Student Ambassadors

The student ambassadors post news, events, myths/facts about women in STEM, links to resources, project progress, blog contributions, and narratives using the #IAmAWomanInSTEM hashtag as an organizing tool.

Want to join the #IAmAWomanInSTEM student ambassadors?
Sign up today via our webform here

In Spring 2017, Ndeye Thiaw and Mollye Malone launched the #IAmAWomanInSTEM Student Organization at UK. Find out more about the role of the student organization and the opportunities for leadership on the IAAWIS Student Org at UK webpage.

Also, Heather Campbell (Mechanical Engineering major) and Kayla Kuhfeldt (Biology major) launched "STEM Groups" to gather together for networking and studying. See more information on this initiative on the STEM Groups webpage. We encourage all first- and second-year #IAmAWomanInSTEM student ambassadors join a STEM Group. 

Spring 2017 also offered academic credit to #IAmAWomanInSTEM student ambassadors. Three sections of EXP396 were offered to students who were taking leadership roles in the initiative. This experiential education course is very flexible and allows for student ambassador to work with their mentors in collaboration with a faculty expert in the task undertaken.

• one student worked with her mentor Dr. Sylvia Cerel-Suhl in conducting outreach programs for youth to teach them about heart health - and her faculty in the for-credit course is a health communications expert, Dr. Jami Warren in the College of Health Sciences.
• several students worked with Dr. Ellen Crocker and Dr. Susan Odom in developing STEM-related and interactive workshops for middle school girls, then implemented the workshops during the Expanding Your Horizons conference here on the UK campus on April 29th.
• one student created a STEM "Woman of the Week" interview schedule that addressed the specific issues raised in the Spring 2016 UK300 Course (see the list of issues/topics at the Open Resources page) and published her findings each week on the #IAmAWomanInSTEM social media accounts. You can read the collection of interviews in our Google+ collection here and download her very powerful final reflective essay here.

We welcome all faculty to serve as instructors for an experiential education course for #IAmAWomanInSTEM student ambassadors - and encourage our students to send a message to iamawomaninstem@gmail.com to find out more about setting up an experiential education course and earn academic credit for their work on this initiative.

In Spring 2016, 28 #IAmAWomanInSTEM student ambassadors enrolled in a leadership and service-learning course (UK300, 2 credit hours - download the Spr2016 syllabus here). They had opportunities to engage with University and community members in solving authentic community-identified problems and successes associated with gender in STEM-related careers, and to reflect on these experiences with peers and the course co-facilitators. Of the 160+ student ambassadors in Spring 2016, these students below enrolled in the UK300 service-learning and leadership course and produced a project to launch the #IAmAWomanInSTEM initiative (see the projects listed on the Projects page):

• Alomerovic, Arnela - junior Biochemistry major, physics minor on the Pre-Med track
• Auvil, Brittany - Biology/Neuroscience major, psychology minor
• Barajas, Elizabeth - junior Biology major
• Byrd, LaShay - sophomore Biology major, minor Appalachian Studies (pre-med)
• Collins, Kate - Physics major
• Davis, Darci - sophomore Biology/Neuroscience, music minor - see her podcast at https://soundcloud.com/darci-davis
• Dubre, Sabita - Biology major on premed track
• Ewing, Loren - Biology major, pre-med focus
• Grajera, Holly - Biology/Biochemistry
• Grau, Elizabeth -  Biology/neuroscience major, pre-med focus
• Hernandez-Murillo, Mayte - Chemistry/Biochemistry major, interested in optometry
• Holland, Shermiah - junior in Mathematical Economics and Computer Science, minor Mathematics
• Kloska, Katherine - freshman Chemistry & Biology/Neuroscience major, see her blog at http://stemfemale.wordpress.com
• Levitan, Kathryn - sophomore Animal Science major
• Lutrell, Destiny - junior Computer Science major, psychology minor, see her blog at http://stemwomen.blogspot.com
• Mehic, Zerina - junior Animal Science major
• Minezawa, Aina - junior Biology major
• Minrath, Rachel - chemistry major, pre-pharmacy
• Mowl, Rachel - junior psychology major, pre-med
• Phillips, Sarah - freshman Biology/Neuroscience major
• Piron, Margaret - freshman Biology major
• Pollard, Hayden - sophomore Biology major
• Rump, Kendall - freshman Biology/Neuroscience major
• Stoess, Audrey - sophomore Physics major
• Stull, Margaret - Biology and Psychology major, pre-med focus
• Talavera-Santiago, Gabriela - sophomore Biology major
• Thiaw, Ndeye - junior Biology major, French minor
• Wiegand, Courtney - freshman Mechanical Engineering major
• Young, Holly - sophomore Geological Sciences major

The Spring 2016 UK300-003 service-learning course co-facilitators were:

• Ellen Crocker, Postdoctoral Scholar, Forest Health Research and Education Center, UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Kate Eddens, Assistant Professor, Health Behavior, UK College of Public Health
• Judy Goldsmith, Professor, Computer Science, UK College of Engineering
• Randolph Hollingsworth, Assistant Provost, UK Undergraduate Education
• Margaret Mohr-Schroeder, Associate Professor, STEM Education, UK College of Education
• Madushi Raththagala, Postdoctoral Scholar, Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry, UK College of Medicine
• Brittany Rice, Graduate Research Assistant, Biology, Eastern Kentucky University (and participant in the Kentucky Bridge to a Biomedical Doctorate Program)
• Thushani Rodrigo-Peiris, Administrator, Kentucky Bridge to a Biomedical Doctorate Program, UK College of Medicine