This fall saw the first PREDICT symposium: A free two-day virtual symposium to promote the growth, retention, and success of marginalized group in STEM. The symposium was held September 23-24, 2021 on the virtual event platform Whova. This initiative PRomoting Equity and Diversity in ChemisTry was presented by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Indiana Local Section and led by the co-chairs for the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect (DEIR) committee of the ACS Indiana:
- Carolina Vega – Ph.D. candidate, IUPUI
- Jade Bing, Ph.D. – Synthetic Chemist, Corteva Agrisciences
- Christine Skaggs, Ph.D. – Research Scientist, Eli Lilly and Co. (Ph.D. alumni from IUPUI)
These three program chairs put together a great program to provide our chemistry community with tools to learn, share, and engage in conversations about DEIR. The event was well attended with 380 people registered from multiple states and even countries. The top five states represented were Indiana, California, Ohio, New Jersey and Massachusetts and the top five countries were USA, Canada, India, Pakistan and Brazil. The symposium was designed to cater to all from undergraduate and graduate students to faculty and industry professionals with a great line-up of speakers from diverse background. Over the two days, the program proposed many activities through 25 sessions including keynote presentations, panel discussions, lightening-talk competitions and more.
Angela K. Wilson, Ph.D., ACS National President Elect & Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University introduced the conference. Carlonda Reilly, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Kennametal was the first keynote speaker and shared her experience in her address: “What I’ve Learned from my STEM Career and Why I Would Do It All Again!”. She took the participants on the journey of her life, with the good and the bad, and her own experience with DEIR. Valerie Young, Ed.D., Co-Founder of the Impostor Syndrome Institute, author of the famous book The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women, was the keynote speaker on Friday morning. She talked of the impostor syndrome affecting millions of professional women (and men!) presenting the data and definitions, how to identify and find solutions to it, and shared her own story. Friday afternoon, the third keynote speaker was Steven Townsend, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University and Associate Director of Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative. He presented part of his research and his journey through the tenure track in a session entitled “Unraveling Human Milk to Understand Infant Health and Navigate the Tenure Process”.
The most attended sessions were:
- What I’ve Learned from my STEM Career and Why I Would Do It All Again
- Keynote Session: Unraveling Human Milk to Understand Infant Health and Navigate the Tenure Process
- Straight to Job Market
- Keys to Successfully Navigating a Career in Industry
- Lightning Talk Contest Session 1
- Choose Your Own Adventure: Alternative Careers in Higher Education & Government
- Introduction to the Networking Event hosted by NOBCChE
- Got a Mentor? Good. Now Find a Sponsor. – Younger Chemist Committee Panel
- You Don’t Need Permission to Be the Change – Women Chemists Committee Panel
- Speed Networking Session hosted by NOBCChE
This event was awarded an ACS grant through the Grants and Awards of the ACS Local Section Activities Committee and was sponsored by ACS Indiana Local Section, the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), ACS Young Chemist Committee, ACS Committee on Minority Affairs, ACS Mentorship Committee, IUPUI and MOLE: the IUPUI Graduate Student Chemistry Society from our Department. More information on the speaker, the sessions and the event can be found on the PREDICT website.
Many of our current and recent alumni graduate students are active in the ACS local section and bridge the IUPUI Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology with others local chemists from both industry and academia. Since being founded in 2016, the Graduate Student Chemistry Society MOLE has a strong history of volunteering at ACS Indiana outreach events. For almost two years, some of our students and faculty helped organize and shape this successful event.
Following the spirit of PREDICT, this event was not only about talking the talk, but also walking the walk. Under the leadership of Tamiko Porter, Ph.D., Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at IUPUI, PREDICT supplied 100 e-learning kits to high school students in underserved areas of Indianapolis. “The goal of this outreach effort was to support hybrid remote learning initiatives put in place as an effect of the pandemic. Kits included items such as bags, notebooks, hand sanitizer, pens, pencils, pencil case, flash drives, folders, notecards, highlighters, post-its, headphones, and calculators.”
Carolina Vega, one of the three program chairs of PREDICT who is currently a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Deiss Research Lab, was part of the initiative since its conception. She shares with us her views and experience.
Q: Why did you decide to get involved in the organization of a DEIR event?
A: I am devoted to efforts focused on dismantling systemic barriers and amplifying intersectional voices of students in academia, like here with PREDICT. I believe that the change in society will come if we just act and have open discussions between people to foster this change.
Q: What did you like the most when organizing PREDICT?
A: I liked to see a lot of people engaging with each other, learning, and asking questions. Students trying to get the most of it. Events such as PREDICT build a channel for communication and clarifications. I particularly appreciate helping students from low-income background understand that academia can be their place too. PREDICT, its success, and the exchange and connections I saw between people gave me hope that with a united front we actually can start ensuring systemic equality.
Q: What did you personally take out of PREDICT and its organization?
A: I think I have grown a lot both personally and professionally. I also understood that everyone is a work in progress, being part of the organization, talking to different people to understand what [aspects of DEIR] we needed to target. [I also realized] that we need to create connections and relationships to start changing things. Everyone has something to add.