March 8, 2021

Next week, we will be having our March Celebrating Women Chemist lunch seminar on Tuesday, March 16th at noon. For our March CWC, Dr. Trisha Miller, a security systems analyst, from Sandia National Laboratories will be giving an information seminar on her "non-traditional" science career. During the lunch discussion, Dr. Miller will provide a brief overview of her educational background and she will discuss what it’s like to work at a national lab and provide tips for how to apply for, interview with, and be successful in a career at a national lab. Her biography is attached for anyone who wants to learn a little bit more before next week.

February 8, 2021

Next week, we will have our February Celebrating Women Chemist lunch seminar. Our February CWC lunch will be held on Monday, February 15th at Noon. Our speaker will be Professor Yangguang Ou, from the University of Vermont. She recently started her position as a professor this academic year and will be sharing her story - a brief abstract of which is attached. There will also be a Q&A after she gives her talk.

February 5, 2021

We're organizing a (virtual) social event for the womxn of CEMS and Chemistry departments on Friday, 12th February 5pm to 6pm.

There will be fun games like Scattergories, Codenames, Skribbl.io (pictionary), etc and rooms to discuss the work related aspects of graduate school as well as topics that have nothing to do with work.

This will be a way for us to get introduced to the wonderful womxn in the CEMS department in a non-academic setting.

We also hope to give the first year students a chance to get to know their peers and senior graduate students in a relaxed setting.

January 13, 2021

To kick off the Spring semester, we will be restarting our Celebrating Women Chemist lunch series. Our January CWC lunch will be on Wednesday, January 20th at 12:15. Our speaker will be our own Prof. Jessica Lamb, who will be giving a brief overview of her scientific journey to becoming a professor as well as discussing her experience with the faculty job search. This will be followed by a Q&A session where you can ask her questions. If you are not yet familiar with Prof. Lamb's work, you can check out her research page here.

November 10, 2020

WISE will be hosting a professional development workshop next Thursday, November 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. over Zoom - the information for which can be found below.

This workshop will be led by Whitney Moore from the CSE Career Center and will be focused on marketing transferable skills from academia/graduate school into more nontraditional careers for chemists. This workshop is being geared towards graduate students, but the event is open to all who feel the information might be relevant to them.

April 8, 2020

A Virtual Lunch/Networking Event for Graduate and Postdoctoral Women in the College of Science and Engineering will be held with Marie Manner of 3M (PhD in CS&E) for Graduate and Postdoctoral Women on Friday, April 17th from 12:15-1:15 PM.

Marie Manner Ph.D., is a Data Scientist at 3M in the Personal Safety Division. Her group, Connected Safety, makes products at the intersection of the Industrial Internet of Things and personal protective equipment. Her research and development work does not sound very fun, but it is - some of her main tasks are analysing app data, performing competitive analysis, and making snazzy, patentable proofs of concept for digital safety tools. Marie earned her B.S. in mathematics from St. Catherine University, working in software quality assurance after graduation. After spending a year in industry, she left for graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. There she earned her M.S., teaching and working on the side, and then her Ph.D in computer science in 2018.

Her thesis work focused on child-robot interactions, trying to differentiate typically and atypically developing toddlers to help diagnose autism earlier in young children. She uses the skills cultivated in her graduate studies to help her current team make smarter, more personalized tools for 3M’s customers in the safety space. Marie will discuss her somewhat unconventional career path and some lessons learned from graduate school.

March 26, 2020

CANCELLED Cool Chemistry: April 18, 2020

Due to the uncertainty of the Covid-19 virus, Cool Chemistry 2020 is cancelled. While we are saddened to not offer this experience this year, we hope you will keep us in mind in Spring 2021 and sign up then!

Please contact us at wisechem@umn.edu for further information.

March 4th, 2020

Our March CWC Lunch is currently postponed until further notice.

Our speaker will be Hannah Bearinger, a Clinical Research Consultant at BRIGHT Research Partners. An abstract for the talk is below. We hope to see you there!

"My scientific journey started in undergrad where I pursued a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with a Biology minor. Next up was a PhD in Materials Science where my research focused on understanding immune responses to various surface chemistries of polymers, the perfect combination of my interests from undergrad. When it came time to find a job after grad school, I had no idea what I wanted to do next. In a form of serendipity, I met the right people at the right time and found a great fit at the University of Minnesota. I completed a fellowship in Medical Device Innovation that opened a world of possibilities for me in the Medical Device Industry of the Twin Cities. My current position in Clinical Research is very different than anything else I have done before, but I know many of the skills I learned in graduate school have helped me to make this yet another seamless transition. In my talk, I plan to discuss what I have learned from each of my many transitions in hopes that it may simplify your scientific journey."

February 20th, 2020

Our February CWC Lunch will be on Thursday, February 20th in Kolthoff 193 at noon. Our speaker will be Sarah Wegwerth, a Chemistry Content Specialist at Alchemie. An abstract for the talk is below. We hope to see you there!

"I started graduate school with the goal of becoming a professor at a PUI but over the years my dreams changed. In this talk I will be open about my experiences and what influenced my change in plans. In light of the theme of transitions, I will also share, based on my experiences, advice for navigating transitions. I have been through numerous transitions of my own, including becoming a mother while a graduate student, changing career aspirations, going from graduate student to care-giver, to part-time employee working remotely, and most recently from bench research to educational research. As I hope to impress upon you, your graduate school experience is incredibly valuable and the skills you learn are not limited to the bench. Finally, some (including myself) may say I was extremely lucky to get my current job but I will also share how we big have a role in making our own luck :)"

January 23rd, 2020

Our January CWC Lunch will be on Thursday, January 23rd in Kolthoff 193 at noon. Our speaker will be Nicole Bousu, a Senior Scientist at H.B. Fuller. An abstract for the talk is below. We hope to see you there!

"I started graduate school at the University of Arizona studying bioinorganic chemistry with a focus on iron sequestering ligands for cancer treatment. After two years at Arizona, I transferred to the University of Minnesota to finish my graduate career. Through my time in Arizona, I discovered how much I enjoy synthetic inorganic chemistry and I joined the Tolman lab to synthesize and study copper complexes for C-H bond activation. After graduate school, I knew I wanted to stay in the Twin Cities, and I was open to trying a new field of chemistry. My Raman spectroscopy experience during graduate school brought me to a position at H.B. Fuller (an adhesives company) where I am now an Analytical Chemist. The work is vastly different from the work I did in graduate school yet, I find that I use the skills I learned in graduate school to answer questions and solve problems at my job. I am about to embark down a new journey of being a working mother in the science field and I am learning about navigating work-life balance. In this talk, I will share my experiences in graduate school and in industry along with what I have learned along the way."

November 7, 2019

Our November CWC Lunch will be on Thursday, November 14th in Kolthoff 193 at noon. Our speaker will be Audrey Meyer, a Senior Process Engineer at Boston Scientific. An abstract for the talk is below. We hope to see you there!

"When I set off for grad school, I planned to work in the field of environmental chemistry. Once I heard about bioanalytical chemistry, though, I was pretty well hooked on the idea of applying analytical methods to complex biological problems. After grad school, I wanted to try something different and took a job as a plasma etch engineer in Portland, OR. While I enjoyed many aspects of my job and engineering, I found that I wanted to work on a wider variety of projects and also was really missing the biological applications where I had started. I moved back to Minnesota and am now working on new product development in the medical device field. I’m still an engineer, and I get to develop products and the analytical methods that we use to evaluate them. I'll share my experience working as an engineer with no engineering background and what I have found to be challenging and rewarding about working in industry."

October 10, 2019

Our October CWC Lunch will be on Thursday, October 17th in Kolthoff 193 at noon. Our speaker will be Jennifer Strehlau, a Senior Chemist at Medtronic. An abstract for the talk is below. We hope to see you there!

"My path has been unpredictable, to say the least. After struggling through Intro to Biology, I quickly ran from biochemistry. I spent the next decade studying environmental analytical chemistry and enjoyed every minute of it. After that, I took a left turn instead of following the highway and now have a rewarding industry career in medical devices, applying analytical experience to a biochemistry/polymer field. Equally surprising, I trained to become a professor while I was in graduate school and now am working in industry. I aim to share with you my experiences during the unclear transition from graduate student to post-doc to career. I’ll highlight my struggles and fears when choosing between academia and industry, searching for that first job, and balancing personal relationships. I will relay helpful suggestions I’ve gathered from hiring managers, and I will also emphasize important considerations for taking your first job and transitioning on to your second. My key takeaways are to be open to new possibilities and take personal ownership in reaching your goals."

September 17, 2019

Our first CWC Lunch for the semester will be on Tuesday, September 17th in Kolthoff 193 at noon. The speaker will be Dr. Courtney Roberts, Assistant Professor in the chemistry department here at the University of Minnesota.

Below is the abstract for the talk:

"My journey into chemistry began with a flippant comment from an advisor in high school, “Why don’t you take chemistry in summer school and get it over with? You’ll never use it again.” Luckily, I don’t always listen to advice, and I also love proving people wrong. I am happy to share my journey from that advising meeting in high school to starting here at the U. The past history of my field of synthetic organic/organometallic chemistry is filled with reactions named after men and I can’t change it. But I can work to change the future. In no way do I want to diminish the contributions of these brilliant male scientists who have these beautiful reactions named after them, but as a female graduate student and postdoc sometimes I used to have trouble seeing how I can be part of this group. I’m happy to share how I overcame these doubts, how I ended up where I am today, and how I plan to help the next generation of women in STEM.”

September 13, 2019

WISE welcomed the start of a new school year with ice cream!

March 13, 2019

Visit the new Women's Center website at womenscenter.umn.edu and learn more about our upcoming events, educational and leadership development offerings, and about gender equity resources on campus!

March 8, 2019

The CSE Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Initiative in CSE Student Services, Prof. Lee Penn (Chemistry department) and the Associate Dean's office invite you to a luncheon workshop specifically for CSE graduate students on the topic of microaggressions on March 15th (Friday). In this workshop, you’ll learn more about what microaggressions are and are not, and how to react to them. These skills can be put to use in all types of relationships, in and out of the classroom. A key goal of the College is to create and maintain a respectful and professional climate in which all can feel welcome. Lunch will be provided.

Date: March 15th (Friday)

Time: 1230-1400

Location: Bruininks Hall 432

March 8, 2019

Our March CWC Lunch event will feature Dr. Cora Leibig, founder and CEO of Chromatic 3D Materials.

A Journey In Chemistry: From Corporate R&D to Startup Founder

Abstract: Cora Leibig, PhD, earned degrees in Chemical Engineering in 1993 and 1997 from MIT and UC Santa Barbara. In her 20 year career, she has held roles in basic research, applied research, R&D management, and business management, and her career has taken her around the world. She founded Chromatic 3D Materials, a 3D printing startup, in 2016 and it has since progressed through Series A and NSF Phase II SBIR financing. A career in chemistry has presented opportunities that she would not have imagined or sought during graduate school. Cora will share her story about her career and family decision points and their consequences (intended or otherwise). In addition, she will discuss the technology behind Chromatic 3D Materials and the decision to start a company.

Date: March 12th (Tuesday)

Time: 1200-1300

Location: Kolthoff 193

February 5, 2019

A Micro-Aggression Workshop, led by Lee Penn and Stef Jarvi, hosted by WISE, will be held on Monday, February 11th from 4-5:30 pm in Bruininks Hall room 412. This event is open to ALL chemistry department students, faculty, and staff. Snacks will be provided.

Micro-Aggressions are statements or actions that are indirect, subtle and sometimes unintentional means of discrimination against marginalized groups. This workshop will discuss different forms of microaggressions, how we can be aware of them, and how to combat them in the future. This workshop will be more scenario based, so those who attended this workshop last year are invited to return.

January 10, 2019

Our first CWC Lunch event for the year will feature Dr. Laura Babcock, Director of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Programme (MnTAP), a programme that provides engineering assistance to facilities across the state. Food will be provided by Kowloon Restaurant. Please RSVP here by Jan 15th, 10 am.

Dr. Babcock's academic training is in inorganic chemistry and she worked in the chemical industry for many years developing catalysts, new materials and biobased plastics. All these experiences have culminated in her role now in MnTAP working on striking the right balance of technology and operations to deliver the target outcome.

Title: On Becoming a Catalyst

Abstract: Throughout my career I have come back to the concept of catalysis as a description of the work I do. The substrates and scale change, but the work - making things happen - stays the same.

Date: January 16th (Wednesday)

Time: 1200-1300

Location: Kolthoff 193

January 10, 2019

Cool Chem 2019 will be on Saturday April 13th, 2019 from 10am-2pm. It is for 7th and 8th grade girls. It will be in Smith Hall and the cost in $10 (with scholarships available). For more information and registration check out the cool chem webpage here.

November 12, 2018

Dr. Galyna Loughran will be the featured guest at a Lunch/Networking Event for Graduate and Postdoctoral Women that will take place on Friday November 16th.

Dr. Loughran is the Director of Biomedical Research at the Excelen Center for Bone and Joint Research and Education, an independent, nonprofit research and education organization that educates and assists orthopedic researchers as they develop innovative surgical and rehabilitative techniques. Please see the attached document for more information

Date: November 16th (Friday)

Time: 1215 - 1315

Location: 225 Akerman Hall

November 12, 2018

Prof. Christine Luscombe will be the featured invitee at the Fall Diversity Event for Graduate and Postdoctoral Women in the College of Science and Engineering. Prof. Luscombe is currently a chemistry professor at the Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Washington, Seattle. Research within the Luscombe group involves the design and synthesis of functional molecules, which range from well-defined macromolecules to polymers, for the self-assembly of materials towards a wide variety of applications.

Date: Nov 14th (Wednesday)

Time: 1130 - 1230

Location: Bruininks Hall 512B

November 12, 2018

Join fellow CSE graduate women this November for a "Women who Inspire" event where short videos with a women's theme will be screened. Do come and meet other graduate women and relax over snack and beverages.

Date: Nov 13th (Tuesday)

Time: 1630 - 1730

Location: Physics and Nanotechnology Building 110

October 10, 2018

Our October CWC lunch will feature Ms. Sally Hed Dahlquist, President and Chief Manager of ImmunoChemistry Technologies, a Twin Cities-based biotechnology company that is solely women owned and operated.

Title: Living the Dream: My Career as a (Female) Biotech Entrepreneur

Abstract: I lived every high-tech entrepreneurs dream: I built my own biotech company and sold a biomedical patent. But to get there, I had to survive the nightmare: I was bankrupt and sued by one of my business partners. Yet I persisted, settled the lawsuit, and lead the company to profitability without accepting any venture capital money. In 2016, I bought out my other business partners to become sole owner and President. Today, ICT is a profitable niche biotech company selling products and services to biomedical researchers all over the world. Our products have been cited in over 2,000 scientific publications. I’m living the dream as a successful scientist. If I can do it, you can do it too!

Date: October 22nd (Monday)

Time: 1200-1300

Location: Kolthoff 193

September 7, 2018

Chemistry WISE CWC lunch

Speaker: Prof. Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran

Date : Sept 12th (Wednesday)

Time : 12.00 - 1.00 pm

Location : K 193

September 5, 2018

Sept 7th (Friday) / 2.30 - 3.30 pm / K193

Welcome back to a new school year! As per tradition, we are having a lq N2 ice cream social to end the first week of school on a sweet sweet note :) Do come to know more about WISE and welcome the year 1s into our department.

August 23, 2018

Aug 28th (Tuesday) / 3 pm / K193

Elena Koltun is a Medicinal Chemist and a team leader with over 17 years of experience in the field of biotechnology, having worked previously for Exelixis and more recently, Numerate and Revolution Medicines. She has extensive experience in drug discovery and preclinical development across multiple therapeutic areas: oncology, metabolic syndrome, and inflammation, taking the programs from early Lead Generation and through IND enabling stage, including Lead Chemistry role for SHP2 program at Revolution Medicines. Elena is a contributor to the delivery of five clinical candidates and the co-inventor of Cotellic® (Cobimetinib), MEK inhibitor developed by Exelixis and marketed since 2015 by Genentech.

August 5, 2018

Aug 8th (Wednesday) / 3 pm / K193

WISE will be having an liquid nitrogen ice cream social this summer to cool off! We will also be having some students share about their experiences from attending the 2018 Midwest Women Chemists retreat. Come hang out over sweet treats, meet other people and get to know about WISE.

July 27, 2018

Aug 14th (Tuesday) / 12.00 - 1.00 pm / Gary Balas Hangar, Akerman Hall

Karen Pierce (AEM, BS 1981) was a pilot at 18, aerospace engineer at 21, business leader at 31, business owner at 36, with 16 years of experience living and working in Asia while supporting a young family and an equally dynamic husband, Karen has walked the talk of women in leadership. Join Karen on August 14th where she will share her seasoned perspective on career development, women’s issues in technology industries, and skills for conflict resolution and negotiation.

July 16, 2018

Jul 24th (Tuesday) / 12.15 - 1.05 pm / K193

Title: Chemical Biology at a PUI (Primarily Undergraduate Institution)

Abstract: I’ll discuss my path to teaching and research at Macalester College, a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI). During graduate school and postdoctoral fellowships we become familiar with what being a professor at a research university is like, so I will try to highlight how it is different to become and to be a professor at a PUI.

June 1, 2018

Regular WISE members Kajari Bera (Frontiera), Beth Dewing (Mahanthappa) and Anna Luke (Tolman/Frontiera) won the highly competitive Beaker and Bunsen honour award during the 17th annual Graduate Student Research Symposium held on Friday, June 1, 2018. For their award, they have each earned a UMN mug and a travel award.

Honourable mentions were also awarded to Stephanie Mitchell (Carlson) and Debmalaya Ray (Gagliardi). While Debmalaya Ray is not a regular WISE member, he did gamely volunteered to give a practice talk to the WISE group!

Congratulations to all winners and thank you for practicing with WISE!

May 16, 2018

May 21st (Monday) / 11.30 - 1 pm / K 193

Third year practice talks

a) Development and Mechanistic Study of Ketone Synthesis via Transition-Metal-Catalyzed C–O Bond Activation

Constance Anderson (Christopher Douglas)

b) Do Defects Talk in Pyrite (FeS2)?

Debmalya Ray (Laura Gagliardi)

May 10, 2018

May 14th (Monday) / 11.30 - 1 pm / K 193

Third year practice talks

a) Conductivities & Morphologies of New Lithium Single-ion Conductors

Beth Dewing (Mahesh Mahanthappa)

b) Exposure to Complex Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Elicits Rapid Adaptation and Increase Fitness in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

Stephanie Mitchell (Erin Carlson)

May 8, 2018

May 8th (Tuesday) / 12 - 1 pm / K 193

Third year practice talks

a) Exploring structural dynamics during singlet fission in rubrene and rubrene derivatives using femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy

Kajari Bera (Renee Frontiera)

b) Understanding Catalyst Structural Effects on the Ring-Opening Transesterification Polymerization of Cyclic Esters

Anna Luke (Theresa Reineke & William Tolman)

c) ATP-Based Probes with Modified γ-Phosphate for Identification of Bacterial Histidine Kinases

Adeline Espinasse (Erin Carlson)

March 31, 2018

Apr 6th (Friday) / 12 - 1 pm / Walter 101

How to be successful in grad school

Graduate school can be one of the most rewarding times in your career, but also the most trying at times. Learning to cope with the ups and downs of research requires both resilience and perseverance and it can be difficult to maintain one's self confidence. In this talk, Prof. Christine Thomas will provide her personal account of her own graduate school experience and share her perspective on coping with challenges including the Imposter Syndrome, work-life balance and gender bias.

March 31, 2018

Apr 13th (Friday) / 12.15 - 1.05 pm / Walter 101

Holly Boehne is the senior vice president and Chief Technology Officer of the Anderson Corporation. In this role, she has responsibility for enterprise Strategic Sourcing, Engineering, Lean Sigma, CapEx deployment, enterprise Quality Systems, as well as Research, Development & Innovation.

March 8, 2018

Mar 13th (Tuesday) / 12 - 1 pm / K 193

The Perks (and Flaws) of Tunnel Vision

Megan received her Ph.D. from the University of California-Irvine, pursuing research on organometallic

lanthanide and actinide chemistry in the group of Bill Evans. She is currently a postdoc in the Tolman group, working as part of the Center for Sustainable Polymers. She is preparing to start a faculty position at the University of Southern California in the fall. From the age of 16, Megan knew that she wanted to be a chemistry professor and has had tunnel vision ever since. She will discuss how this tunnel vision was useful to prepare for her dream career path early, but made her less open-minded to other career options in chemistry.

February 26, 2018

Mar 14th (Wednesday) / 1 - 3 pm / Walter 101

Come celebrate Pi Day with the other CSE graduate women this spring break! Stop by for the whole time, or just a few minutes, either way, FREE PI(E) for all :D This is an opportunity to interact with graduate women from other departments in CSE. We will have some activities and games too. Please RSVP by clicking here before Mar 7th (Wednesday) and include any dietary preferences.

February 26, 2018

Feb 28th (Wednesday) / 12 - 1 pm / K 193

Life After the Lab: Non-traditional Careers in Chemistry

Brenda was a research chemist in the pharmaceutical divisions of Monsanto/Pharmacia/Pfizer for over 10 years before losing her job in a mass lay-off. She will be discussing her transition into a non-traditional career, as well as the career changes of several female colleagues.

February 26, 2018

Mar 9th (Friday) / 12:15 - 1:05 pm / Walter 101

Erin Carlson will be the featured invitee for a Lunch/Networking Event for Graduate and Postdoctoral Women in the College of Science and Engineering. There should also be options available for those following vegetarian and/or gluten-free diets. Please RSVP by clicking here and include any dietary preferences.

January 18, 2018

Details: Feb 5th (Monday) / 12 - 1 pm / K 193

Building a Career in Chemistry

Kolby White is currently a Senior Chemist in the Corporate Research Materials Laboratory at 3M. As freshman at Northwestern University, she picked Chemistry as a major because she enjoyed the classes. Now, 10 years later, she will discuss the career path that choice led to. This will include a brief discussion of her graduate work at MIT, applying for jobs, her current position at 3M, and a few life lessons learned along the way.

November 18, 2017

Recruitment talk - Graco Inc.

Graco Inc. has been a leading provider of premium pumps and spray equipment for fluid handling in the construction, manufacturing, processing and maintenance industries.Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Graco works closely with distributors around the world to offer innovative products that set the quality standard for spray finishing, paint circulation, lubrication, sealant and adhesives dispensing, process application, and contractor power equipment.

November 18, 2017

Pam Ludford Finnerty is a Principal Product Owner at Surescripts. In her current role, she collaborates with business leads, software developers, and pharmacists on elevating the accuracy of electronic prescriptions, finding/sharing electronic patient records across practices and geographies, and solutions to address the opioid crisis.

In her presentation, she will elaborate on how the broad skillset she accumulated during graduate school in engineering equipped her for success in her current and previous roles. Beyond technical knowledge in artificial intelligence and data mining, she draws on time-management, writing, teaching, and presentation skills.

November 7, 2017

Greta Wegner leads the assay business unit at R&D Systems, a Bio-Techne company, in Minneapolis, MN. She received a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Concordia College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her thesis focused on the study of biomolecular interactions on microarrays using SPR imaging. Greta began her career as a bench scientist developing blood glucose test strips and then transitioned to leading a team developing membrane based array products for the research market. She currently directs the product management and development teams working on array, ELISA, and Luminex products as well as the custom assay development and testing services teams.

November 7, 2017

Join CSE Women on the morning of Nov 10th (Friday) from 8.30 - 11 am at Walter 401/402 for delicious breakfast and reflective conversation inspired by various TED Talks. Feel free to come and leave as your schedule permits.

October 17, 2017

CWC Lunch for October. October 27th, 12 - 1 pm, Smith 117/119. Prof. Reisman is a chemistry professor at Caltech and the overarching goal of her research program is to discover, develop, and study new chemical reactions within the context of natural product total synthesis. She will be giving a talk titled "How to Succeed in Grad School"

All in the department are welcome to join Prof. Sarah Reisman on Oct 27th, 9 - 10 am @ K193 for an informal coffee hour. Refreshments will be provided.

October 10, 2017

Prof. Azarin is an Assistant Professor in the department of CEMS. Her research focuses in the broadly defined field of biological engineering, by examining the role of the cell microenvironment in development of healthy and diseased tissues for applications in regenerative medicine and cancer therapeutics.

September 22, 2017

Our September CWC lunch speaker will be Dr. Michelle LaRue. Dr. Michelle LaRue is a research ecologist at the University of Minnesota, where she focuses on learning about effects of changing environments on penguins and seals in the Antarctic, and on mountain lions in the U.S. As a woman in science - and especially in remote field locations - Michelle has learned about resilience, determination, and collaboration as necessities in academia. Michelle will talk about her research experiences and the importance of connections for research and career advancement.

September 22, 2017

For all their excellent work done in 2016/2017, WISE members Annie Luke and Amy Ott have been recognised by the department at the start of the semester. Congratulations to both :)

Annie Luke, 3rd year student in Prof. Bill Tolman's group, has been awarded the the Outstanding Teaching Assistant award (Organic).

Amy Ott, 3rd year student in Prof. Joseph Topczewski's group, has received the Wayland Noland Fellowship award.

For more information about these awards, please refer to the department's website.

September 19, 2017

Title: "Journey of a blind computational chemist"

Our first CWC lunch featuring Dr. Mona Minkara, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Prof. Ilja Siepmann's group has seen us attracting our largest group of attendees ever. Almost 25 - 30 people were present to learn and be inspired from Mona. Lunch was provided from DP Dough.

September 8, 2017

Our annual ice-cream social to welcome our incoming first-year graduate students was held successfully. There's nothing better than some sweet treat to end the first week of school, right ladies? :)

June 27, 2017

WISE TA, Sadie Otte, has been awarded the 2017-18 Sharon L. Doherty Award from the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Center to honour her outstanding volunteer service concerning women’s issues on campus or in the broader community.

Congratulations Sadie! Thank you for your leadership.

For more information on the award, please refer to the write-up on the departmental website.

September 9, 2016

WISE member and photographer, Xin Yi See, was one of three recipients honored with the 2015-16 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. She is currently a 3rd-year graduate student working with Professor Ian Tonks. Congratulations Xin Yi!

For more details, see the Chemistry Department website: http://chem.umn.edu/news/department-honors-student-award-and-fellowship-recipients

September 7, 2016

Join Intel Corporation representatives for an information session regarding the many opportunities for graduate students at Intel. Bring your resume and discuss the exciting opportunities for graduates with degrees in CE, EE, Comp Sci ChemE, Chemistry, Mechanical Eng, Materials Science, BioChemistry, Physics, Optics and more.

The event will be held on Wednesday, September 21st in Smith 117/119 from 12-1:30 pm. Food will be provided from Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The session will be led by Megan Goodson, who you may remember from WISE events with Intel last year.

September 6, 2016

WISE hosted its annual Ice Cream Social to welcome new 1st year graduate students and kick-off the start of the new school semester. New and current members were able to meet and socialize over free ice cream! Thanks to everyone who participated!

September 2, 2016

WISE will be hosting Dr. Valerie Young as a guest seminar speaker at the University of Minnesota, open to both women and men in the Chemistry Department! Ms. Young is a leading expert on the impostor syndrome, and she has received much recognition for her work in this field. Her seminar is titled, "How to Feel as Bright and Capable as They Think You Are," and will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm.

Copies of her award-winning book, "The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It," are currently available to borrow or for purchase. Learn more about Ms. Young by visiting her website:

http://impostorsyndrome.com/valerie-young/.

August 29, 2016

Courtney Elwell is serving as a WISE representative on the Chemistry Community Events Committee to help plan the upcoming Chemistry Catalyst Social Event! Come join Graduate Students, Post-Doctorates, Faculty, Staff, and Visiting Researchers at Minnehaha Falls to kick-off the new school year.

For more details, see the Chemistry Department website: http://chem.umn.edu/event/chemistry-catalyst-2016

July 28, 2016

WISE has received additional funding for the upcoming academic year! We have been awarded a grant by the Women's Center at UMN to advance scientific education and networking. WISE will be recognized and presented with a certificate at the 2016 Celebrating University Woman Awards program, held on October 16, 2016. The grant was written by WISE members Hanna Macaranas, Sadie Otte, and Letitia Yao.

July 11, 2016

WISE has received funding for the upcoming academic year! We have been awarded a grant by the Beckman Coulter Foundation to advance scientific education and networking, allowing for the continuation and improvement of our current programs while also providing the means to develop new events. The grant was written by WISE members Hanna Macaranas, Sadie Otte, and Letitia Yao.

May 6, 2016

WISE member, Sarah Wegwerth, received the 2016 John Bowers Excellence in Teaching Assistance Award in the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) for her outstanding work as the head organic teaching assistant. In honor of her exceptional teaching, Sarah received a commemorative sculpture and a $1,000 financial award. She will be honored next week at the CSE awards reception, held on Friday, May 13.

Sarah has been head organic TA since 2014 and her commitment to excellence in teaching was also recognized in 2012-13, when she received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant award. She is currently a fifth-year graduate student working with Professor Christopher Douglas.

April 27, 2016

Former WISE TA, Sarah Gruba, successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled, "Exploration of Platelet and Mast Cell Communication: A Study of Membrane Lipids, Asthma, and Inflammation" on April 21, 2016. We are happy to announce that she has recently accepted a position at Boston Scientific. We wish her all the best as she takes the next steps in her professional career!

April 22, 2016

WISE TA Sadie Otte has received a 2015-2016 Honorable Mention for the Timothy J. Salo Leadership Award from the Council of Graduate Students. Since 1996 COGS has presented an annual student Leadership Award recognizing the recipient's leadership and service on behalf of their fellow graduate students, the University and broader communities. Sadie was honored at a recognition ceremony held on Thursday, April 21, in the Presidents Room at the Coffman Memorial Union.

April 14, 2016

Sadie Otte was selected as the WISE TA for the 2015-2016 academic year. Sadie is a graduate student in Prof. Chris Douglas' research group. Congratulations, Sadie!