![[Dr. Lesley Weaver poses for a head shot wearing a bright, cobalt blue top, smiling facing the camera, and wearing her black, curly hair down and parted on the side.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-26-at-2.58.27-PM.png)
Dr. Lesley Weaver, an alum of IU’s Department of Biology, has returned to campus as an Assistant Professor after her finishing her postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. This past September, I had the opportunity to interview her about her experience as an early career researcher, setting up her lab, navigating IU in her new role as an Assistant Professor, and how the COVID-19 pandemic shift to online has simultaneously highlighted issues with and solutions to accessibility and diversity in academia.
Tag: women in STEM
“They have seaweed in the library?”: Algological books by Victorian women
![[A picture of an open book with two specimens of seaweed pasted onto the right-hand page and a description of the seaweed on the left.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/11/Allom-Fucus-Crispus.jpg)
Of all the wonderful things a great library can be, “a vessel for preserving the natural world,” may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But the library can be a preservational space as significant as a national park or a wildlife preserve. Not just in words and images, but in actual specimens. Take, for example, the copy of a rare and unusual book by Elizabeth Allom, The Sea-Weed Collector, found at IU’s Lilly Library.
Science as a bridge to barriers in diversity and inclusion
This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Alex Moussa-Tooks in February 2019 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. A look inside the work of Dr. Mary Murphy in celebration of Black History Month Picture this: you’re a Black student on a large college campus. This is your first year…. Read more »
Bridging the gap between sex differences in exercise participation: An interview with Jessica Freemas
More than 50% of women quit sports following puberty, and women leave sports at twice the rate of men. These drop-out rates likely have long-term consequences for women, including fewer exercise benefits, less representation in sports, and weaker exercise performance. Yet, very little is known about why women leave sports at such high rates during… Read more »
My journey with science – What role do opportunities play in STEM?
As an international woman of color in STEM who didn’t grow up attending science fairs, it was quite a shock to my family (and myself) when I declared science as my field of study. As a teenager in India who was forced to decide my career at the age of 16, it was quite a… Read more »
A change of perspective
One author is ScIU guest writer Melanie Chin, a graduate student in IU’s Department of Biology and Program in Neuroscience. This post is part of a series featuring amazing science images and the stories behind them. Comment below with your guess and read on to see if you are correct! There is no argument that the… Read more »
Science as a bridge to barriers in diversity and inclusion
A look inside the work of Dr. Mary Murphy in celebration of Black History Month Picture this: you’re a Black student on a large college campus. This is your first year. One day, you are accosted by a White male slinging racial slurs and threats, as your peers (~70% of whom are White) stare, yet… Read more »
Interwoven Threads
This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Liz Rosdeitcher in February 2018 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. A profile of IU professor Sharlene Newman in celebration of Black History Month Any glance at the demographics tells us that African American women are among the least represented of any group in… Read more »
Graduate learning outside research: I CAN PERSIST STEM initiative
I remember one night when I was a second-year graduate student looking for an email from my advisor, feeling the pressure of yet another transition from a research filled summer to a teaching intensive fall. Instead, I found an email from my department chair with the subject “requesting assistance.” As you may have guessed, it… Read more »
Science without borders – why travel across the globe to dig in the dirt?
In May, graduate student Saskia Klink and faculty member Johanna Pausch, both from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, visited the Phillips Lab in the Indiana University Biology Department to collaborate on a project with me. In our increasingly interconnected and globalized world, such international collaborations in scientific research are becoming more and more common…. Read more »