Association of Women in Science - Southern Louisiana Update
Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard, PhD, AWIS-SL President
Liz Simon, PhD, AWIS-SL Secretary
Danielle Levitt-Budnar, PhD, AWIS-SL Postdoctoral Representative
The new officers of the Association of Women in Science - Southern Louisiana (AWIS-SL) began their two-year term on July 1, 2020. The officers are: Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard, PhD, President; Liz Simon, PhD, Secretary; Jennifer Cameron, PhD, Treasurer; Danielle Levitt-Budnar, PhD, Postdoctoral Representative; and Krystal Belmonte, Graduate Student Representative. The AWIS-SL chapter is dedicated to empowering women in science and technology by providing a platform for networking opportunities and career development programs, and to promoting an interest in science among girls and young women. For more information please contact Lisa Harrison-Bernard at lharris@lsuhsc.edu
In an effort to be mindful of race and gender equality in our local chapter of AWIS, we conducted an anonymous voluntary demographics survey. Of the 55 respondents, 94.5% were affiliated with LSUHSC-New Orleans, 54.5% were faculty, and 40% trainees. To assess gender, respondents were asked whether they identified as men, women, transgender-male, transgender-female, non-binary, intersex, genderqueer, other, or did not wish to respond. The respondents could choose more than one option and the responses were 3% men, 94.5% women, and 1.8% genderqueer. To assess race and ethnicity, respondents were asked whether they were American Indian or Alaskan, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, White, other, or prefer not to answer; and Hispanic/Latino, Not Hispanic/Latino, or prefer not to answer. The respondents could choose more than one option and the responses were 80% White, 14.5% Black, 10.9% Asian and 1.8% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 9% Hispanic/Latino and 83% Not Hispanic/Latino. For more information on the survey or to join AWIS-SL please contact Liz Simon at lsimo2@lsuhsc.edu.
AWIS-SL hosted a virtual event on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 for the international day of LGBTQ+ people in STEM. The goal is that November 18 will come to represent all the people who today continue to make the world of STEM a better and more inclusive place! For more information please contact Danielle Levitt at dlevit@lsuhsc.edu.
AWIS-SL is organizing mock interviews to provide current trainees the opportunity to practice interviewing with a panel of LSUHSC faculty. Trainees will submit application materials tailored to their next position of interest (e.g., graduate student or postdoctoral fellowship in academia, biomedical scientist, military researcher, tenure-track faculty, etc.) by the January 11, 2021 deadline. Applicants will then be scheduled for up to three individual interviews with feedback during the week of Jan. 25-29 (tentatively Jan. 27) 2021. This is an excellent opportunity for trainees seeking their next position in the near future to prepare application materials and practice interview skills. For more information and application materials, please contact Danielle Levitt at dlevit@lsuhsc.edu.
AWIS-SL also sponsored a family with young children and two elders for the Angel Project of the Salvation Army for Holiday gifts. For more information please contact ccanav@lsuhsc.edu.