Other Events of Interest
2021
Northeast Women in Algebra and Combinatorics Conference Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Association for Women in Mathematics
Virtual Workshop November 20-21, 2021, in-person April 29th to May 1, 2022
UAlbany Professors Seth Chaiken, Cristian Lenart, Antun Milas, Karin Reinhold, and Changlong Zhong are co-organizing the Northeast Women in Algebra and Combinatorics 50th Anniversary Conference for the Association for Women in Mathematics (NEWAC50AWM). Visit the site for more info and to register.
2020
November 2 - 9, 2020
Women in Academic STEMM
Women in academic STEMM fields face systemic inequities that contribute to significant underrepresentation and disproportionate hardship, challenges amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Five authors commissioned to inform a National Academies fast-track consensus on the Potential Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic STEMM will present their preliminary results to the committee and address public questions. Register here for the November 2 to November 9 sessions.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Apply for the Excellence at the Intersection of Science and Life award by March 20th
The Women in Science and Health (WISH) group has established an award to recognize students and postdoctoral fellows who are pursuing degrees and careers in STEM fields and are achieving excellence in their field while also being exemplars in excelling at life. The WISH award, “Excellence at the Intersection of Science and Life,” is open to students and postdocs of any gender in a STEM field. There will be three $100 awards given, one each at the undergraduate, the graduate (MS/PhD studies), and the postdoctoral level (PhD or other advanced degree). To apply for the award, please write an essay of up to 600 words on how you have achieved “Excellence at the Intersection of Science and Life. Please indicate your name, degrees earned or being pursued, field of study, gender, and if you grant permission for your essay to be printed/published if it is selected as a winner at the upload site Sponsored by Women in Science and Health (WISH). Submit your essay through this form. Deadline is March 20, 2020.
2018
September 21, 2018 - Introductory Meeting & Welcome Member talks from: Cecilia Levy, Betty Lin, Amanda Spriggs
May 4, 2018 – Life Science Research Building – the final 2017-2018 WISH members meeting was held, starting with an introductory talk by Dr. Yanna Liang (COE) which was followed by a wrap up of the year and discussion of new initiates and plans for the upcoming year.
April 13, 2018 – Life Science Research Building - WISH steering committee member, Dr. Cara Ocobock held a workshop called “Science Communication with the Public” – for faculty, students, and postdocs
March 23, 2018 - WISH Sponsored their second Entrepreneurship forum at the Life Science Building – The speaker was Dr. Alicia Wasula, CEO of Shade Tree Meterology gave a talk entitled: “Forensic Meteorology: Unexpected Discoveries Made on My Journey to a Career in Meteorological Sleuthing”
February 23, 2018 – WISH sponsored a forum targeted at female undergraduates – Dr. Elise Gervais (lecturer, UAlbany), Cindy Leung (industry researcher, GlaxoSmith Klein), Dr. Lori Defreest (surgeon, AMC) moderated by Dr. Cara Ocobock
January 26, 2018 – at the Wadsworth CMS building – WISH members met to hear introductory talks by Drs. Dola Saha (COE), Janice Pata (SPH), and Gaby Fuchs (CAS)
December 15, 2017 – WISH met at The Point on Madison Ave. as a holiday networking gathering
November 17, 2017 - Life Science Research Building Increasing Diversity in STEM fields. Drs. Andrea Lang, Rabi Musah, and Magdia De Jesus discussed their personal experiences as minorities in working their way into academic positions. They discussed problems and solutions.
October 20, 2017 - Saying No! Life Science Research Building WISH members Drs. Kristen Corbosiero, Marlene Belfort, and Cara Pager) lead a discussion on Saying Yes – Saying No. Postdocs and graduate students were invited to attend this informative event
Sept 15, 2017 1:15 Life Science Research Building Introductory meeting of the academic year – WISH welcomed newcomers from the School of Public Health and College of Engineering. Three faculty members gave talks to introduce themselves to the group: Drs. Carolyn MacDonald (CAS), Yelin (Lynn) Kim (COE), and Joan Curcio (SPH). The group also discussed planning events for the year.
Andrea J. Buchanan, bestselling YA and children’s author, and memoirist
April 10, 2018
-- Conversation about her memoir of overcoming neurological illness — 4:15 p.m., Campus Center Room 375, Uptown Campus
-- Conversation on writing for children and young adults — 7:00 p.m., Guilderland Public Library, 2228 Western Avenue, Guilderland
Andrea J. Buchanan is the co-author of the million-selling The Daring Book for Girls series, an empowering set of how-to manuals for girls with a sense of adventure. Her multimedia YA novel Gift, a sci-fi story that comes with its own fully playable Minecraft map, was named one of Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2012.
Her new memoir, The Beginning of Everything (2018), recounts her harrowing experience with a real-life neurological mystery after a coughing fit led to brain trauma and months of cognitive impairment. Read more about Buchanan's visit.
March 27, 2018: Conversation, "Corpses, Blow Flies, and Post-Mortem Forensics" with Archer Mayor and Rabi Musah
7:30 p.m., D’Ambra Auditorium, Life Sciences Research Building Room 2095, Uptown Campus. Free parking in the State Quad Student Lot.
Note:The Life Sciences Research Building is the low green glass building on the eastern side of the Uptown Campus, 1400 Washington Ave. The building is close to University Drive, the road that encircles the campus.
Earlier that same day, we will also host a Q&A about the craft of mystery writing with Archer Mayor — 4:15 p.m., Standish Room, Science Library, Uptown Campus. Free parking in the State Quad Student Lot.
April 18, 2017 - Trickling Up to Excellence
Figuring out ways to increase the number of students from underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors was the topic of a forum last week at the Standish Room in the Science Library.
The speaker was Michael Summers, the Robert Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Summers, a Howard Hughes investigator and member of the National Academy of Sciences, shared information and strategies that UMBC used to significantly improve recruitment and retention of minority students in the STEM fields.
April 7, 2017 (Friday): Colleen Costello Seminar
Colleen Costello, President and co-founder of Vital Vio will be speaking at the WISH meeting on Friday, April 7th, 2017, from 11 am to 12:30 pm in LSRB 1143. Vital Vio specializes in in developing lighting design and technology for bacterial decontamination in a hospital environment. See Flyer
April 6, 2017 - Justice on Campus
UAlbany welcomed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to campus on Tuesday for the latest installment of the University’s Speaker Series and a private discussion with students, faculty and staff.
Pictured left: Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, author William Kennedy, and professor Marlene Belfort
December 6, 2016 - Piercing the Glass Ceiling
Joann Lublin, the management news editor of The Wall Street Journal, was at Page Hall at the Downtown Campus at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, to talk about women making it in the world of business.
The appearance was sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, UAlbany’s School of Business and the Times Union’s Capital Region Women@Work. The School of Business is also sponsoring a reception with Lublin at 4:15 p.m. in the Massry Center for Business alumni, faculty, staff and students.
Read More
October 27, 2016 - Graduate Student Brown Bag Series - “Women in the STEM Professions”
This Brown Bag program, Women in the STEM Professions, was held last Thursday, October 27th. It was organized and sponsored by Betty Shadrick in her capacity of Assistant Dean, the Office of Graduate Education. This luncheon included a panel of accomplished STEM women faculty who discussed the representation of women in the professions, challenges and benefits, and the power of STEM researchers to influence the 21st century United States and the world community. The following list includes the panelists and their topics:
Dr. Marlene Belfort - Work-life balance and the value of collaboration
Dr. Cheryl Frye - Women, Diversity, and Encouraging the Next Generations
Dr. Jayanti Pande - Making choices and perceptions of success
Dr. Rabi Musah - Transformational Impact of Being a Woman in STEM
April 7, 2016 - Work-Life Balance Viewed By Faculty Mom and Graduate Student
Assistant Professor Dr Andrea Lang and Ph.D. candidate Rosimar Ríos-Berríos, Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, gave a Work-Life Balance presentations to faculty post-docs and students at the WISH meeting.
February 4, 2016 - Jennifer Verdolin, Animal Behavior Scientist
Reading/discussion — 8:00 p.m., Campus Center Room 375
Jennifer Verdolin is a behavioral scientist who applies her knowledge of animal courtship and mating behaviors to human relationships. Her book on the subject Wild Connections (2014) grows out of her same-titled blog for Psychology Today. Her work has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and in National Geographic and The Smithsonian.
Sponsored in conjunction with UAlbany’s Sexuality Week organized by the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program and University Counseling Center. Cosponsored by the Student Association, University Auxiliary Services, and the Office of Diversity and UAlbany’s Women in Science and Health group.
October 29th, 2015 - Dr. Lydia, Assistant Professor UT Austin
Seminar — Finding all the needles in a haystack: parsing integrative systems data to define RNA-driven regulatory networks
Panel Discussion — Starting a Science Career and Learning How to Jump the Hurdles
Dr Lydia Contreras, assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin, combines bimolecular engineering, genetics and computation to define the interactions of RNAs and proteins in health and disease. Dr Contreras will lead a panel discussion of workplace challenges and opportunities for women of color in the STEM fields. The panel will include UAlbany faculty, administration, graduate students and undergraduates. The event will be cosponsored by UAlbany's Women in Science and Health and the Training Program in RNA Science.
See Seminar Poster
October 6th, 2015 - Casey Schwartz, Science Writer
Seminar — 4:15 p.m., D’Ambra Auditorium, Life Sciencex Building (LSRB 2095)Reading — 8:00 p.m., Huxley Theatre, NYS Museum, Cultural Education Center, downtown Albany
Casey Schwartz is the author of the new book, In the Mind Fields: Exploring the New Science of Neuropsychoanalysis (2015), a witty, accessible, and entertaining introduction to new developments in brain science—notably the reconciliation of neuroscience and psychoanalysis. Scott Stossel, editor of The Atlantic, called it “a brilliant and enthralling exploration of a scientific and philosophical conundrum that has preoccupied thinkers from Descartes to Freud to Oliver Sacks: the relationship between brain and mind.” A graduate of University College London with an MA in neuroscience, Schwartz has worked as a science and health reporter for Newsweek/The Daily Beast and other publications.
Cosponsored in conjunction with the launch of UAlbany’s Women in Science and Health group (WISH), in association with the RNA Institute and the School of Public Health
Speakers at the monthly meeting for 2014-2017
Past Presenters
- November 21, 2014 Cara Pager, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Carolyn MacDonald, Professor, Physics - December 11, 2014 Kristen Corbosiero, Assistant Professor, Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences See presentation here.
Jayanti Pande, Associate Professor, Chemistry - January 16, 2015 Elizabeth Munch, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
Melinda Larsen, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences - March 6, 2015 Andrea Lang, Assistant Professor, Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences
Caro-Beth Stewart, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences - April 17, 2015 Marlene Belfort: Distinguished Professor, Biological Science
See presentation here. - May 15, 2015 Junhong Wang, Research Associate Professor, Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences
Sho-Ya Wang, Professor, Biological Sciences - October 7, 2016 Discussion of future plans for an NSF Advance Grant
Facilitators: Rabi Musah and Marlene Belfort - February 3rd, 2017. The following items were on the agenda:
- Introduction of Cara Ocobock, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and new WISH member
- Mindy discussed the results of the survey that was distributed at the end of last year.
- Marlene talked about various outreach possibilities including the expansion of the WISH group beyond CAS”
- On March 13, 2017 Rabi Musah led a discussion on the plans for the planned NSF Advance grant submission.
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Women in Science and Health
College of Arts & Sciences
University at Albany, State University of New York -
WISH Steering Commitee
Marlene Belfort
Distinguished Professor, Biological Sciences
Director, Life Sciences
[email protected]
Phone: 518-437-4466
Kristen L. Corbosiero
Associate Professor, Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences
[email protected]
Phone: 518-442-5852
Julia Hormes
Associate Professor, Psychology
[email protected]
Phone: 518-442-4911
Melinda Larsen
Associate Professor, Biological Science
[email protected]
Phone: 518-591-8882
Janice Pata
Associate Professor, Computational and Structural Biology, and Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health
[email protected]
Phone: 518-402-2595
Edelgard (“Elga”) Wulfert
SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
Professor of Psychology
Dean Emerita, CAS
[email protected]
Phone: 518-442-4820
