APS CUWiP 2024 @ UARIZONA

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Jocelyn Bell Burnell inadvertently discovered pulsars as a graduate student in radio astronomy in Cambridge, opening up a new branch of astrophysics, work recognised by the award of a Nobel Prize to her supervisor. She has subsequently worked in many roles in many branches of astronomy, working part-time while raising a family. She is now a visiting academic in Oxford and the chancellor of the University of Dundee, Scotland. She has been president of the UK’s Royal Astronomical Society, in 2008 became the first female president of the Institute of Physics for the UK and Ireland, and in 2014 the first female president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was one of the small group of women scientists that set up the Athena SWAN scheme. She has received many honors, including a $3 million Breakthrough Prize in 2018. The public appreciation and understanding of science have always been important to her, and she is much in demand as a speaker and broadcaster. In her spare time, she gardens, listens to choral music, and is active in the Quakers. She has co-edited an anthology of poetry with an astronomical theme, Dark Matter; Poems of Space.
Website: https://www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/professor-jocelyn-bell-burnell

Kat Gardner-Vandy

Dr. Kat Gardner-Vandy (citizen of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is an Assistant Professor of Aviation and Space in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation. She is a Geologist (BS 2005), Planetary Scientist (PhD 2012), and private pilot (2005). She is the Principal Investigator of a NASA Science Activation program at OSU titled "Native Earth | Native Sky."
Website: https://experts.okstate.edu/kat.gardner-vandy

Marcia Rieke

Marcia J. Rieke is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, and is the principal investigator for the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope.Rieke's research interests include infrared observations of the center of the Milky Way and of other galactic nuclei. She has served as the deputy principal investigator on the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer for the Hubble Space Telescope (NICMOS), and the outreach coordinator for the Spitzer Space Telescope. Rieke came to the University of Arizona (UA) in 1976 and has made seminal contributions to infrared astronomy. Her contributions to astronomical research, to instrument development and to service to the astronomical community in public policy and outreach are recognized internationally. She also has been active in using Arizona's ground-based telescopes and a member of the UA College of Science's Galileo Circle Fellows. Marcia Rieke was born in Michigan, where the presence of Dow Chemicals headquarters made science a topic of interest for kids throughout the school system. Rieke received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining the ranks of former vice presidents and Supreme Court justices, Nobel and Academy Award winners and prominent executives.
Website: https://webb.nasa.gov/content/meetTheTeam/people/riekeMarcia.html

Rebecca Lipson

Rebecca Lipson earned a B.A in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College. She feels very fortunate to have had access to doing research as an undergrad, studying ecology in the forests of Minnesota. After a variety of post-baccalaureate life experiences, Rebecca found her calling in education, spending 8 years teaching middle school science, math, and special education in Tucson’s public schools. Before joining the Office of Societal Impact, Rebecca helped launch and grow UA Sky School as the Assistant Director of Education from 2013 to 2021. Having seen the positive impacts of engaging K-12 students in scientific inquiry and research, Rebecca is motivated to create accessible and equitable opportunities for UAZ students, both in and beyond the classroom via research, internships, mentorship, and personal growth. Her role in Societal Impact allows her to work on undergraduate research initiatives and the TIMESTEP program, which supports undergraduate success and retention primarily for astronomy and physics majors at UAZ. When not in front of a computer or in a classroom, Rebecca can be found gardening, hiking, camping, and just generally enjoying the outdoors with her family.
Website: https://impact.arizona.edu/person/rebecca-lipson

This interactive workshop will challenge imposter syndrome thoughts and help you create an action plan to move forward more confidently in your education and career.

Christine O'Donnell

Dr. Christine O'Donnell is passionate about investigating how the Universe works and sharing that knowledge with others. She is currently an Education & Diversity Program Manager at the American Physical Society (APS), the largest professional society for physicists in the US. Prior to her work with APS, she was involed in education research, with a focus on equity and inclusion in science education. She created and implemented culturally responsive science curriculum and associated professional/instructor development in order to empower students to be able to engage with and critique science (including both content and cultural norms) to improve society.
Website: https://caodonnell.github.io/

Hannah Knaack

As a leader of the Women in Physics group she has helped organize and attended a lot of workshops on intrinsic bias, racism, sexism, imposter syndrome, career planning, etc and after she took the AGL mentorship course she gave an abbreviated version for the group. As part of the visit weekends for CU Boulder she have served on student groups and grad life panels probably half a dozen times.
Website: https://www.nist.gov/people/hannah-knaack

Yulia Pimonova

Gender stereotypes and biases have been persistent challenges in academia, affecting the experiences and opportunities of women researchers. In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), these biases can be further exaggerated and amplified, perpetuating the underrepresentation of women in scientific fields. This workshop, designed for undergraduate female students, aims to shed light on the biases against women researchers and explore how AI technologies can inadvertently perpetuate and reinforce these stereotypes.
Website: https://www.gruenwaldgroup.com/about