Published Jan 18, 2023
The Graduate Women in Science State College Chapter at Pennsylvania State University has announced the 18th annual Empower Conference will take place on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Graduate State College.
Empower is a professional and personal development conference with a focus on learning and networking for people working, studying, and interested in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The 2023 conference theme “Catalysts for Change” aims to show participants the potential in each and every person to have agency over their future so we can create a kinder, more inclusive world. The schedule includes speakers, interactive break-out sessions, and a book signing event.
The keynote speaker is Renee Horton, a hearing-impaired Black physicist, NASA engineer, and author. She actively advocates for disabled folks in the sciences and supports girls interested in science. She has also published a children's book series about space exploration.
Other speakers will include Kristy “Browngirl Green” Drutman, environmental activist and Green Jobs Board Founder; Gina Noh, Penn State assistant professor of chemical engineering and catalysis researcher; Hollie Kulago, Penn State associate professor of Education and indigenous educator; Theodora Dryer, historian, policy analyst, and contributor to the AI Now Institute; and Tierra D. Williams, Ferguson Township Supervisor, community leader, and yoga instructor.
For more information about the Empower Conference, visit the website.
In related news, the national office of Graduate Women in Science has announced that the 2023-2024 GWIS National Fellowships Program opened in November 2022.
The GWIS National Fellowship Program recognizes women who are performing hypothesis-driven research in STEM and social science fields, and who have shown an outstanding ability for promising careers.
The most recent recipients of GWIS fellowship awards and honorable mentions include Ph.D. students and professors whose research will provide valuable insights into the impacts of climate change and deforestation on the N cycle of tropical forests, and the effects of ocean warming on symbiotic nutritional exchange in the critical early life stages of reef-building corals, among other things.
