Participants at BAMMchella in Cambridge, MA.
Industry Careers Workshop Series
Baltimore, MD. April 7, 2016
The Industry Careers Workshop Series was held at the Johns Hopkins University’s East Baltimore Campus. Brad Fackler, Senior Director of the Office of BioHealth and Life Science at the State of Maryland Department of Commerce, provided participants with practical advice and strategies to transition successfully into an industry position. Fackler, who has more than 30 years of commercial and corporate experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, developed these workshops at his previous appointment as career advisor at the National Institutes of Health. The participants, who had come from several institutions across Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, learned about the careers available to scientists in industry, techniques to build and manage professional relationships, strategies to navigate the industry job search process, and strategies to negotiate job offers and make the transition. The audience found the meeting very helpful and unique in its kind, some calling it “the best thing ever.”
Bay Area Postdocs: Workshop on Scientific Teaching
San Francisco, CA. April 9, 2016
The 2016 Bay Area Postdocs: Workshop on Scientific Teaching was held at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Postdocs participated in interactive sessions on the principles of Scientific Teaching: active learning, equity and diversity, and assessment. Participants saw how misconceptions impede learning biology and explored nontraditional ways to assess students. Later, attendees spoke with panelists with teaching-related careers and heard from Kimberly Tanner of SFSU about her research on how undergraduates organize their biology knowledge. Finally, attendees gathered to plan how to grow their new knowledge about teaching and share it with other postdocs at their home institutions. Workshop evaluations showed that participants not only gained awareness of Scientific Teaching and biology education research, but also discovered a community of like-minded postdocs interested in teaching.
The 3rd Annual Navigating Lipid Research in Baltimore Meeting
Baltimore, MD. April 22, 2016
The third annual Navigating Lipid Research in Baltimore meeting, held at the Carnegie Institution for Science, was a great success. Attendees heard exciting talks from students, clinicians, researchers, and industry professionals, all of whom were able to connect and share ideas during lunchtime table talks and an afternoon networking happy hour. The poster session was especially lively and well-attended this year, with the “best poster” award going to Heather Lamb of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Diversity in STEM: Career Opportunities for Doctoral Level Scientists
Philadelphia, PA. April 28, 2016
The first meeting of Diversity in STEM: Career Opportunities for Doctoral Level Scientists, organized by Jessica Chacon (University of Pennsylvania) and Zenobia Cofer (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) was held on April 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA. A total of 90 people attended, representing both predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers from universities in the Philadelphia area. A group of 20 panelists represented the magnitude of diverse career options available for doctoral level scientists. The career panels included: Academia, Industry, Scientific Communication, and Scientific Administration. The feedback Chacon and Cofer received throughout the day was extremely positive, with multiple attendees mentioning how much they enjoyed the panel discussions and hearing career advice. The organizers thank the sponsors, especially the American Society of Cell Biology, for making this first meeting a major success.
Bay Area Worm Meeting
San Jose, CA. May 7, 2016
The goal of the Bay Area Worm Meeting was to bring together members of worm labs from 12 universities and institutes in the San Francisco Bay area at San Jose State University to create opportunities to meet colleagues and to discuss new research and tools. Our two keynote speakers, Miriam Goodman and Bruce Bowerman, gave excellent talks, as did the other 10 local speakers (master’s and PhD students, postdocs, and PIs). In addition, we had over 40 posters in a very busy and interactive poster session, and the meeting was a success! The organizers thank ASCB for its support!
BAMMchella
Cambridge, MA. May 7, 2016
BAMMchella, the third annual meeting of the Boston Area Mitosis and Meiosis community, took place at the Whitehead Institute. The day included several talks covering various aspects of cytoskeletal dynamics, mitosis, and genomic instability; a poster session; and a fantastic keynote address by Titia de Lange.
