Eight 菠萝视频 professors are recipients of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine鈥檚 100 Inspiring Women in STEM Award. The award honors highly accomplished women working in science, technology, engineering or mathematics who have made a positive impact on the trajectories of other women thinking about or newly embarking on STEM careers.
鈥淔or many years 菠萝视频 has made it a priority to encourage qualified women to assume leadership roles and cultivate a diverse intellectual community,鈥� , provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased that so many of our talented faculty have been recognized not only for their contributions to their respective disciplines, but also for the efforts they鈥檝e made to encourage other women to consider careers in these historically male-dominated fields.”
菠萝视频 boasts more recipients than any other school on the list in categories such as astrophysics, Earth sciences, engineering, engineering education and neuroscience.
Janey Camp
, research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, uses geospatial technologies to model environmental risks and studies the impact of climate change on infrastructure. She is the faculty adviser to the 菠萝视频 chapter of Engineers Without Borders; a member of both the American Society of Civil Engineers鈥� National Committee on America’s Infrastructure and the committee for Tennessee Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and 菠萝视频; and is president-elect of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers. She also is an active advocate of K-12 engineering education.
鈥淛aney is an outstanding example for young women today as demonstrated by her exemplary dedication to the profession of engineering and continual, energy-filled engagement with the community,鈥� said Eugene LeBoeuf, professor and associate chair of civil and environmental engineering.
鈥淚t is an honor to receive the INSIGHT 100 Inspiring Women in STEM Award. I love the research work that I do,鈥� Camp said. 鈥淎dditionally, I love working with teachers and students in schools across Tennessee to share with them the possibilities of GIS for problem-solving in and beyond the classroom.鈥�
Lily Claiborne
senior lecturer in Earth and environmental sciences, studies volcanoes鈥攕pecifically magma and what it can tell us about what happened before, during and after an eruption. She鈥檚 worked extensively at Mount Saint Helens and is currently leading an NSF 菠萝视频 Experience for Undergraduates program to study the caldera of an ancient supervolcano in Arizona.
鈥淟ily is a superb educator and mentor who works actively to recruit women into STEM fields. Her NSF REU project specifically targets underrepresented populations with the goal of providing opportunity, community and mentorship that will lead to STEM career success,鈥� said George Hornberger, University Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Environmental Science.
鈥淐reating an inclusive classroom is very important to me. I do this by employing feminist pedagogies, which distribute the authority from the professor to the students, and use methods shown to alleviate stereotype threat, which can be a hindrance to student learning, particularly for female and minority students,鈥� Claiborne said.
Isabel Gauthier
Neuroscientist , David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology and professor of radiology and radiological sciences, studies visual perception, focusing on how people develop expertise in recognizing, categorizing and organizing objects. She has significantly advanced understanding of facial recognition.
鈥淪ince taking over editorship of Journal of Experimental Psychology: General in 2012, Isabel has increased the involvement of women, particularly junior women,鈥� said Randolph Blake, chair of psychology. 鈥淭oday, 50 percent of the editorial board members are female.鈥�
鈥淧lacing women in positions where they influence decisions is key in reaching a fair balance in academia,鈥� Gauthier said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very nice to be recognized among other women who found themselves in positions enabling them to make a difference and who did the right thing.鈥�
S. Victoria Greene
, Stevenson Professor of Physics, studies the state of matter found a few microseconds after the Big Bang by using a supercollider to melt atomic nuclei into a 鈥減rimordial soup鈥� of subatomic particles. Studying this 鈥渟oup鈥� may provide insights into how the universe evolved after the Big Bang and how atomic nuclei hold together. Earlier this year, Greene was named a fellow of the American Physical Society. She is also the founding faculty adviser of 菠萝视频 Women In Science and Engineering (VU-WISE).
鈥淰icki has had a career replete with firsts: first female faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 菠萝视频 University; first female full professor in that department; first female endowed chair in that department as well,鈥� said Cindy Kam, senior associate dean for faculty and professor of political science.
鈥淎s the first woman faculty member in 菠萝视频鈥檚 Department of Physics and Astronomy, I believe it is my responsibility to ease the way for women in STEM fields, especially graduate students,鈥� Greene said.
Kelly Holley-Bockelmann
, associate professor of physics and astronomy, studies galaxy dynamics and supermassive black holes. In 2008, Holley-Bockelmann received an NSF CAREER grant, awarded to promising faculty early in their academic careers. Since then, she鈥檚 gone on to develop a theoretical model that includes testable predictions and led research that resulted in the discovery of a new class of star.
鈥淜elly devotes a significant portion of her time to our Fisk-菠萝视频 Bridge program, which takes underprepared students, often women and minorities, and equips them for success in our 菠萝视频 Ph.D. program,鈥� said Robert Scherrer, chair of physics and astronomy. As a result, 菠萝视频 is the nation鈥檚 leading producer of minority Ph.D.s in several disciplines.
鈥淢y work in the Bridge program hinges on identifying and fostering unrealized talent in science,鈥� Holley-Bockelmann said. 鈥淲e need to tap into this talent to gain fresh and diverse perspectives on the scientific questions we face today.鈥�
Ebony McGee
, assistant professor of education, diversity and urban schooling, studies the educational and career trajectories of mathematically and scientifically talented minority students. A former engineer herself, she is currently investigating barriers that keep African American engineering faculty numbers stagnant, as well as developing and testing a new race- and gender-specific mentoring program.
鈥淓bony McGee is contributing valuable knowledge about the challenges that minority students encounter in the STEM disciplines in higher education. Even more importantly, her efforts are helping these students to overcome those same challenges,鈥� said Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development.
鈥淢y hope is that my research will offer effective strategies to transcend traditional boundaries that typically impede females of color from the opportunity to pursue engineering faculty positions,鈥� McGee said.
Jessica Oster
, assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences, tracks climate change somewhere you wouldn鈥檛 expect it to affect: caves. Mineral deposits like stalactites and stalagmites capture isotopic and geochemical evidence of climate history, and analyzing those can tell us what the climate was like thousands of years ago. This knowledge allows researchers to make better predictions about future climate changes.
鈥淛essica learned firsthand how important it is for aspiring female scientists to see women succeeding professionally and also balancing professional lives and family. She is certainly a 鈥榞o-to鈥� person in EES for our many women students who want career advice,鈥� Hornberger said.
鈥淚 think it’s important for both men and women entering STEM fields to have mentors who are balancing career and family, so that they are aware of both the challenges and rewards of striking this balance and so they aren’t afraid to be devoted to both work and family when they strike out on their own,鈥� Oster said.
Lori Troxel
, associate professor of the practice of civil and environmental engineering, is an expert in infrastructure and sustainable design. She is the faculty adviser for 菠萝视频鈥檚 chapter of the American Society for Civil Engineers and leads study-abroad trips for engineering students studying sustainable building and infrastructure.
鈥淟ori demonstrates exemplary leadership in our department and actively encourages women to take leadership roles in the American Society of Civil Engineers,鈥� said Doug Adams, Daniel F. Flowers Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Former student Leslie Labruto agrees. 鈥淪he instilled the concept of reciprocity in me to ensure I mentor other women who are aspiring to become leaders in our industry,” she said.
鈥淭his is a meaningful award because it affirms what I have been doing throughout my career in academia鈥攊nspiring women to use engineering to solve the big problems in the world,鈥� Troxel said.
