As of this posting, Katrina has a second paper about to be published from the same project on which she is a co-author. Getting authorship on two papers from a summer internship is a testament to Katrina’s achievements. Congratulations Katrina!

Please join us for a special edition of

COVID-19 Science Café

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, outgoing Chief Scientific Advisor for Operation Warp Speed.

“COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Operation Warp Speed”

Tuesday. February 16, 2021

12:30 pm EST

Zoom link: https://bates.zoom.us/j/92950649544

Co-moderators:

Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks has been cited as an inspiring black scientist by , a web resource that provides support�� and resources for emerging scientists in their career pathway. Congratulations!!

From the list commentary:

“Maya Angelou once said, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”��This can be said for��Black��culture��in its entirety. 

Black��culture��is the archetype for innovation, distinction, creativity,��intelligence,��spirituality,��and healing. Black��culture��is distinct,��and��it has a heavy influence on��American and global cultures.��Likewise, Black��talent is both ubiquitous and abundant,��but the excellence of Black people is often obscured. To remove the bleach from the history books, the Community of Scholars formed this list of inspiring Black��scientists.��We are also here to dismantle the myth that outstanding Black scientists make up a small percentage of the scientific community.����

We are here to compel and imbue the next generation of Black��scientists and other minoritized individuals to enhance and empower our culture’s dignity. We also emphasize the need for continued appropriation of resources and the removal of obstacles and racial barriers to continue to amplify Black��culture and��talent.��We hope��that��this post generates the zeal necessary to��help��people become��well-rounded��persons��excluded because of their��ethnicity or��race��(PEERs)��that is not thought of as a statistic that��must��achieve token status or an individual that is already��phenotyped��and genotyped before testing the hypothesis.��

Navigating a scientific career is often regarded as the pinnacle of independence.��However, as science��becomes more of a collaborative discipline,��we��as Black people must��free our minds of��the��crab��mentality,��the metrics of comparison amongst each other, and��the bondage of tokenism.��Political activist��Marcus Garvey once said, “We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind.“��As a��people,��we must honor the immense battle it took to acquire a��doctorate��from a country that was not appreciative of��Black talent.��We challenge the leaders��in��science to rectify the leaky pipeline that hinders PEERS to create and innovate��at��their fullest potential. We challenge others to carry individuals with the opportunity of chance and not the opportunity of prejudgment.��No longer should we wait and sit back for others to acknowledge our accomplishments. Now is the time to acknowledge each other, our talents, our accomplishments, and��reclaim��the knowledge that could have been lost.”

Associate Professor of Biology, Larissa Williams, has been recognized for outstanding teaching by winning the . Congratulations and job well done!

From the award citation:

“Larissa Williams, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Undergraduate Educator Award for her commitment to and creativity in fostering the toxicology education of undergraduate students.

Dr.��Williams received her PhD in environmental toxicology from North Carolina State University in 2010 and performed her postdoctoral training at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She currently serves as an Associate Professor in the �ֲ���ý College Department of Biology, where she incorporates toxicology into her biology classroom and laboratory.

The mission of Dr.��Williams’s research program is to foster discovery, innovation, and scholarship by undergraduates in molecular biology, developmental biology, and toxicology. Since arriving at �ֲ���ý College in 2012, Dr.��Williams has been the architect of seven new courses and has provided research opportunities for 36 students during the academic year and 21 students during the summer. To accommodate a wide range of students whose interests differ, her lab offers a variety of molecular-based projects, ranging from zebrafish to environmentally relevant organisms. Dr.��Williams also has actively recruited students underrepresented in STEM for research experiences in her lab, and as a result of these efforts, about half of her students each year come from these backgrounds.

Dr.��Williams has wholeheartedly embraced the teacher-scholar model; her involvement with student co-authors demonstrates her deep commitment to engaged student learning beyond the classroom. During her career at �ֲ���ý College, Dr.��Williams has published six peer-reviewed journal publications with 18 undergraduates as co-authors. Her students’ work also is presented at regional and national conferences, providing students with valuable presentation experience.

Since joining SOT as a graduate student in 2010, Dr.��Williams has been a main contributor to several undergraduate-focused activities. In addition to volunteering as a mentor during the Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) Undergraduate Diversity Program, Dr.��Williams has served as a member and Chair of the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee. She also is very active within the Northeast Regional Chapter (NESOT). In 2017, Dr.��Williams and a colleague organized an undergraduate program at the NESOT Regional Chapter meeting, the success of which led Dr.��Williams to continue as an��ad hoc��member of the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee, tasked with increasing undergraduate activities at Regional Chapter meetings. Her efforts have been very effective, and other Regional Chapters have begun looking at the model created within NESOT to help increase undergraduate participation in their chapters.

Currently, Dr. Williams is the Co-Chair of the SOT Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education (FUTURE) Committee. Through this role, she works to ensure that the partnership with Regional Chapters and CDI continues and serves as a volunteer point person for colleges and universities that were part of the Undergraduate Consortium Task Force. In addition to her leadership within FUTURE, Dr. Williams is on the SOT Nominating Committee and is a Councilor for NESOT and the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section.”

Topic: COVID-19 vaccine technologies

��

Speaker: Dr. Lori banks, Asst. Professor, Microbiology, Department of Biology, �ֲ���ý College

Moderator: Dr. Larissa Williams, Biology, �ֲ���ý College

November 4, 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Zoom link:�� https://bates.zoom.us/j/92950649544

�� ��

TOPIC:�� Pediatrics and the pandemic

Wednesday October 28, 7:30-8:30 pm, Dr. Larissa Williams, moderator

Guest speaker: Dr. Lorien Batt MD, Waterville Pediatrics,

LINK: https://bates.zoom.us/j/92950649544

Dr. Hammond’s talk has been rescheduled for Wednesday Dec 2nd

Zoom session 1:�� October 1, 2020 –

This first session featured three biology faculty who talked about their graduate experiences and answered questions from the audience about all things graduate school.

Participants: Larissa Williams, April Hill, and Katie Dobkowski

Zoom session 2: October 8, 2020 – ��

This session was an informational conversation with recent �ֲ���ý alumni about their pathways and experiences in graduate programs in both biology and biochemistry.

Participants: Abigail Ames, Gwen Musccato, Jake Henderson, Min Tam Phan, and Kathleen Morrill.