AWIS-WV
Newsletter
October 1997
Association
for Women in Science-West Virginia promoting equity in science and math
for the women and girls of West Virginia.
Highlights
...
- Chapter Meeting at WVU on November 8th
- From the Chapter President
- From the Past Chapter President
- Dr. Heidi Hammel to Speak at 1997 Benedum Lecture
- Dr. Story Landis to speak at WVU Winter Neuroscience Conference
- WVU-Parkersburg Hosts 1997 EYH Workshop
- Twenty-two Receive AWIS-WV Career Enhancement Awards
- ACS Short Course Material Available from FSU
- FSU Student wins IBM Fellowship
- AWIS-WV Spring Symposium
- Scientist Pen Pals needed for Science-By-Mail Program
- Your Chapter Officers
Chapter Meeting at WVU on November 8th
There will be a general meeting of the AWIS-WV Chapter on Saturday, November 8th at West Virginia University in Morgantown. The meeting will be held at the John Jones Conference Center (Dining Room A) at the Health Science Center. We will begin with a luncheon from Noon to 1 PM, followed by the meeting (expected to last about two hours).
The agenda for the meeting is as follows:
- Secretary's Report (Lisa Ferrara)
- Past-President's report (Joyce Foster)
- Treasurer's Report (Jeanne Sullivan)
-
Old business
- Report on Career Enhancement Awards
- Report on EYH97
- Recruiting new members
- Report on the Spring 97 Meeting
-
New business
- Plans for future EYH activities
- E-mail connections and the web site
- Mini-meetings
- Spring Chapter meeting
- Items from the floor
PLEASE DON'T LET TRAVEL ISSUES STOP YOU FROM ATTENDING. The Chapter may be able to help arrange car pools and/or overnight accommodations to facilitate your attendance. Contact Dale Birkle (293-5798, birkle@wvu.edu) if you need help or advice about getting to the meeting.
Directions to WVU Health Science Center. From I-79 exit at Exit 155 (Star City). Turn right at US Rt 19/7, cross Star City bridge, go up hill and turn left at the Coliseum onto Patteson Drive. Turn right just past the Kroger's onto University Ave. Turn left at the first light onto Medical Center Drive. Go straight thru the 4-way stop, then park in the lot on your left (no permit needed). Look for signs pointing you to the AWIS meeting---Walk back towards and then alongside the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center (white modern building), keeping the Physicians Office Center and the back of Ruby Hospital (both are red brick buildings) on your right. Just past the Cancer Center and just before you get to the helicopter pad, enter glass double doors on your left. Go down the hall way and turn the first corner to the right to enter the John Jones Conference Center.
Dear members and supporters of AWIS-WV,
I am struck every time by the warm feelings of comraderie and support that I experience at every meeting of the AWIS-WV Chapter. There is something about the coming together of women that does this. I leave thinking about how fortunate I am to know these fantastically talented, intelligent women and how fortunate our schools, businesses and communities are to have the talents of these women working for them. It is in that spirit that I proudly take on the challenge of the Presidency of our Chapter.
First let me thank Joyce Foster who has skillfully guided our efforts over the past two years. I am glad to be the beneficiary of Joyce's wisdom and experience in her new role as Past-President. I also want to thank Lisa Ferrara who has been our Chapter Secretary for several years and is now handing that job over to Joyce McCune-Gentry. Jeanne Sullivan has graciously and bravely agreed to continue on as Chapter Treasurer which will provide important continuity in that office. And Linda Vona-Davis has volunteered to serve as our new President-Elect. I look forward to working closely with her in all our new projects. In case you are wondering if you missed voting in an election, you did not. Because we had only one nominee (volunteer!) for each office, an executive decision was made to skip the expense of mail balloting.
I want to take advantage of this forum to toss out a few ideas I have about our Chapter. AWIS-WV members are spread around throughout the State-how does this fact impact our Chapter? There is positive impact. We have a chance to act locally and spread our influence all around West Virginia. I would like the Chapter to focus on strengthening the voices, power, and presence of women scientists in their workplaces and communities. I challenge members to get one article about you and your work into the newspapers of all the locales in West Virginia. I further challenge members to invite the public, school kids, scouts, church groups, or civic groups to your lab or office to tell them about your work. All these groups are always looking for speakers--volunteer to go and tell them about what you do. People are so interested in science that this kind of activity is also a real ego-booster.
There is some negative impact from our geographical distribution to be sure----Communication has always been a challenge. Cyberspace will help a lot. We are going to make a concentrated effort to begin distributing the newsletter by listserve (e-mail) and to use the enormous potential of the AWIS web site. I would like to create a forum at our web site--a place to hold virtual meetings and to do virtual mentoring. We hope to set up an easy mechanism so that members can report on projects, local outreach efforts and research, and can discuss problems and share solutions.
Finally I challenge members to mentor each other. You can mentor your colleagues by getting them to join AWIS--then get them involved in your outreach projects. It is much easier to connect with the public when you have a partner. I'm thinking about the possibility of informal "subchapters" as a way to establish more frequent contact between members in the same locations. For example, Morgantown has a few dozen members, as does Charleston/Huntington and the Beckley area. I welcome your thoughts on the idea of holding mini-meetings more often during the year at these locations.
I look forward to working with all of you over the next two years and I welcome any and all suggestions and comments. Call, fax, write or e-mail! And come to the Chapter meeting on November 8th!
Dale Birkle,
Dear Members and Supporters of AWIS-WV,
This fall, AWIS-WV is in transition. The term of office for those who have guided the activities of our chapter over the past two years has expired, and the new leadership team has assumed its duties. As outgoing President, I want to wish the new officers success and ask that all members give their support by volunteering their time and ideas for furthering and strengthening AWIS-WV.
The past two years have been marked by continuing programs, new endeavors, and success on all fronts. Thanks to the leadership of Dale Birkle, EYH conferences were held in Morgantown and Parkersburg. AWIS-WV has a presence on the information highway through efforts led by Betsy Walker. Betsy also gave our chapter international visibility during her sabbatical in Ethiopia to promote opportunities for women in science. Fundraising efforts by Susan DeMesquita enaabled AWIS-WV to provide approximately 65 Career Enhancement Awards to women scientists and students. A Spring Symposium on information technology, organized by Kathy Covert and held in conjunction with the 1997 Spring Meeting, was a winner! A poster session, also held in conjunction with the spring meeting, gave attendees a chance to learn about the research activities of their fellow chapter members.
I am proud of our accomplishments. During the past year, I interacted with representatives of the Virginia AWIS chapter, based in Blacksburg. They, too, have been frustrated by a small membership, but they are awed by the diversity of our activities and the enthusiasm and dedicated participation of our members who are spread across the entire state. What a compliment!
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to a great organization. I certainly look forward to continued development of our chapter and hope to see everyone at the Annual Meeting in Morgantown on November 8. Your active involvement in chapter activities is essential if our group is to remain viable.
Joyce Foster
Dr. Heidi Hammel, Noted Astronomer, to Speak at 1997 Benedum Lecture
Dr. Heidi Hammel, Professor of Astronomy and Principal Research Scientist at MIT will present a lecture entitled "Exploring the Giant Planets with the Hubble Space Telescope" on Ocotober 29th at 8 PM. The lecture, part of the prestigious Benedum Lecture Series, will take place at the Lugar Courtroom in the WVU Law Center in Morgantown. Following the lecture, a reception is scheduled to allow informal interaction with Dr. Hammel.
Other speakers in the series are Dr. Richard Zare (Stanford University) addressing the question, "Was There Life on Mars?" on November 11th (Room 101, Clark Hall, WVU) and Dr. John Pike (Director of Space Policy Project for the Federation of American Scientists), speaking on "Public Policy Issues in Space Explorations" on November 19th (Health Science Center, WVU).
All lectures are at 8 PM and are free and open to the public. Call the Office of the Provost at WVU (293-5701) for further information.
Dr. Story Landis, noted neuroscientist, to speak at WVU Winter Neuroscience Conference
Dr. Story Landis, Scientific Director of the National Institure of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and former chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Case Western Reserve University will present a seminar at WVU Health Science Center on Friday, November 7th at 4 PM. Dr. Landis is the keynote speaker for the Winter Neuroscience Conference organized by the Northern West Virginia Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. Dr. Landis's seminar, entitled "Cell-Cell Interactions are Required for Synapse Formation", will be followed by a two hour poster session, featuring recent research of neuroscientists and neuroscience students at WVU.
For further information, contact Dale Birkle at 293-5798 or birkle@wvu.edu.
WVU-Parkersburg Hosts 1997 EYH Workshop
The 1997 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Conference (EYH) took place on April 21st at West Virginia University in Parkersburg. Forty-six women scientists, mathematicians and engineers participated as workshop leaders. Of that group thirty were returning leaders and sixteen were new workshop leaders. Nearly forty undergraduate and graduate students also participated in the workshops as leaders and assistants. Registration was run smoothly and efficiently by members of the AAUW in Parkersburg . The AAUW also organized a wonderful pre-conference dinner at the Parkersburg Country Club for all the workshop leaders and EYH staff. The facilities at WVU-P were absolutely superb, and the facilities staff was on top of every little glitch. About 200 girls attended, along with 30-some adults. The success of the conference was due in large part to the tireless efforts of the local host committee, Roberta Cox, Valerie Roberts and Sarah Townsend. In fact, it was Sarah who initially contacted the AWIS Chapter about doing an EYH conference in Parkersburg because she wanted her daughter to go to EYH--what a great mom!
The EYH workshop was supported financially by the West Virginia Department of Education Sex Equity Program, WVU, and donations from Dupont, Bell Atlantic, Ames, Ohio Valley AIDS Task Force, G.E. Plastics, Foodland, and Mel's Diamonds.
After five years of EYH conference organizing, the AWIS Chapter is taking a more limited role in EYH, and handing over the fund raising and planning to local communities. We will continue to provide workshops and workshop leaders. This will help spread the enormous job of organization around a bit. We will be contacting local community groups to "pitch" the project--please send Dale (birkle@wvu.edu or 293-5798) any suggestions for groups to contact in your town.
Finally, there are a limited number of beautiful teal blue EYH T-shirts available for purchase at cost ($7.00 per shirt plus shipping). Buy one at the Chapter meeting and save on postage! Shirts are available in M, L, XL, 2XL, and 3XL. Send your order to Dale Birkle, 1101 Louise Ave, Morgantown, WV 26505 or birkle@wvu.edu.
Twenty-two Receive AWIS-WV Career Enhancement Awards
The call for Career Enhancement Award (CEA) applications went out in the winter 1997 AWIS-WV newsletter and in a letter to each college and university president in the State. A total of 82 applications were received. The AWIS-WV CEA Advisory Committee, composed of Drs. Beth Adams (USDA), Kathy Fletcher (WVU), Susan DeMesquita (Marshall), Lisa Ferrara, (WV Institute of Technology), Pat Sheets (CAMC), Monica Valentovic (Marshall), and Judith Westerik (WV School of Osteopathic Medicine), evaluated and ranked the applications in late June. Twenty-two CEA grants were awarded in July.
There were nine awards distributed at Marshall University. Three awards went to the following faculty: Drs. Beverly Delidow (Biochemistry), Susan Jackman (Microbiology), and Suzanne Strait (Biological Sciences) while six awards were given to Marshall students. Five of the MU students are graduate students: Jennifer Aderman (Biological Sciences), Jennifer Dolan (Microbiology), Jeannette Engle (Microbiology), Angela Ridgel (Anatomy), and Sharmini Soosaithasan (Microbiology) and one is a second-year medical student, Tanya Warwick.
There were six awards given at West Virginia University. Five awards were distributed to the following WVU faculty: Drs. Dale Birkle (Pharmacology and Toxicology), Katharine Covert - two awards (Chemistry), Jennifer Haut (Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry), and Linda Gribko (Forestry). One of the WVU CEA's was given to graduate student Bonnie Masilela (Pharmacology and Toxicology).
One award was given to Jamie Brewer, a full-time Biology undergraduate student at Fairmont State College who is working with Dr. William Sheil at WVU. Two awards were given at Salem-Teikyo University. One award went to undergraduate Jodi Beech who is pursuing a degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. The other award went to Dr. Suzanne Rogers, a faculty member in the Department of Natural Sciences.
One award was given to Dr. Jeanne Sullivan, a faculty member in the Biology Department at West Virginia Wesleyan.
Dr. Leslie Quinn, a new faculty member in the Biology Department at Wheeling Jesuit University was awarded a CEA grant.
An award was given Dr. Kelly Jackson, a faculty member in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Concord College Biology and Chemistry undergraduate student, Maria Vassileva also received a CEA grant.
Half of the awards will be used to purchase research supplies, 40% of the CEA grants or part of the awards will be used for travel to present research at conferences or to gain access to research materials. 36% of the awards or part of the awards are for stipends, given either directly to students or to women faculty for support of student work in their laboratories. About 14 % of the awards or part of the award will be used to purchase research equipment.
Ten of the awards were granted to students at the doctoral, masters, and undergraduate level all of whom are conducting research projects. Twelve awards were given to faculty, one of whom was male. Three quarters of the faculty receiving CEA grants were untenured. All faculty awards were related to on-going research.
A final one page report will be turned in by each awardee at the end of each CEA project, and awardees will be invited to make presentations about their work at the AWIS-WV Spring Symposium. The National Science Foundation EPSCOR program, Marshall University and WVU provided the funding for these awards.
ACS Short Course Material Available from FSU
A copy of the American Chemical Society short course entitled, Microcomputers and Electronic Instrumentation, Making the Right Connections, is available for loan from Dr. Erica Harvey in the Department of Chemistry at Fairmont State College. The package, which was purchased through a 1996 Career Enhancement Award, includes an instructional video, a textbook, a lab workbook, and an electronics kit. If you are interested, please contact Erica at 367-4498 or at ELH@FSCVAX.WVNET.EDU.
FSU Student wins IBM Fellowship
A chemistry major at Fairmont State College participated this summer in a nationally competitive research program. April Crihfield was selected for a summer research position at the IBM Research Division's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.
The Almaden facility is one of seven world-wide research laboratories which comprise the IBM Research Division. It focuses on information-centric areas such as data storage, database management and storage-intensive software applications, as well as physical phenomena that underlie IBM's basic technologies.
Crihfield, who reports the building she worked in was a quarter miles long, said the dozen or so summer students were generally treated like other employees and were given a great deal of independence and responsibility. She worked primarily with IBM researcher Sally Swanson to develop materials for electrophoresis-based flat-panel displays; the overall goal being to develop a low-power flat-panel display based on the movement of charged particles in an electric field. Crihfield was heavily involved in the synthesis and analysis of compounds that will form the basis for the display system.
"I was impressed by the instrumentation available to researchers, as well as with the huge physical facility which included an amazing technical library," said Crihfield.. "It was an incredible opportunity for me. In addition to working on a significant research project, I got to attend a special seminar series which featured academic and industrial scientists discussing frontiers in their specific areas of science and technology."
A native of Hundred, WV, Crihfield is entering her senior year at FSC this fall.
Computers and how they are changing the way we live were the focus of the AWIS-WV Spring Symposium, held at Cagney's in Charleston, WV on Saturday, March 22, 1997. Three guest speakers present interesting perspectives on the theme of "Information Technology: Changes and Challenges".
Padma Robinson (WVU, Academic Computing) opend the symposium with a presentation on Interactive Multimedia Technology. Padma shared several of her success stories, including an interactive CD on Japanese history produced by faculty and staff at WVU.
Jack Callahan (WVU, Computing and Statistics) shared the results of his research on verification and validation of software. Jack works with the NASA Software Verification Center in Fairmont. Their charge is to ensure that software developed for the space program is designed properly and executed accurately. After hearing some of Jack's "horror stories", we all trust our software a lot less!
Our luncheon speaker was AWIS-WV member, Jan Fox, Assistant Vice-President for Information Technology at Marshall University. Jan shared the many ways that technology is changing Marshall University's approach to student recruitment and retention, distance learning and the innovations and services at the new Library/ Information Center currently under construction.
Following the guest speakers and much discussion, several AWIS-WV members presented their research in an informal poster session. The consensus was that the poster session was a fun way to learn about each other's research and to learn some science too!
In her concluding remarks, President Joyce Foster commended Dale Birkle for her continuing efforts with the Expanding Your Horizons workshops. Dale received an AWIS portfolio in recognition of her leadership over the past four years.
The Chapter has decided that a Spring Symposium will become an annual event.
Scientist Pen Pals needed for Science-By-Mail Program
The Science-By-Mail program, which pairs working scientists with five to seven groups of elementary or junior high school students, needs mentors. Mentors serve a "pen pals", providing advice and feedback to students who work on two projects throughout the school year. The project content is provided by the Science-by-Mail based at the Museum of Science, Boston. This year Science-By-Mail is partnering with "A Science Odyssey", a television program premiering in the winter of 1998 and produced by WGBH-Boston for PBS. The project topics are "Imaging" and "Communication".
If you are interested in serving as a pen pal, contact sbm@A1.mos.org or call 1-800-729-3300.
President: Dale Birkle
Dept Pharmacology & Toxicology, WVU
PO Box 9223
Morgantown, WV 26506-9223
293-5798 (vox) 293-6854 (fax)
birkle@wvu.edu
President-Elect: Linda Vona-Davis
Department of Surgery, WVU
PO Box 9238
Morgantown, WV 26506-9238
293-1280 (vox)
dvona@wvu.edu
Secretary: Joyce McCune-Gentry
Washington Works, B150
PO Box 1217
Parkersburg, WV 26102
863-4739 (vox) 863-2583 (fax)
Treasurer: Jeanne Sullivan
Dept Zoology
WV Wesleyan College
59 College Ave
Buckhannon, WV 26201
473-8125 (vox)
sullivan@wvwc.edu
