Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences Meeting
Hi friends of women in science,
Are you helping to organize a meeting? Consider featuring women in science issues. That's what Joy Karnas and her colleagues at Cedar Crest College, a women's college in Allentown, PA, did. They were hosting the conference of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences for 2012 and they chose the theme, Women in Science. There were women featured in the entire education track, there was a panel at lunch (one of three choices) that featured eight graduates of Cedar Crest speaking and answering questions about their careers in science, and they invited me to be their keynote speaker, on women in science and on Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling. It was a lovely event with great attendance. People came from colleges and universities all over Pennsylvania. I heard attendees say it was the largest the event had been in many years.
A heart-warming aspect of the conference was the fundraising to support undergraduate researchers at the banquet. They had a silent auction featuring items made by students at Cedar Crest and other colleges, funny as well as beautiful and useful. I bid on (and bought for my husband) a set of biology coasters featuring yeast shapes, very cool. The hot item was a phage made of brassy looking wires, very shapely and elegant. They also had a raffle, and the items raffled included a bat skeleton (Boris the bat), visible man models (hey, it's at a women's college), three Beta fish in flasks (tri Beta, the biology honor society), balloon sculptures, and other cool centerpieces from the banquet tables. Also, Fisher had contributed a number of items, cups, thumb drives, mini tool kits disguised as laser pointers, etc. Given Joy Karnas's style, this was a hilarious event that everyone enjoyed and it raised a lot of money for undergraduate researchers. The students told me it's considered an honor to get one of these grants; the students write up the project descriptions, only two can be submitted by a faculty member, and they are judged very stringently.
Do you have other ideas to share on running small meetings? I'd love to hear about them!
best,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I think awards are not such a great idea. Always makes someone feel bad, although the winner obviously feels good about him- or her- self.
Dear Laura,
I love the idea of a raffle fund-raiser, that could be really fun. I'm not sure our students could make centerpieces anyone would want, but maybe they could LOL. Did they give out awards? I have mixed feelings about that.
Beryl
Hi Laura,
You've been going to some great sounding conferences! The only thing I could suggest is to have a debate between people on two sides of a scientific question. If your debaters have a good sense of humor, that helps. We did that at a meeting last year, and it was a lot of fun. Also, I like the cell bio meetings' CellDance idea: have some sort of visual competition included.
best,
Cindy
