#LatinxInSTEM Call-to-Action: Online Science Engagement & Advocacy

1:45pm-3:15pm EST

Presenter: Alberto Roca, PhD

Session Type: Panel Discussion

Topic: Science, technology, engineering, and math

Description

While there are 45+ field-specific #BlackInSTEM communities (#BlackInNeuro, etc), Roca can only find 6ish similar Latinx STEM initiatives. The #BlackInSTEM activities have high visibility with media coverage in both academic channels (Science, Chronicle of Higher Education) and main stream press (USAToday, CNN); but, there has not been similar coverage for LatinxInSTEM. However, the Latinx groups have a growing network with 10000, 8200, and 1300 followers for GeoLatinas, LatinxChem, and LatinXinBME, respectively. These communities have both in-person events to complement their social media activities; and, with new non-profit status, they are becoming emergent professional societies with a global audience. For example, the annual LatinxChem online science symposium had over 1200 poster participants from 43 countries. This online engagement from the worldwide Latin American chemistry diaspora resulted in over 20 million Twitter impressions. Involving these panelists at Latinx Connect could catalyze recognition for the benefit of all.

Facilitator

Alberto Roca, Ph.D.
Executive Director, DiverseScholar
info@diversescholar.org

Dr. Alberto Roca is Executive Director of the non-profit, DiverseScholar, whose mission is to diversify the doctoral (STEM) workforce, tech industry, and the science communication profession. He created the web portal MinorityPostdoc.org, founded the Postdoc Committee of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and co-founded the Diversity Committee of the National Postdoctoral Association. As Editor, Dr. Roca solicits original articles for his DiverseScholar magazine on the issues of diversity, STEM, and higher education. His SciCommDiversity Fellowship awards travel funds to attend science journalism/communication conferences. His expertise in this area led to the chapter on "Using Social Media to Diversify Science" for the book Science Blogging: The Essential Guide. Recently, he has begun analyzing #BlackInSTEM and #LatinxInSTEM virtual events as examples of emergent mentoring communities.

Panelists

Maria Gallardo-Williams, PhD
Teaching Professor and Director of Organic Chemistry Labs, North Carolina State University
co-organizer, Education section, LatinxChem

Maria Gallardo-Williams is a Teaching Professor and Director of the Organic Chemistry Teaching Labs in the Chemistry Department at North Carolina State University and a SoTL Fellow in the NC State Office of Faculty Development. She received BS and MS degrees from Universidad Simon Bolivar in her native Venezuela and a PhD from the University of South Florida. Her current duties involve teaching organic chemistry lectures and labs, managing many teaching assistants, and helping other faculty develop their SoTL research. She does research in chemical education, with an interest in technology and student-generated teaching and learning materials. Gallardo-Williams co-organizes the education section of the annual LatinxChem online science symposium.

Marissa Wechsler, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical & Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio
Member, LatinXinBME (Latinx in Biomedical Engineering)

Dr. Marissa Wechsler is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She received her B.S. from UTSA and M.S.E. and Ph.D., as a NSF graduate research fellow, from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining UTSA as a faculty member, she completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research focuses on the use of engineered polymeric systems for biomarker detection, drug delivery, and the design of complex biological microenvironments with applications in nanotechnology, biosensing, and tissue engineering. Wechsler is a member of LatinXinBME.