Suffolk County, NY as a human rights commissioner, and is currently the Vice Chair of the Board for Stony Brook Child Care.

Lydia Jennings, PhD, (she/her) is an environmental soil scientist. Lydia, citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Yoeme) and Huichol (Wixáritari), earned her BS from California State University, Monterey Bay and completed her PhD at the University of Arizona in the Department of Environmental Sciences, with a minor in American Indian Policy. Her research intersects soil health, environmental data stewardship and science communication. Lydia is a 2014 University of Arizona NIEHS Superfund Program trainee, a 2015 recipient of National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, a 2019 American Geophysical Union “Voices for Science” Fellow, a 2020 Native Nations Institute Indigenous Data Sovereignty Fellow, and a 2021 Data Science Fellow. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College in Environmental Studies. She is passionate about connecting her scholarship to outdoor spaces through running and increasing representation in outdoor recreation, and was internationally recognized as an “Environmental Sports Champion” by the Lewis Pugh Foundation and as a “Trail Runner Changing the World” by REI.

Amy Sharma, PhD, is the Executive Director of Science for Georgia, a non-profit that bridges the gap between scientists and the public through training, outreach, and advocating for the responsible use of science in public policy. Her career has spanned across industry, academia, and government: working in product management and R&D for big data start-ups and labs, teaching Medical Physics at the University of Western Australia, and managing programs at the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Sharma’s PhD is in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and she was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow. She enjoys difficult challenges, jobs with overly long titles, communicating science to non-scientists, performing science stand-up comedy, sewing, and smoking various foods.