Winds of Change - 2017 National Conference Wrap-Up - 33

FUNDING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL
AND BEYOND
Led by Christine O'Brien, program director at the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine, and Cheryl Wilga, professor of biological
sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage
In this seminar,
Christine O'Brien
explained the
process of applying
to the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. The
information was supplemented by the stories of Cheryl Wilga,
who was a previous Ford Fellow during her graduate years.
O'Brien made the complexities of the application process
clear for all attendees, outlining the number of
recommendations needed, the way to write a personal
statement, and how to decide if the Ford Fellowship or any
other type of government-funded fellowship is right for you.
Wilga built on O'Brien's helpful information by talking about
how to leverage the network of people you meet while in a
prestigious fellowship program and how those connections
can help you later on in your career. The speakers also offered
pathwaystoscience.org as a helpful website for researching
further opportunities in science.

NSF LIGHTING THE PATHWAY
MEETING

INVENT. IMPACT. INSPIRE.
It takes the best of the best from
across the country and around the
world-people who can challenge
one another's thinking and
approach problems collectively
from multiple viewpoints. We
are inspired to invent in an
environment of relentless inquiry
and spirited collaboration. We are
senior scientists, postdoctoral
fellows, experienced engineers
and new graduates.

How will you
invent the future?
Merck is a proud sponsor of
AISES.

merck.com/careers
Merck is proud to embrace diversity in all its manifestations | EOE M/F/D/V

Led by Mary Jo Ondrechen, professor of chemistry
and chemical biology at Northeastern University,
and Kathy DeerInWater, director of special projects
and research at AISES
The AISES Lighting the Pathway (LTP) program welcomed
its fourth cohort of aspiring faculty members to meet in
Denver for a daylong training and welcome to
the AISES National Conference. The day's
activities included breakfast, a welcome
by Kathy DeerInWater, and a blessing
from Bret Benally Thompson, who sits
on the AISES Council of Elders. The
LTP cohorts then joined ASSIST
program scholars in workshops that
included information on postdoctoral
fellowships ("Post Doc 101" by Lisa Dilling of the
Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the
University of Colorado Boulder), negotiating a faculty
position (presented by Adrienne Minerick and Daniel
Howard), and opportunities provided by the National
Science Foundation (NSF) at various career levels (presented
by Paige Smith and Sally O'Connor), all during the morning
sessions. Mica Estrada of the University of California, San
Francisco, offered an inspiring update on the LTP program's
progress and how scholars were progressing through their
careers with the support of LTP. The afternoon sessions
commenced with a faculty panel on navigating the tenure
process; balancing service, research, and teaching (presented
by Amy Landis of the Colorado School of Mines); and a
graduate student circle with senior faculty of LTP. The day of
learning and reflection ended with the always-popular
talking circle led by Mary Jo Ondrechen.
aises.org

Denver » 2017 National Conference Wrap-Up * WINDS OF CHANGE 33
http://www.merck.com/careers http://www.pathwaystoscience.org http://sciencecareers.org/WoC http://www.aises.org
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