WiSE is saddened by Immigration and Custom’s new guidelines that exclude many of our international students or make their education journey more difficult.

We underscore that international students add to the richness of the global research enterprise so essential in addressing many of the complex challenges we face today and into the future. At Syracuse University, they contribute to the quality and depth of learning and research. WiSE especially values the participation of these students in our programs, enriching their professional development as well as that of their peers.

You are an integral part of WiSE. WiSE will work with the University and departments to provide support and help to students impacted by these guidelines.

WiSE is excited to congratulate Erin McCullough, an active member of WiSE Postdocs and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Biology Department at Syracuse University, for receiving this year’s T. H. Huxley Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution. This award honors outreach and education achievements for early and mid-career scientists, and supports awardees to present their work at the annual National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference.

The award recognizes the work of McCullough and colleague Lauren Verdeflor on their project titled “Exploratory activities for understanding evolutionary relationships depicted by phylogenetic trees: united but diverse.” McCullough says this educational resource encompasses “a series of hands-on, interactive activities to help teach high school students about phylogenetic trees and the evolutionary relationships they represent.”

During the past two summers, McCullough has worked with high school biology teachers to develop teaching modules as part of a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation. The award-winning project has been published as an article in the journal The American Biology Teacher.

At WiSE, we stand up for equity and inclusion. Today, we are faced with multiple challenges – a pandemic, economic insecurity, and brutal incidents of racism and abuse of peaceful protesters – in addition to our daily work addressing intersectionality and gender bias and supporting the persistence and excellence of women in STEM. We stand against the injustice of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others caused by the brutality perpetrated by those who pledge to protect and serve. It is clear, these actions impact all of us.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This quote is carved in the north wall of the National Monument to Reverend Dr. King. America must live those words and not just honor them in stone.

Now is the time for our community to support one another as we work harder at building an inclusive and equitable campus. We know that to continue on this journey to an equitable and hopeful future, now made more complicated by the pandemic, we must first take care of ourselves and each other. We – the faculty and staff of WiSE – want you to know that we are here and ask, “What can we do for you today?”

Photo credit: Pennlive.com

During the 2019-2020 academic year, WiSE had the opportunity to co-sponsor women scholars in the Department of Earth Sciences K.D. Nelson Lecture Series. WiSE funding assisted the department in fostering inclusion and diversity in speakers. The lecture series included eight women speakers in diverse career stages, including a balance of junior, midcareer, and senior faculty.

The series speakers included: Donna Shillington, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory; Iwona Klonowska, Syracuse University; Jessica Creveling, Oregon State University; Tamara Carley, Lafayette College; Rowan Martindale, University of Texas; Molly Patterson, SUNY Binghamton; Estella Atekwana, University of Delaware (pictured center with participants); and Elizabeth Thomas, University at Buffalo.

These scholars presented on topics ranging from geophysical and stratigraphic problems related to sea level and climate change to hydrocarbons and rift basin tectonics. To view the full list of K.D. Nelson Lecture Series speakers and topics, visit the K.D. Nelson Lecture Series page.