By Ana Shulla-Mesi, PhD

The 66^th annual Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Student Science Fair took place at the Museum of Science and Industry on March 17-20, 2016. Representatives from the Association of Women in Science (AWIS) Chicago served as Special Award Judges to recognize outstanding female students in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The STEM areas represented at this year’s Science Fair were Aerospace Science, Behavioral Science, Biochemistry, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Science, Electronics, Engineering, Environmental Science, Health Science, Materials Science, Mathematics, Microbiology, Physics and Zoology. There were a total of 357 science projects presented and more than sixty percent of these projects (223) were led by female students. Female students comprised a large majority of presenters in the areas of Zoology, Behavioral Science and Biochemistry. In the future it would be great to see more girls presenting in other fields including Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.

AWIS-Chicago board members, Barbara Di Eugenio and Ana Shulla-Mesi together with volunteers Susan Meschel and Jacqueline Gresham awarded five $50 Amazon.com gift cards to outstanding female exhibitors showing promise in scientific research.

This year awardees were:

Madeline Yu, 8th Grade/Environmental Science

Nadiya Tarnavchyk, 7th Grade/Chemistry

Hanna Mularczyk, 11th Grade/Mathematics

Veronica Garklavs, 10th Grade/Chemistry

Samone Patterson, 10th Grade/Electronics

AWIS-Chicago will continue the tradition of recognizing and promoting female student scientists. The next Science Fair will be held at the end of March 2017. If interested in volunteering at this event keep an eye for the announcement from AWIS Communications.

AWIS Chicago has started a mentorship program “Mentoring Circles”! This pilot program matches students/postdocs/early career scientists with experienced mentors across the Chicagoland area. The Kickoff training event was held on October 31st at Northwestern University Chicago campus, featuring Dr. Rick McGee, Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment & Professional Development at Northwestern University, who led an engaging and interactive workshop on mentoring relationships.

For more information on joining the Mentoring Circles program please email awischicago.circle@gmail.com.

AWIS hosted a summer potluck picnic at the Montrose Harbor on July 19, 2015. It was an “old-fashioned” picnic, and everyone contributed by bringing blankets, chairs, tables and food! It was great to be able to get everyone together on that beautiful summer day and to see some new faces in the crowd!

AWIS Chicago hosted a career panel on April21, 2015 featuring four amazing and talented women:

Jennifer Cole, PhD
Assistant Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University
Lisa Durham, MS
Principal Environmental Engineer, Argonne National Laboratory
Kalpana Shankar, PhD
R&D Project Manager, PharMEDium Healthcare

The career panel was held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) West campus and was moderated by AWIS’ Newsletter Editor, Katharine Kim. The evening began with some mingling and light snacks and was followed by a short talk by each of the panelist. A lively Q&A session followed the talks and the evening concluded with some more networking opportunities. AWIS Chicago would like to thank the panelists for their time and participation in this event!

AWIS Chicago members got together to meet and mingle at this fall kickoff event held at D4 Irish Pub and Cafe in downtown Chicago. The new executive board was introduced, and participants interacted with each other in 15 minute rotations of speed networking.

Fellow AWIS members and local wine experts at Lush Wine and Spirits enjoyed an afternoon of wine and socializing in the company of colleagues and friends!

The never-ending demands of a career in science make it challenging to balance both personal and professional responsibilities. Developed by AWIS and originally funded by the Elsevier Foundation, this well-attended workshop helped identify the levels of personal fulfillment and professional success right for each individual. Facilitated by AWIS board members: Keng Jin Lee, Marina Pazin and Tara Teppen, the workshop focused on strategies to help achieve work-life satisfaction. The successful workshop was highly interactive, with insights shared by attendees to the group as a whole or in small groups.

AWIS Chicago also helped organize some fun Family Science Day activities revolving around genetics and computer science. A great time was had by both the children and the scientists!

On Sunday May 19th from 10 am to 2 pm AWIS Chicago hosted a networking brunch at Pinstripes in Northbrook. Intriguing conversations and delicious food was enjoyed by all attendees!