What is being done to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities, including African Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, HIspanic Americans, and Native Pacific Islanders, in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) faculty positions? Well, based on the article, From Grad School to a Job: How to Get Underrepresented Minorities into the S&T Workforce by Molly McElroy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently hosted a conference on December 10-11, 2009 to discuss this issue and to, as the article says, "explore new ideas for achieving the goal." These ideas included combining the minority-targeted programs sponsored by AGEP (Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate) so that more minorities can interact with each other and "widen mentoring possibilities." The article goes on to explore the underlying reasons for less minorities in faculty positions, which includes the time it takes to achieve a faculty position, which often "can deter students and encourage them to seek better-paying industry positions." To read the complete article, click here.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Attend the SACNAS 2010 conference with a travel scholarship for minorities!
I was looking for opportunities to attend a conference this year and found this video that showcases the goals of SACNAS (Society for Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native American in Science) as an organization in general and what can be expected from attending the SACNAS National Conference, which will be held September 30- October 3, 2010 in Anaheim, CA. If you are interested in attending the conference, apply for a SACNAS Travel Scholarship before April 29, 2010, which will cover your hotel and roundtrip airfare to/from Anaheim. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. Also, if you are not of Hispanic/Chicano or Native American heritage, do not be discouraged to apply for the travel scholarship! SACNAS supports all minority scientists, which is made evident on their website:
"SACNAS serves, supports, and is made up of researchers, students, educators, and administrators at all levels of education and career stage from diverse ethnic, racial, gender, cultural, and sexual orientation backgrounds."For more details, visit the SACNAS website!
Google's JourKnol, an alternative for publishing in science academia
The phrase "publish or perish" makes me shudder. In my field, you can be the hardest worker, conduct the most exciting research, but if you do not publish your findings in a high impact journal, then it is as if you did not accomplish anything. As I near completion of my PhD studies, "publish or perish" resounds in my ears every single day. I know that the future of my career (new positions, ability to get funding, etc.) will depend on which scientific peer-reviewed journal my four plus years of research gets published in. In about a month, my manuscript will be written and submitted to a journal. If I am extremely lucky, then it will be accepted and published. The likelihood of this happening is slim and the next best case scenario is that reviewers may request additional experiments prior to publication. The worst that can happen is that the manuscript is rejected and I may have to re-submit my manuscript to a different journal for publication. And so this is the process that we researchers go through to simply share our research with others. Well, actually we go through this process so that we will have the most crucial evidence of our worth as researchers, our publication(s)... in hopefully a top-tier journal, of course. This is just how it works, right?
Well, maybe not for long because I just came across this product that Google offers called JourKnol, which may one day become an alternative to the traditional publishing forum utilized in academia. JourKnol is different because as the article JourKnol challenges the medical journals' stronghold states,
"the author simply creates the content, loads it in, and clicks “Publish” – no peer review, no rejection, no delay, and no relinquishing copyright. And, from the moment they publish their Knol, authors...could upload the information and publish it and still get peer-reviewed.But how would publishing in JourKnol affect your career?? Will the scientific community value your research if it is published in JourKnol? The article, JourKnol challenges the medical journals' stronghold, addresses this concern by saying that the,
"traditional journals’ enviable position as the sole arbiters of the quality and impact of an author’s work may be challenged by web-derived measures of the impact of individual “articles,” such as number of hits, number of links, and reader ratings and comments.... The point is this: peer review, that most sacred of academic rituals, might ultimately be replaced by real-time rankings by experts"To read the complete article, click here.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Time for the lab report
Salami recall due to salmonella concerns
Oh boy, apparently something went wrong at the Daniele Inc. plant in Rhode Island because they have issued a multistate recall of their pepper-covered salame due to salmonella concerns. View complete recall information here. Pass on the word and help others NOT to get sick!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Another earthquake hits Haiti
According to the US Geological Services, another powerful earthquake has hit Haiti near Port-au-Prince, about 50min ago with a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale. Please visit either Wyclef Jeans's charity Yele Haiti or the Red Cross to make a donation to help the earthquake victims.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Scholarships for women and minorities
- FREE scholarship databases (via UCSF student financial aid office website)
CareerMD: Provides career management resources for medical students, residents, and doctors. It features FellowshipFIND, a comprehensive database of fellowships related to different medical specialties.
FastAid: A scholarship search database co-sponsored by David Cassidy, author of The Scholarship Book. FastAid is helpful to international students.
FastWEB: An extremely popular database with more than 1.5 million scholarships, fellowships, grants, and loans. Students can set up a mailbox with personalized information so that they may check for new awards and update their portfolio periodically. New scholarship information can be e-mailed to students.
FinAid: The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid: An extremely comprehensive guide to all student financial aid information and free scholarship, grant, and fellowship search databases. This website offers advice on college education planning and scholarship scam alerts.
GrantsNet: Useful for medical and graduate students interested in biomedical or life sciences research funding, postdoc toral scholars, and research administrators. GrantsNet allows users to save and update their scholarship profile and to receive e-mail alerts about new funding opportunities. Useful for international students.
IEFA: International Education Financial Aid: Scholarships and private loans for international students and students interested in studying abroad. Some are also available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine: One of the oldest scholarship databases that contains over 6.2 million scholarships based on many different qualifications and a broad range of criteria such as academic achievements, community services, family heritage, and special talents or aptitude.
SRN Express: Helpful to international students, especially Canadian citizens. This database also includes student loan forgiveness programs for graduates who need alternatives for repayment.
SchoolSoup: World's Largest Scholarship Database
Student Awards: Canada’s free scholarship search service website. - List of scholarships for women
- American Society of Hematology (ASH) Minority Medical Scholar Award Program
- Brookhaven Women in Science (BWIS) Renate W. Chasman Scholarship for Women
- Huge list of undergraduate/graduate scholarships, fellowships, etc. sponsored by FASEB
- 100 Free Minority Scholarships: Free listing of scholarships for underrepresented minorities pursing science-related degrees
- American Chemical Society: Chemistry Scholarships for African American, Hispanic, and American Indian Students max $5,000
- American Geological Institute: AGI Minority Participation Program
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers: Minority Scholarship Awards for Incoming College Freshmen $1,000; Minority Scholarship Awards for College Students $1,000
- American Physical Society: Minority Scholarship $2,000-$3000
- American Society for Microbiology: ASM-Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowships $6,000 ASM Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship $63,000 (over 3 years)
- Latino College Dollars: Search database for scholarships for Latinos
- NASA: Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) up to $10,000
- National Institutes of Health:Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Pre-doctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research
- National Science Foundation: SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and Follow-up Research Starter Grants (MPRF)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute: Undergraduate Fellowships for Minorities Summer Research Program $468/week for 10 or 12 weeks
American Physiological Society:
American Psychological Association Fellowships in the Neurosciences
American Society for Microbiology Graduate Research Fellowship
L’Oreal Women in Science International Fellowships
SACNAS Genome Scholars Fellowship Program
Society for Neuroscience Scholars Program
UNCF/Merck Science Initiative
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Kid science
I woke up this morning and found my eight-year-old daughter watching this cool science show for kids called DragonflyTV on the PBS channel.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Scientific research conferences for minorities
The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) conference I attended offered a poster presentation session for minority students to showcase their research aside from the general poster session of the conference. (I would like to note that I was able to attend this conference virtually for free due to a travel grant issued by the (ASCB Minorities Affairs Committee (MAC).) Once at the poster session, I hung my poster and marveled at the number of minority scientists at all levels in their careers in attendance at the conference. Now is the time to admit that I was still nervous to present at this conference. Why? Because I brought my five-year-old daughter with me. I am a single parent and generally where I go, my daughter goes. So, there we were, my daughter and I, at a national research conference and it was time to present my poster.
As I presented to judges and fellow students, post-docs, faulty, etc., I realized how truly beneficial it is to my career to share my research with other scientists. First and foremost, you verbally communicate your research ideas with other scientists from all backgrounds. Presenting to those who are not intimately familiar with your topic forced me to learn how to explain my work for the masses. It was also a time for me to be critical of my communication skills. So, you may wonder how it worked out with my daughter there during the poster presentation. Well, she asked questions about the poster just as my audience! I did not expect that.
Conferences to check out!
- American Association for Cancer Research
- American Chemical Society
- American Society for Microbiology
- Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students
- New England Science Symposium
- Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans
- Who can receive an award? This depends on the conference. Some conferences offer awards to undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faulty members.
- How to apply for an award? Most conferences have an application process which includes submitting an abstract of your research for review.
- How much is the award? The travel grants typically range from $500-1500 and may cover conference registration fees, travel, lodging, and dining expenses.
- When will I receive the award? Most awards are received either at the conference or after the conference. Thus, be prepared to pay for conference-related expenses. SAVE ALL RECEIPTS.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A must have book for young scientists
At the bench also describes how to properly setup experiments, carefully maintain your laboratory notebook and how to perform some important techniques commonly used in biological research. In my opinion, two of the key topics in this book are the chapters that detail how you should present yourself and your data to other people.
I wish I had this book earlier in my career. At the bench is written in an easy-to-read and understand manner such that it can be utilized by scientists as young as those that are in high school. However, even as an advanced graduate student, I find the material in At the bench extremely useful. The material is also easily accessible as this hard cover book is spiral bound so that when I am at the bench, I can quickly flip through pages for quick reference. This book typically costs approximately $45.00, but consider it an investment in your career. You may even find it less expensive if you purchase a used copy. Pass on the information because it is a great resource!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Employment in the sciences: degrees earn top dollar!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Build your team: how-to get mentors
You are your best cheerleader, encouraging yourself to accomplish your goals. But I have learned that one voice can only be so loud. Imagine the sea of voices if there were at least ten other people cheering with you, supporting your endeavors. Thus, if I could advise you to do only one thing, that would be to build your cheerleading squad, your “team.” Yes, your team... a group of people from whom you can seek advice and guidance and who will ultimately support your endeavors.
You may be asking yourself, “who should be on my team?” The members of your team can be of varying ages, reside in differing locations, and work in a broad number of fields. Who comprises your team will be specific to your needs as they pertain to your goals. For example, I have people on my team who
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Career evolution
I think I am experiencing a career evolution. Well, at least I observed a new role for myself within my career. Currently I am a fifth year graduate student striving toward completing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences... and I still feel much like a student since I believe that I need more training and advice in order to become a better scientific researcher. However, within the past month, it just hit me that I have begun to mentor other students who are also seeking a career in the sciences. I did not realize that I had actually reached a point at which others sought my opinions and advice. I have always wanted to mentor students... I just did not think I would begin to do so this soon. I have no complaints, only joy! Listed below are a couple of tidbits of advice I shared with students.
Seek help when you need it...
I came from a high school that did not adequately prepare me for many college-level courses, which made me sometimes feel a bit nervous about how I would perform relative to my classmates. Since I felt nervous, I sought out help to make sure I did the best I could in those courses by signing up for on-campus tutoring. Some may think tutoring is costly. However, many campuses offer free tutoring, so
Saturday, August 2, 2008
A summer of scientific research and teaching
There has been a lot going on during summer 2008. Over the past five weeks I served as a mentor for undergraduates in a summer research program hosted by my university. In this role, I assisted a small group of students with constructing scientific research posters and offered advice about the graduate school experience.
Just this past week I finished a course that counts toward receiving a certificate in college teaching. I decided to enroll in this certificate program because
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
So much to do, too little time...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Introducing Minority Scientist
I am an African-American female working towards a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences. As I progress through my studies, I find that I constantly seek information to strengthen my future as a scientific researcher. During my inquires, I often encounter information that I know other minorities, including women and underrepresented peoples, in science ranging from jr. high school students to faculty members could find useful. I also receive tidbits of wisdom from other minorities in science who are well-established in the field.
I aim to share this knowledge with you in the hopes that if you cannot use it directly, that you pass it on to other minorities in science who may find the info valuable.
Also, I would really appreciate that you email topics that you are interested in exploring and/or any information you believe to be useful to other minorities in science to Minority.Scientist.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Privacy policy for Minority.Scientist
My intention for this blog is to SHARE information that may be helpful to you. Therefore I do not mind if you re-post information from my blog elsewhere. I only ask that if you post anything from this site elsewhere that you provide a link back to http://minority-scientist.blogspot.com. Thanks!