Shikha Nangia

is professor and interim chair of biomedical and chemical engineering in the (ECS). is a distinguished professor of physics in the (A&S). They succeed outgoing co-directors and .

Nangia joined the University in 2012 as a tenure-track professor. Her work involves the creation of computational models to examine the body’s blood-brain barrier at the molecular level. Those findings help develop drugs that can penetrate the barrier to advance medicinal treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Marina Artuso

Artuso is an experimental physicist who works in experimental particle physics. Her research focuses on interesting properties of beauty and charm quarks and on the novel instrumentation needed to study their decay properties. She came to the University as a research assistant professor of physics in 1993, was appointed a professor of physics in 2005 and recently was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

WiSE faculty co-directors serve as advocates, engaging with university leadership, the campus community and external audiences. They also develop strategic vision for the organization, offer budget input, and actively participate in programming. WiSE was created by and is led by faculty. Its goals are to increase the representation and retention of women faculty members in STEM fields, to highlight women scholars and to develop advising and mentoring programs.

WiSE serves members across 18 departments in six colleges and schools: A&S, ECS, , , and the .��It presents social, academic and professional development programming for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty in tenure, tenure-track and non-tenure-track positions.

One of the programs WiSE hosts is the career-focused Future Professionals Program (top).

Faculty present workshops, act as mentors, offer portfolio reviews and serve in many capacities to support learning and teaching, says WiSE director Sharon Alestalo.

“Their active involvement helps direct how we can support faculty success. We do that through programming for them and by providing activities and events that support the students and scholars they work with,” Alestalo says.

WiSE also supports the recruitment of women faculty in STEM. When the program was founded, there were 18 women faculty members teaching in 10 A&S and ECS departments. Today, there are 174 tenure, tenure-track and non-tenure women faculty members working in 18 areas, Alestalo says. STEM women faculty in WiSE have also attracted more than $104 million in research funding during the last five years, she says.

WiSE also supports programming for Women of Color in STEM.

The organization is open to all. Undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty women and their allies of any gender, race, ability and identity who work, study or are interested in the STEM fields are welcome.

Founded in 1999, the program supports the recruitment, persistence and advancement of underrepresented scholars in STEM on the Syracuse University campus. The group continues to build a pipeline of scientists and engineers through its key goals to increase retention and representation, highlight scholars and establish an advising and mentoring network. These initiatives create a platform for students and faculty to exchange ideas and celebrate each other’s achievements.

Sadie Novak

Sadie Novak, a fifth-year chemistry student, is one of the many WiSE participants who is following her passion of scientific research. She remembers connecting with organic chemistry as an undergrad and credits a noteworthy professor and the lab she worked in as promoting a community of belonging.

“The professor did an amazing job of showing how organic chemistry is applied beyond [the field of] chemistry. It made me realize there are so many opportunities to do with chemistry,” says Novak.

Continuing her work at Syracuse, Novak has found support and community within the WiSE monthly peer chat gatherings and networking events. “This has definitely opened a lot of doors and created a lot of community for women and other scholars in STEM here at Syracuse University,” says Novak.

Kate Lewis

Program co-directors and say opportunities via informal mentorship and collaboration across science and engineering disciplines are crucial in providing support to University women and other scholars in the STEM fields and ensuring they have a shared space to build academic relationships.

“Having the opportunity to network with other women and scholars in STEM and obtain specific mentoring, training and coaching relevant to being a woman in STEM is really valuable,” says Lewis, biology professor and the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in the College of Arts & Sciences. “It enables women to find different strategies to succeed and thrive and the networking also helps them to build their resilience.”

Shobha Bhatia

“WiSE provides a network and collaboration, mentoring and connections for different groups,” says Bhatia, civil and environmental engineering professor and the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “That is unique and if WiSE was not there, it’s not that people would not do well. But if you talk to any of them individually, they will find that the peer support has been extremely supportive.”

While women only hold about in the U.S., the landscape is shifting. Organizations like WiSE play a crucial role in this change. With a spotlight on women and girls in science in February, Novak says creating spaces where students can see themselves in professors and other STEM academics makes all the difference.

“If you don’t see other people who have done it [like role models] it’s even harder for you to imagine yourself there,” says Novak. “I think days like [Feb. 11] where we highlight people who are in the field are super important.”

Story by Daryl Lovell and Keith Kobland, members of the University’s central media relations team

Josh Henkin will visit campus Feb. 1 and 2.

Nationally recognized career expert Josh Henkin will visit campus next month to offer a series of workshops for doctoral students and postdoctoral associates who are preparing to seek industry or government positions in STEM. ��

Henkin is founder of career coaching and counseling services firm . He will be on campus Thursday, Feb. 1, and Friday, Feb. 2, to offer a series of four workshops on ways to tailor resumes, discuss and categorize skills, and interview for positions in today’s ultra-competitive STEM fields. Henkin will also be available for informal discussion over meals with doctoral students, postdocs and faculty mentors.��

“Henkin’s workshops are a must-attend experience that can be a game changer for participants,” says Daniel Olson-Bang, director of professional and career development for the Graduate School. “His extensive experience in industry and his support of STEM graduate students and postdocs in institutions across the country make him uniquely situated to address our students’ and postdoc scholars’ needs and provide essential support for their job searches.”   ��

After earning a STEM Ph.D. and completing a postdoctoral fellowship, Henkin was awarded an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy fellowship and has held numerous industry and government jobs. He is a subject matter expert and career coach for the and works as a career development coach for Lawrence Berkeley National Labs Postdoc Program. He previously served two terms on the board of directors of the and spent 15 years as a hiring manager in STEM. He is author of the book “,” copies of which will be raffled at the workshops.����

 The workshops are offered jointly by the Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. They are co-sponsored by the Graduate Student Organization (GSO), College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) at Syracuse University, and by the Upstate Medical University College of Graduate Studies and the SUNY ESF Graduate School.

For more information about the workshops and to register, visit the .

Elizabeth Carter, assistant professor

, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, is a leading expert on disaster mitigation and climate risk management. She is passionate about finding solutions that will help communities become more resilient to climate change and views the climate crisis from both an environmental and societal aspect.

“I study natural disasters that happen at the intersection of where bad weather meets the water cycle,” Carter says. “Any event that results in a flood or a drought would be the impacts that we’re trying to ameliorate.”

Floods and droughts have increased in the last 10 years, according to the and a recently published study in the journal . Scientists have found that the number of flood and drought events has increased by 50% since 2010, and the intensity of these events has also increased.

Recent findings attribute the increase in floods and droughts to climate change. Rising global temperatures are causing more extreme weather events, including heavier rains and longer dry spells. These extreme weather events are having a devastating impact on people and communities around the world.

Carter, like many climate scientists, is working to help communities become more resilient to climate change by developing tools and strategies that can help them prepare for and respond to extreme weather events.

On this climate-focused “’Cuse Conversation,” Professor Carter discusses why the work around disaster prevention, mitigation and prediction is a necessary focus for the global health of our world. A transcript [PDF]��is also available.

These biomaterials—easy to use and highly effective—could control bleeding within wounds, especially critical in instances where time is of the essence such as on the battlefield, in an ambulance or in rural locations, far from the nearest hospital.

Monroe, an assistant professor of biomedical and chemical engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), and her lab work extensively with shape memory polymers (SMPs). These smart materials can be shaped into a temporary shape when a stimulus, such as heat, is applied to them. Monroe compares the materials to a kitchen sponge in terms of feel and flexibility.

ECS assistant professor Mary Beth Browning Monroe holds shape memory polymers, a material that can be used for wound healing.

“You can imagine if you have a big sponge and you cool it down in a really small shape, you can then stick that into a gunshot wound. It would be easy to fit in there because it’s really small,” Monroe says. “But then once it reheats to body temperature, it expands out and fills up that wound. It hits all the wound walls and is there for the healing process.”

Monroe’s SMP research is a continuation of the work she started years ago. Now in her own lab at Syracuse, she works to give back to other students by connecting with women graduate students and instructors and participating in campuswide peer mentoring opportunities for those in the STEM fields.

Mentorship opportunities and connecting women with other scientists that look like them are important steps to close the gender gap that has existed in STEM fields for years. That persistent gap is one of the reasons that the International Day of Women and Girls in Science was established in 2015 by the United Nations. Celebrated each year on Feb. 11, the annual effort recognizes the role of women and girls in science not only as beneficiaries, but also as agents of change.

“I’ve been very lucky to have a lot of strong female mentors in my life throughout all my training,” Monroe says. “That’s kind of rare in engineering because there aren’t a whole lot of women. I love the idea that I could be that to even just one woman in my lab group.”

Professor Monroe shows an example of SMPs inside her lab.

Monroe sees endless possibilities for the biomaterials she’s working with. Applicable uses include making the materials degradable so they can disappear in the body, engineering material that’s anti-microbial to reduce infection risk, and formulating a smart material with pain reliever components to provide comfort to a patient before they’ve reached the hospital. She hopes the wound healing technology could be in clinics or in the field in the next five to 10 years.

“Harnessing the body’s natural ability to heal itself is really the goal of tissue engineering,” says Monroe. “What drives me and makes me really excited is thinking about how these can be applied and make a difference in patients’ lives.”

Catherine Campbell, pictured at a poster session in 2019, was one of twelve students to be accepted into this year’s WiSE Summer Undergraduate Research Support Program.

Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) awarded research funds to twelve student researchers through its 2021 Summer Undergraduate Research Support Program. The program seeks to promote research participation among women in STEM fields, with awards supplementing students’ existing grants to conduct research during the summer of 2021.

Catherine Campbell, one of the selected students, received WiSE funds to augment the Parker Award for Women in Science, which she received through the Renée Crown University Honors Program. During the summer, Campbell is working with the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid protein to complete her honors capstone project.

“I study the phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins in the Bah Lab, a part of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department at Upstate Medical University,” says Campbell. “Through WiSE, I have received funding that will help me stay the summer in Syracuse and allow me to meet like-minded students also pursuing research.”

As part of the WiSE research program, selected students work with faculty mentors for ten weeks of full-time research on a variety of projects across Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University labs. Students are also involved in a series of WiSE developmental workshops and each present a poster with their findings at the SOURCE/College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and Computer Science undergraduate research conferences in August.

The 2021 WiSE Summer Research awardees are listed below:

• Catherine Campbell, medicinal chemistry and physics
• Elizabeth Cultra, environmental engineering
• Alexandra Hayes, public health
• Oduduabasi James Isaiah, chemical engineering
• Katherine Loveland, biology, minor in medical anthropology
• Xinyue Mao, mathematics
• Emily Marsh, biology
• Alex Middleton, communication sciences and disorders, minor in LGBT studies
• Nathania Pabon, neuroscience and psychology
• Alexandra Patten, biology and forensic science
• Michelle Shanguhyia, medicinal chemistry and forensic science
• Aijing Wu, mathematics, minor in computer engineering

To learn more about the WiSE Summer Undergraduate Research Support Program and other WiSE programs, .

Laurel White, First Place Slepecky Awardee

Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) announced two STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) undergraduate researchers were recognized for their resilience, advancement and research excellence at the annual Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Ceremony. Laurel White, a physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the first place award of the 2021 .

White was nominated by her mentor Duncan Brown, Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics, and unanimously selected given her outstanding work in the area of physics. The title of her reviewed honors thesis is “The Effect of Spin Priors on the Determination of the Neutron Star Equation of State Using Gravitational-Wave Signals.” This project focuses on challenges with the parameter estimation used to analyze gravitational-wave signals.

Brown notes that the work White has done has led to the significant discovery that it will be more difficult than previously thought to get an accurate measure of the equation of state with current second-generation detectors, due to the challenges of extracting the tidal deformability from the waveform and the impact of prior assumptions on the neutron star mass and spin distribution. It is expected that this research will lead to two articles before White’s graduation this year, adding to White’s list of publications. White was also previously selected as a 2020 Goldwater Scholar and a 2019 recipient of an , and will be joining the physics Ph.D. program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after graduation.

“I am very honored to receive the Slepecky Prize. Physics, like other STEM fields, is severely lacking in female participation, and mentorship has been cited as a critical tool for fixing the gender imbalance. I share Norma Slepecky’s belief in mentoring, and I have experienced firsthand how it can positively impact a young researcher,” White says. “I hope that I can leave the same legacy of serving as a role model and advocate for women in STEM.”

Aliza Willsey, Second Place Slepecky Awardee

A second student was also recognized for her research. Aliza Willsey, a senior in aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, received the second place Slepecky Prize. Willsey was nominated by Jeongmin Ahn, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Willsey’s research explores the benefits and results of the mycelium membrane. Her work titled “Investigation of Mycelium Growth Network as a Thermal Transpiration Membrane for Thermal Transpiration Based Pumping and Power Generation,” for which she was the lead author, has been published in .

“My experience with research has definitely been the most rewarding thing I’ve been able to take part in at Syracuse University,” Willsey says. “It is very meaningful to me to be able to carry on Norma Slepecky’s legacy and be awarded for my research as a woman in STEM. I think this prize is a great way to motivate young women to pursue a career in STEM and take on their own research projects.”

White and Willsey were both recognized during the annual Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Ceremony, which was sponsored by WiSE, the Humanities Center and the Department of Biology at Syracuse University. The annual ceremony featured Syracuse alumna Ahna Skop ’94, who gave the lecture “Took Creative for Science.” The lecture is available for .

About the Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Award

The prize is given in honor of�� who was a passionate professor, researcher and an advocate for undergraduate student research at Syracuse University. She also actively supported efforts to increase the number of women in science and engineering. Similar to Slepecky, WiSE programs support the persistence and excellence of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Slepecky Prize is meant to honor young scientists in STEM that have shown persistence toward degree completion, resilience, advancement and research excellence.

WiSE has grown and evolved to meet participant needs, remaining a strong, interdisciplinary community–led and driven by faculty. The diverse programming and events offer women in STEM a variety of networking and learning opportunities, as well as support, encouragement and inspiration.

“WiSE is constantly evolving to best serve the needs of women in STEM at the University, from undergraduates to faculty,” says Katharine (Kate) Lewis, WiSE co-director and biology professor and department chair. “It is a vibrant community of scholars that helps support the STEM women on our campus to fulfill their potential and succeed in many different areas, strengthening the University’s impact on STEM fields and the world in the process.”

WiSE virtual faculty lunch in the Fall 2020 semester.

WiSE now serves a total of . In 2020, WiSE organized 70 programs and meetings for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty. Sharon Alestalo, program director, says that “WiSE sustains a strong community of talented women in STEM where they have access to the knowledge, resources and mentoring they need to thrive professionally.”

In honor of the 20-year anniversary, WiSE staff sought to document the history and accomplishments of the program over the past decades. During 2020, Morgan Foss ’20 (Newhouse), joined the WiSE team as a student intern to work on the historical project. Foss researched and interviewed current and previous program participants and WiSE leadership and designed a .

The booklet tracks the growth of WiSE programming and support, including the initial mission and WiSE founding members: professors Shobha Bhatia, Cathryn Newton, Eleanor Maine, Marina Artuso, M. Cristina Marchetti, Norma Slepecky and Karen Hiiemae. The booklet also includes information about WiSE faculty networks, postdoc opportunities, the WiSE Future Professionals Program, the WiSE Women of Color in STEM initiative and the Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize and Memorial Lecture.

WiSE Future Professionals Program event in early 2020.

“It has been an extraordinary journey for me to start and grow the WiSE program in the last 20 years with my amazing WiSE colleagues and supportive Syracuse University leaders,” says Bhatia, WiSE co-director and engineering professor. “No other university has a program like WiSE—bringing undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral fellows and faculty together under the WiSE umbrella.”

To learn more about WiSE programming, events and news, please visit .

Amplifying Your Voice: Strategies for “Talking Back” with Professor Charisse L’Pree on Oct. 8

Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) has developed a new pilot program for women of color in STEM sophomores and juniors at the University. The Career Preparation Program (CPP) aims to provide these students with opportunities and resources for developing a roadmap for academic and career success.

Sixteen students (called CPP associates) were selected from self or faculty nominations in September for the 2020-2021 pilot. Jazmine Richardson, an associate studying biotechnology and African American studies, says, “I decided to participate in CPP because I knew this program would strengthen my professional skills and interpersonal skills while joining such a supportive group of women! Since joining this program, I have learned more about myself and my peers, and I look forward to what the next few months bring!”

CPP associates attend WiSE events that foster early career preparation and skill building, as well as networking with peers and mentoring from graduate students and faculty.

For example, multiple associates attended the WiSE Women of Color in STEM event with Professor Charisse L’Pree on Oct. 8 that included helpful strategies in how to advocate for oneself in professional and personal settings. Building community and a strong sense of belonging in STEM are also key CPP components.

Associates will receive a certificate and small stipend in late spring/summer upon completion of five credits (obtained through program attendance), and submission of an early portfolio package for faculty review.

The CPP format is based on the successful WiSE Future Professionals Program (WiSE-FPP) for women graduate students in STEM, offered since 2007. This year, WiSE-FPP has its largest cohort with 55 participants.

Dawn Johnson, chair of higher education and associate professor, serves as lead faculty advisor for CPP and WiSE Women of Color in STEM programming.

“As we enter our sixth year, we are excited to offer women of color the opportunity for deeper engagement with WiSE Women of Color in STEM, particularly as the pandemic prompts new ways of engaging with students. Research on women of color in STEM indicates that they are less likely to receive career support and mentoring, which intensifies the isolation and discrimination they often experience in their majors,” Johnson says.

“CPP creates opportunities for women of color to build community and a sense of belonging as they develop academic, professional, and interpersonal excellence. Mentoring by graduate women of color in STEM is a critical part of the program so the CPP Associates have support and encouragement from people who relate to their experiences and model how to pursue graduate study in STEM. CPP builds on long-standing WiSE partnerships with faculty and many offices on campus to retain and empower women of color in STEM majors,” she says.

For more information about CPP, WiSE Women of Color in STEM, and other WiSE initiatives, please visit or contact Program Director Sharon Alestalo and Program Support Coordinator Amanda Latreille at suwise@syr.edu.

Yongna (Yona) Lei

(WiSE) has announced that Yongna (Yona) Lei, a senior majoring in biochemistry and minoring in philosophy in the , is the recipient of the 2019 Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize.

Norma Slepecky was a passionate professor, researcher and advocate for undergraduate student research at Syracuse University. She also supported efforts to increase the number of women in science and engineering. Similar to Slepecky, WiSE programs support the persistence and excellence of women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize is meant to aid young women in STEM who have shown persistence toward degree completion, resilience, advancement and research excellence.

Lei is a University Scholar, a Remembrance Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. She is currently researching Ubiquilin-2 (UBQLN2), a protein associated with the pathology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

“Imagine you have UBQLN2 solution in a tube, which looks clear just like water. Now if you add salt to it and warm it up with your hand, you will see that the solution turns from clear to cloudy. The cloudiness or turbidity tells you that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) has occurred,” Lei says. “It’s interesting because something that sounds so microscopic can be observed by eye, and this process may occur similarly in our cells.”

Lei did not have research experience before beginning her independent study and research in the laboratory of Carlos A. Castañeda, assistant professor of biology and chemistry. “Dr. Castañeda gave me a chance,” Lei says of her research mentor.

In his recommendation, Castañeda said how fortunate he has been to have hosted Lei in his lab over the past two years and to watch her excel in her research.

Lei also speaks highly of her other mentor, Thuy Dao, a postdoctoral fellow in the Castañeda Lab. Dao acted as a sounding board, fostering Lei’s curiosity offering her day-to-day support.

Lei says she is very fortunate to be part of the Castañeda family, where she had tremendous support from mentors in colleagues in her journey as an undergraduate woman in a STEM field.

After graduation on May 12, Lei plans to stay in Syracuse to finish her research on UBQLN2. And she intends to apply for M.D./Ph.D. programs in cell biology, neuroscience and molecular genetics. She now adds her name to the list of 33 women awardees of the Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize.

About Women in Science and Engineering

WiSE, part of the Office of Academic Affairs, was founded in 1999 with three key goals: increase representation and retention, highlight women scholars through a lecture series, and develop advising/mentoring programs. As an interdisciplinary organization with a strong grassroots constituency in women faculty in STEM, the program has grown considerably over the years. Its distinguishing feature is that it is faculty led and driven. WiSE’s mission remains to support the persistence and excellence of women in STEM by capitalizing on their unique strengths; maximizing opportunities to connect; and addressing challenges experienced by women undergraduates, graduates, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in STEM.

About the Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize and Memorial Lecture

Norma Slepecky was a distinguished auditory neuroanatomist and member of the Institute for Sensory Research at Syracuse University. Slepecky was a passionate researcher and an advocate for undergraduate student research. She frequently mentored undergraduate students seeking research experience. She also strongly supported efforts to increase the number of women in science and engineering and hoped that her legacy, with the support of the endowment, would continue to encourage young women to conduct research. With her enthusiastic approval, her family, friends and colleagues upon her passing in 2001 endowed the Norma Slepecky Memorial Lectureship and Undergraduate Research Prize.

This story was written by Newhouse School graduate student Janet Diane White

Kelly Benoit-Bird

(WiSE), a program supporting the excellence of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at Syracuse University, is hosting Kelly Benoit-Bird, senior scientist at the (MBARI), as the invited lecturer for the 13th annual Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 22. Her presentation, “Echoes from the Deep,” is at 3 p.m. in Grant Auditorium. It is co-sponsored by the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Benoit-Bird is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient (2010). Her research at MBARI, focusing on the sea’s food paradox, is changing our understanding of how ocean animals—including zooplankton, fish, squid seabirds and marine mammals—make their living from the ocean’s surface to the deep sea.

“These small aggregations provide the key to solving experimentally demonstrated feeding paradoxes as well providing a mechanism for evolution in an isotropic environment where there are no obvious barriers to gene flow, Hutchinson’s ‘Paradox of Plankton,’” says Benoit-Bird, who earned a B.S. in aquatic ecology at Brown University and a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Her collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to understanding ocean ecosystems combines acoustic technologies with other tools, including optical sampling, animal tagging and behavioral modeling.

Just as prominent as her research into the food paradox is her advocacy for young girls pursuing a career in STEM fields. Her passion, from a young age, is drawn from her fascination with sea creatures of all sizes.��“It is important for girls to see and talk with women who have made a career in STEM,” Benoit-Bird says.

About Women in Science and Engineering

WiSE,��part of the Office of Academic Affairs, was founded in 1999 with three key goals: increase representation and retention, highlight women scholars through a lecture series and develop advising/mentoring programs. As an interdisciplinary organization with a strong grassroots constituency in women faculty in STEM, the program has grown considerably over the years. Its distinguishing feature is that it is faculty led and driven.

WiSE’s mission remains to support the persistence and excellence of women in STEM by capitalizing on their unique strengths, maximizing opportunities to connect, and addressing challenges experienced by women undergraduates, graduates, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in STEM.

About the Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize and Memorial Lecture

Norma Slepecky was a distinguished auditory neuroanatomist and member of the Institute for Sensory Research at Syracuse University. Slepecky was a passionate researcher and an advocate for undergraduate student research. She frequently mentored undergraduate students seeking research experience. She also strongly supported efforts to increase the number of women in science and engineering and hoped that her legacy, with the support of the endowment, would continue to encourage young women to conduct research. With her enthusiastic approval, her family, friends and colleagues upon her passing in 2001 endowed the Norma Slepecky Memorial Lectureship and Undergraduate Research Prize.

This story was written by Newhouse School graduate student Janet Diane White.

is an associate professor in the Physics Department at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Prof. Manning says the prize winners’ laser physics work has paved the way for her own research, and credits Donna Strickland’s win for sending a message to all students that excellence in physics isn’t gendered.

Dr. Manning says:

“This is a really exciting day for physicists everywhere.��Dr. Strickland’s work on chirped pulse amplification in lasers is important, and I am glad to see that the Nobel Prize committee gave her credit, as she performed the research as a graduate student working with a senior male doctoral advisor.

“Recognizing the contributions of scientists at all career stages, not just senior professors, is an important way to combat gender discrimination in the sciences.�� I am so excited to see a woman win the physics Nobel again after more than 50 years — as it sends a great message to students of all genders that excellence in physics isn’t gendered.

“I’m also really excited about the award to Dr. Ashkin, as optical tweezers helped to pave the way for understanding how mechanical forces shape cells and tissues, which is the focus of my own (theoretical and computational) research.”

To request interviews or get more information:

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Division of Marketing and Communications

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Syracuse University

The Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony will take place Wednesday, April 4, at 2:45 p.m. in 304 Schine Student Center. This is a change from the previously announced starting time of 3 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be available for the event. If you have requests for accessibility and accommodations, please contact the Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services (EOIRS) office at 315.443.4018.

Guest speaker Nora S. Newcombe, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, will lecture on “Spatial Thinking for STEM Success.” Spatial thinking concerns the locations of objects, their shapes, their relations and the paths they take as they move. Spatial skills are as important, as literacy and numeracy and play a central role in achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This talk will review research showing that (a) spatial thinking and STEM learning are related, and (b) spatial thinking is malleable. It will go on to evaluate two strategies for using these findings in education. Strategy 1 involves direct training of spatial skills. Strategy 2 involves spatializing the curriculum, using tools including spatial language, maps, diagrams, graphs, analogical comparison, physical activity that instantiates scientific or mathematical principles, gesture and sketching.

Newcombe received a B.A. in 1972 from Antioch College and a Ph.D. in 1976 from Harvard University. Her research focuses on spatial cognition and development, and the development of episodic memory. She is currently principal investigator of the NSF-funded Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, whose purpose is to develop the science of spatial learning and use this knowledge to support children and adults in acquiring STEM skills. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006 and to the Society of Experimental Psychologists in 2008 and has numerous publications and awards to her name. She is president-elect of the Federation of Associations of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

“Dr. Newcombe is an outstanding cognitive scientist and a pioneer in the scientific study of spatial cognition,” says Amy Criss, professor and chair in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. “She is also a fierce advocate for the sciences and an award- winning mentor. We are very fortunate to welcome her to Syracuse University to honor the legacy of Dr. Slepecky.”

Norma Slepecky in 1999, holding a model of the auditory system

Professor Norma Slepecky, for whom the lecture and research prize are named, was only 57 when she died on May 2, 2001. She was a distinguished auditory neuroanatomist and professor at Syracuse University. As a professor of bioengineering and neuroscience in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and member of the Institute for Sensory Research, Slepecky was a passionate researcher herself and an advocate for undergraduate student research. She frequently mentored undergraduate students seeking research experience. She also strongly supported efforts to increase the number of women in science and engineering.

With her enthusiastic approval, her family, friends and colleagues joined together to endow the Norma Slepecky Memorial Lectureship and Undergraduate Research Prize just prior to her passing. She hoped that her legacy, with the support of the endowment, would continue to encourage young undergraduate women to conduct research, thereby combining both her passions. The deans of represented colleges designated WISE as the stewards for this lectureship by a noted woman scholar and award to an undergraduate woman researcher and the celebration luncheon.

About Syracuse University

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Leshin will discuss some of the latest findings from Mars during “Science on Mars Time: Roving the Red Planet with Curiosity” at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 4, in 010 Crouse-Hinds Hall. Her lecture is part of the K. Douglas Nelson Lecture Series in the Department of Earth Sciences in . The lecture is co-sponsored by SU ADVANCE and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) at SU and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU’s paid lots.

In addition to Leshin’s presentation, WiSE will present the 2013 Norma Slepecky Undergraduate Research Prize in the Sciences. The prize is presented annually to students who demonstrate excellence in scholarship and submit the best manuscript or presentation from a professional meeting in the natural sciences.

Leshin is a member of the science team for the Curiosity, a sophisticated science lab that touched down on the planet’s surface on Aug. 5, 2012. Curiosity is the centerpiece of NASA’s $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission. The huge robot landed inside Mars’ Gale Crater, kicking off a planned two-year surface mission to determine if the area ever could have supported microbial life.

Prior to joining RPI, Leshin served as the deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, where she played a leading role in NASA’s future human spaceflight endeavors. She oversaw the planning and execution of the next generation of human exploration systems, as well as the research, robotic and future capabilities development activities that support them. She was also engaged in initiating the development of commercial human spaceflight capabilities to low earth orbit. Prior to that work, Leshin served as director of science and deputy center director for science and technology at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Leshin is a former director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University, which houses the largest university-based meteorite collection in the world. An asteroid was named in her honor (4922 Leshin) by the International Astronomical Union. Leshin was the inaugural recipient of the Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize in 1996 for her work, served on President Bush’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, received the 2004 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal for her work on the commission and, in 2011, the Outstanding Leadership Medal for her work at NASA. President Obama recently appointed Leshin to the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

She holds a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

The public lecture, “Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women in the Academy,” will begin at 4 p.m. in Room 105 in the Life Sciences Complex. The event is free and open to the public. Valian will also meet with select, invited groups on campus throughout the day.

A report issued March 22 by the American Association of University Women (AAWU) with the support of the National Science Foundation found that even though women have made some advances in the fields of science, math, engineering and technology (STEM), cultural biases and stereotypes still exist that act as roadblocks on their path to success. This stubborn trend of underrepresentation continues even as women pursue graduate degrees in science and engineering at nearly equal rates as men.

“Despite SU’s deep commitment to equity and inclusion, the number of women in the STEM disciplines on campus remains below the national average,” says Shobha Bhatia, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the and director of WiSE. “The involvement of all faculty and campus leaders is essential to achieve lasting transformation. Dr. Valian’s visit will help us start the conversations necessary to foster change.”

Valian is professor of psychology and linguistics at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She is a cognitive scientist whose research focuses on language acquisition in two-year-olds, second language acquisition and sex differences in cognition. Her work has been published in leading journals in cognitive and developmental psychology. She was an advisory board member for the recent AAWU report “Why So Few?”

She was the lead principal investigator at Hunter College for the first round of the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Institutional Transformational Awards, and through that project and her studies of sex differences in cognition developed extensive knowledge about gender equality and inclusion. More information on the Hunter College ADVANCE initiative can be found at .

In her landmark book,“Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women” (MIT Press, 1998), Valian uses concepts and data from psychology, sociology, economics, biology and neuropsychology to explain the disparity in the professional advancement of men and women. Men and women, Valian argues, have implicit hypotheses about gender differences—gender schemas—that create small sex differences in characteristics, behaviors, perceptions and evaluations of men and women. Those small imbalances accumulate to the advantage of men and the disadvantage of women.

WiSE at Syracuse University is an innovative program designed to enhance and support the professional development and persistence of women faculty and students in the sciences and engineering. Students engaged in WiSE programs benefit from support and networking opportunities, peer mentoring, opportunities for leadership skill development, and career training and workshops. Two of WiSE’s signature programs include the Future Professional Program and the WiSE Learning Community.

For more information about the April 16 events or other WiSE programs, contact Sharon Alestalo, WiSE program manager, at 443-3419 or swalesta@syr.edu.