June 2015 IMSD Newsletter IMSD/ NEAGEP Celebrate 2015 Fellows Graduation I just returned from an in- credibly energizing, four- day NSF meeting focused on the importance of men- toring for diversifying the STEM workforce. It was my pleasure to meet and “brainstorm” with 14 other scientists and engi- neers who have been work- ing on diversity issues for many years. Each of us was there to be recognized by President Obama for successful mentoring in STEM. We soon learned that we had a shared view of what worked, but had difficulty explaining it to others who wanted to repli- cate “our mentoring mod- els”. During our many discussions, common threads emerged. First, it is critical that we know each mentee as a person, not as an advisee. We know their stories, their strengths and their chal- lenges, and we are not afraid to let them know ours. We recognize that we have something to learn from each of our mentees and, indeed, we consider many of them to be our mutual mentors. Without truly understanding the other person, the relation- ship will be transactional— a more traditional advisor- advisee relationship—and the tough issues will not be tackled. We also know that honesty is critical in mentoring, but it is also important to put oneself in the place of the students when helping them see what they can and cannot control. It may seem counter-intuitive, but effective mentors do NOT treat each student the same; rather each student is men- tored with an understand- ing of how previous experi- ences affect his/her behav- iors and viewpoints. At the same time, the mentors must recognize how their own backgrounds affect their perspectives. Only with this understanding and recognition does the men- tor know when to commis- erate, when to just listen and when to push. The bottom line is that an effective mentor truly cares about the mentees, see them as individuals, rejects hierarchical views of men- toring, and has enough sense to continually reeval- uate his/her own perspec- tives that may interfere with establishing a mutual- ly respectful mentoring relationship. Sandra Petersen PhD Professor, Veterinary and Animal Sciences Executive Director NEAGEPNEAGEP On May 8 UMASS Commencements 12 IMSD/ NEAGEP Fellows received their Doctoral degrees; Congratulations! Israel Del Toro, PhD OEB Chanell Adams, PhD Food Science Leah Aggison, PhD MCB Kyle Morrison, PhD ECS Ambata Poe, PhD Chemistry Adriana Kita, PhD MCB John Altidor, PhD Computer Science Ogechi Nwaokelemeh, PhD Kinesiology Judy Ventura, PhD Chemistry Marcos Reyes-Martinez PhD Polymer Sciences Joelle Labastide PhD Chemistry Cornelius Taabazuing PhD Chemistry From the Executive Director Inside this Issue Message from the Executive Director wards and Achievements Meet the 2015 Graduates New Scholars 2015-16 Summer Visiting Faculty Save the Dates!
Transcript
Northwind Traders Newsletter May 2016 June 2015 IMSD Newsletter
IMSD/ NEAGEP Celebrate 2015 Fellows Graduation
I just returned from an in-
credibly energizing, four-
day NSF meeting focused
on the importance of men-
toring for diversifying the
STEM workforce.
It was my pleasure to meet
and “brainstorm” with 14
other scientists and engi-
neers who have been work-
ing on diversity issues for
many years. Each of us
was there to be recognized
by President Obama for
successful mentoring in
STEM. We soon learned
that we had a shared view
of what worked, but had
difficulty explaining it to
others who wanted to repli-
cate “our mentoring mod-
els”. During our many
discussions, common
threads emerged.
First, it is critical that we
know each mentee as a
person, not as an advisee.
We know their stories, their
strengths and their chal-
lenges, and we are not
afraid to let them know
ours. We recognize that
we have something to learn
from each of our mentees
and, indeed, we consider
many of them to be our
mutual mentors. Without
truly understanding the
other person, the relation-
ship will be transactional—
a more traditional advisor-
advisee relationship—and
the tough issues will not be
tackled.
We also know that honesty
is critical in mentoring, but
it is also important to put
oneself in the place of the
students when helping
them see what they can and
cannot control. It may
seem counter-intuitive, but
effective mentors do NOT
treat each student the same;
rather each student is men-
tored with an understand-
ing of how previous experi-
ences affect his/her behav-
iors and viewpoints. At the
same time, the mentors
must recognize how their
own backgrounds affect
their perspectives. Only
with this understanding and
recognition does the men-
tor know when to commis-
erate, when to just listen
and when to push.
The bottom line is that an
effective mentor truly cares
about the mentees, see
them as individuals, rejects
hierarchical views of men-
toring, and has enough
sense to continually reeval-
uate his/her own perspec-
tives that may interfere
with establishing a mutual-
ly respectful mentoring
relationship.
Sandra Petersen PhD
Professor,
Veterinary and Animal
Sciences
Executive Director
NEAGEPNEAGEP
On May 8 UMASS Commencements 12 IMSD/
NEAGEP Fellows received their Doctoral degrees;
Congratulations!
Israel Del Toro, PhD OEB
Chanell Adams, PhD Food Science
Leah Aggison, PhD MCB
Kyle Morrison, PhD ECS
Ambata Poe, PhD Chemistry
Adriana Kita, PhD MCB
John Altidor, PhD Computer Science
Ogechi Nwaokelemeh, PhD Kinesiology
Judy Ventura, PhD Chemistry
Marcos Reyes-Martinez PhD Polymer Sciences
Joelle Labastide PhD Chemistry
Cornelius Taabazuing PhD Chemistry
From the Executive Director
Inside this Issue
Message from the Executive Director
wards and Achievements
Meet the 2015 Graduates
New Scholars 2015-16
Summer Visiting Faculty
Save the Dates!
Sandy Petersen, center, with John Holdren, as-
sistant to the president for science and technolo-
gy, and director of the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy, and France A.
Córdova, director of the National Science Foun-
dation.
President Obama meets with the 2013 winners of the
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering
Mentoring in the Oval Office, June 17. Sandy Petersen is second from right.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Rhadameris Gomez
Receives the Ann Hershfang Graduate Scholarship
Radhameris (Radha) Gómez, a Ph.D. candidate in the Transportation
Engineering group in the UMass Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department, was recently awarded the 2015 Ann M. Hershfang Graduate
Scholarship by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Boston
Chapter. The competitive Hershfang Graduate Scholarship is awarded to
a woman enrolled in a transportation-related graduate program with
plans to pursue a career in the transportation industry.
Jennifer Blankenship in Kinesiology
Jen recently attended the American College of Sports Medicine
annual meeting. She presented a poster titled “Delayed Changes
in Postprandial Glucose Response to Light-Walking Breaks from
Prolonged Sitting”. Jennifer’s dissertation work is focused on
understanding the timing of changes in blood glucose in response
to physical activity in patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Jennifer
plans to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship continuing her research
in physical activity and diabetes treatment and prevention.
Awards and Presentations
Sandra Petersen, Executive Director, NEAGEP, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics,
and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) for 2012 and 2013. In addition to being personally honored by the president, re-
Kelly Hass from the Microbiology
Department
Both Kelly and Jesus presented at the
American Society of Microbiology (ASM) in March in New Orleans
Jesus Alvelo-Moura from the Microbiology
Department
Chanelle Adams, Ph.D. in
Chemistry
Currently employed with
Roka Bioscience in War-
ren, NJ. as Senior Applica-
tions Specialist.
Meet the 2015 Graduates
John Altidor, Ph.D.
in Computer Science
Currently employed as
Research Scientist at
BBN Technologies in
Cambridge MA.
Judy Ventura, Ph.D. in
Chemistry
Post-Doctoral Associate
in Genzyme in the Bio-
materials and Polymer
Ambata Poe, Ph.D.
in Chemistry
Kyle Morrison, Ph.D. in Electrical and
Computer Engineering
Currently working at Lincoln Laboratory
in the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy Ogechi Nwaokelemeh, Ph.D. in
Kinesiology
Adriana Kita, Ph.D. in Chemistry
Scientist at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Cheshire,
Marcos Reyes-Martinez, Ph.D. in
Polymer Science & Engineering
Lofti Bassa, Ph.D. in
Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Leah Aggison, Ph.D. in
Microbiology
Joelle Labastide, Ph.D. in Chemistry
Israel Del Toro, Ph.D. Is NSF postdoctoral Fellow at the
Center for Macroecology Evolution and Climate at the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen. His current work focuses on the eval-
uation of the impacts of climate change on arthropod biodi-
13 graduate students admitted to Biomedical, Bio-Behavioral Sciences, Engineering,
Mathematics and Physics are awarded IMSD/NEAGEP fellowships. for 2015-16
Jessica Caballero NSB
Rene Cabrera Math
Joshua Cunningham EWRE
Daniel Gregory Kinesiology
Alyssa Sokol Astronomy
Randi Chi Kwede ECE
Joann Rodriguez EWRE
Jonathan Woodson NSB
Sarah Zuraw Physics
Nigel Golden Env Conservation
Reed Konane Bay Ploly Sc.
Jude Agujibi ECE
Summer Visiting Faculty We are in our third year of the Visiting Faculty Fellowship Program. The goal of
the program is to strengthen research and facilitate collaborative projects and re-
search grants between junior faculty members and UMASS faculty The program
provides a $10,000 stipend, travel and housing for the 10-week summer program.
This summer we have three Visiting Faculty in this program:
Ulises Ricoy PhD, Norther New Mexico College.
Is working in Professor Geng-Lin Li Lab in the Biology Department
Liselle Trinidad PhD New York City College of Technology (CUNY).
Is working with both the Mechatronics and Robotics Research Lab (MRRL)in Mechanical Engineering and the Locomotion Research Group in Kinesi-ology. Leah Aggison PhD, Wiley College in Marshall Texas. Is working in Professor
Sandra Petersen Lab
During their stay here at UMASS, our IMSD graduate students will have the op-
portunity to meet them and learn about the visiting professors research work and
