AWIS Chicago has been working hard to update the Resources page with timely and useful information.
AWIS Chicago’s Resources page now contains:
Link to National AWIS website, which provides valuable resources for members including quarterly magazines, career development webinars and job postings. Be sure to check out the Career Library section under the Careers tab.
Links to other Chicago area science organizations for women (including campus post-doctoral organizations and professional societies)
Information about funding sources and program opportunities
Tools for job searching and career advice resources (NEW! Links to science career podcasts)
Links to Chicago area science institutes and programming
Links to Chicago area science companies
NEW! Links to science podcasts
Recommended reading on careers in science
Did we miss something? Have you listened to a good podcast, found a helpful career website, know of an organization for women in the area, or read a good book recently that you want to share? If so, please email awiscommunications@gmail.com with your suggestions. Also, let us know if you come across any broken links on our Resources page.
Want to keep yourself up-to-date on AWIS Chicago activities? Follow AWIS Chicago on Twitter! You can request to be added to our listserve by clicking here, and join the AWIS Chicago group on LinkedIn and Facebook by clicking the icons on the bottom right of this page.
2009 Innovator Award Winner Dr. Tijana Rajh (right) and AWIS Chicago Chapter President Sandra Pearce (left)
3rd Annual AWIS-CAC Innovator Award: Capturing Life at the Interface.
Dr. Tijana Rajh was honored as the 2009 AWIS Innovator Award winner.
Dr. Rajh is a chemist at Argonne National Laboraties. She gave a brief talk at the dinner about her career and experiences as a female scientist. *Support for Northwestern University students generously provided by the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Integrated Graduate Program.
Want to keep yourself up-to-date on AWIS Chicago activities? Follow AWIS Chicago on Twitter! You can request to be added to our listserve by clicking here, and join the AWIS Chicago group on LinkedIn and Facebook by clicking the icons on the bottom right of this page.
Dr. Teresa Woodruff is the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Woodruff is the Executive Director of the Institute for Women’s Health Research and Division Chief of the newly created Division of Fertility Preservation, and Professor of Neurobiology and Physiology, Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Woodruff serves as Associate Director for Basic Sciences in the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, the Associate Director of Center for Reproductive Science, and the Director of the Center for Reproductive Research.
She is also pioneering interdisciplinary research in an emerging new field in cancer and reproductive biology, which she has termed “oncofertility”. In fact, in addition to her many current positions, she is also the Director and Founder of the newly-formed “Oncofertility Consortium”, a national, interdisciplinary initiative designed to explore the reproductive future of cancer survivors and funded by an NIH roadmap grant.
Dr. Woodruff is definitely an innovator in many academic and clinical research areas but perhaps just as importantly, she has also been a supportive and enthusiastic mentor to students and colleagues both within her own lab and outside of it. It is for these key leadership roles as well as innovative science that we have selected Dr. Woodruff as the recipient for the 2008 AWIS-CAC Innovator Award.
Want to keep yourself up-to-date on AWIS Chicago activities? Follow AWIS Chicago on Twitter! You can request to be added to our listserve by clicking here, and join the AWIS Chicago group on LinkedIn and Facebook by clicking the icons on the bottom right of this page.
Heather King is a first year graduate student in the Department ofOrganismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago.Jameela Jafri and Gabrielle Lyon nominated her in recognition of herinvolvement with the Project Exploration program Sisters 4 Science.
Heather King developed an interest in animals at a young age growing up in rural Washington state. An introductory science program at a local community college in which a biologist gave a talk on wolf populations further piqued this interest. She subsequently took more science courses at a community college while in high school and then moved to Chicago to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Collaboration across multiple science disciplines has always interested Heather and she participated in IIT’s Interprofessional Projects Program with other scientists to generate an oscillator of protein levels to identify protein switches. At IIT, her mentor was a woman with a family and career who Heather admired for her ability to balance both aspects of her life.
After graduating from IIT with a Bachelor of Science degree in May 2007, Heather applied to the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy Ph.D. Program at the University of Chicago. She was drawn to the collaborative environment and learning opportunities the program offered. The faculty in this program cover multiple disciplines, providing ample opportunity for Heather to explore many aspects of organismal biology and animal behavior research in an interactive environment. At the time of this interview, Heather was rotating in the laboratory of Dr. Melina Hale. She was using a comparative interdisciplinary approach to study gait transitions in fish with high-speed videography.
Heather first became involved with Project Exploration at the suggestion of Dr. Hale. Heather is a mentor in the Sisters 4 Science program, which organizes science-based leadership activities for 11-13 year old girls in the Chicago area. Heather wanted to share her excitement about science with young women. She developed and utilized a project on the scientific method where the girls would set up an experiment to determine what you would want to know about an M&M candy if you had never seen one. Through her outreach activities, Heather tells girls that communication is key to learning and to never be afraid to ask a question. Her collaborators at Project Exploration, Jameela Jafri and Gabrielle Lyon, nominated her as scientist of the month for her work as a mentor with their organization.
Heather is excited about the opportunities available to female scientists in Chicago. She enjoys the “small” global community feeling of the city and the communication fostered because of this diversity. In terms of her career advancement, Chicago provides a lot of resources for evolutionary biologists that are not available in other areas including access to Lincoln Park Zoo and Field Museum zoologists. We wish Miss King the best of luck in completing her Ph.D. and in all her future endeavors.
Heather King working with young women from Sisters 4Science on a project using M&Ms to explore thescientific method.
For information about Project Exploration and its programs, please contact Jameela Jafri.
Want to keep yourself up-to-date on AWIS Chicago activities? Follow AWIS Chicago on Twitter! You can request to be added to our listserve by clicking here, and join the AWIS Chicago group on LinkedIn and Facebook by clicking the icons on the bottom right of this page.
AWIS-CAC President Heather Behanna (left) and award recipient Dr. Holly Falk-Krzesinski (right).
The recipient of our inaguaral Innovator Award was Dr. Holly Falk-Krzesinski. She is currently the Director of the Office of Research and Development at Northwestern University.
Want to keep yourself up-to-date on AWIS Chicago activities? Follow AWIS Chicago on Twitter! You can request to be added to our listserve by clicking here, and join the AWIS Chicago group on LinkedIn and Facebook by clicking the icons on the bottom right of this page.
