Girls4Stem Webinars

The AAUW-OML STEM Committee is offering a series of free webinars for high school girls, presented by women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field.
The funding for these programs is provided by the Bettelheim Family Foundation.

 

2022 Webinar Series

Webinar #10 Sunday March 6, 2022  04:00 PM Pacific Time

Topic: A Career Path Unplanned: From High School Math Class to Civil Engineer to Global Real Estate Projects” with Sheryl Mordo, PE, BS Civil Engineer, Senior Program Manager at Intuit

Sheryl Mordo is a Senior Project Manager at Intuit. She is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and has a  B.S Civil Engineering from UC Davis and a Professional Certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley Extension. She is a LEED Accredited Professional LEED BD + C. (LEED is Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)  Currently Senior Project Manager at Intuit (known for its TurboTax and Quickbooks accounting software apps).  Sheryl began her career working 4 years as a Project Engineer for Rudolph and Sletten, a large construction company; then 6 years for Nova Partners, a small boutique construction project management firm working on design, permits, and managing the construction project for companies like FaceBook, AAA, Intuit and others.  Sheryl has been at Intuit for 4 years working as a Senior Project Manager designing and overseeing Intuit’s corporate office projects.

Register in advance for this webinar:

Webinar #9 Webinar on Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. PST

Topic:  “Why Studying Materials Science is Like Playing Tetris”
with Maritza Sanchez. BS, MS, PhD Candidate in Materials Science & Engineering at UC San Diego

Maritza Sanchez is a first generation college student who started out as a psychology major at UC Santa Barbara. She took an engineering course and loved it. Hear about the challenges she confronted in changing her major. She persisted, getting a BS in Materials Science at Cal State LA. After earning an MS degree in Materials Science & Engineering , she is completing her PhD at UC San Diego in Materials Science Engineering,   Her research helps to make planes fly faster and machines such as phones and computers more efficient.
 Maritza says “Materials science is the foundation to everything because everything has a surface. Part of what I study contributes to the development of new ceramic materials for extreme environments. We aim to improve existing ceramic materials and develop new materials that don’t harm our planet. These materials can be applied in aerospace and energy fields, and endless other places.” Find out about Maritza’s amazing research, and her extensive work mentoring young people, and you will find out why she was awarded the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Graduate School Role Model Star Award. 


Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8aFWSzcyS7OJIcYf0c8z0Q

Watch Recordings of the Keynote address at our recent AAUW-OML STEM Conference Session held on March 20, 2021

Francesca HinKamp, B.A. Sociology, M.S. Human Genetics shares her circuitous path from social service/advocacy to becoming a Pediatric Genetic Counselor at UCLA Institute for Precision Health.

Keynote Recording:   CLICK HERE

PAST WEBINARS:

Webinar #8  Sunday, May 2, 2021

NATURAL RUBBER: HOW A PASSION FOR SCIENCE LED ME TO WORK WITH A PLANT PRODUCT MY MAYAN ANCESTORS UTILIZED.
with Grisel Ponciano, PhD, Molecular Biologist, USDA

Besides learning about Grisel’s education and career path, find out why she thinks you will want to pursue a career in STEM.  She believes cience requires teamwork to achieve a common goal (which makes working more fun), and you can contribute to making the world a better place in which to live.

Meeting Recording HERE

Webinar #7  Sunday April 11, 2021  

“From City College to NASA Aerospace Engineer”

Ali Guarneros Luna, B.S., M.S. Aerospace Engineering, will describe her journey and award winning career as a Senior NASA Aerospace Engineer. 

Ali Guarneros Luna read about the space shuttle missions as a child in Mexico, and decided she wanted to study aerospace engineering. Ali will share her immigration and education story about how her dream came true. There were lots of challenges along the way, but she overcame the difficulties and now works as a Project Manager at NASA Ames Research Center. Ali will describe the many projects she works on at NASA, how they are used in everyday life, and the benefits to society. Hear about her day to day work activities, for which she has received many award

Meeting Recording HERE

Webinar #6  Sunday, February 21, 2021 

“Climate Change: Learn How to Make a Difference” with Annie Welden, PhD candidate at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford

Annie Welden will share her story of how she got from high school in the Bay Area to the University Oxford as a DPhil candidate in the School of Geography and the Environment. Annie will explain the important role that environmental research plays in government policies and the impacts that research can have on the world

CLICK HERE for meeting recording.

Webinar #5   Sunday, February 7, 2021

Meeting Recording HERE

“On Becoming a Physician” with Heidi Sallee, MD FAAPAssoc. Prof. Of Pediatrics, Saint Louis Univ. School of MedicineOne Pediatrician’s Career Journey, Personal Story and Advice for Young Women

Dr. Sallee will discuss her career path and how she arrived at where she is today. Dr. Sallee has counseled many young women who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine. She will discuss a personal values-based process for making career decisions and how women can follow their passions and interests while at the same time being resilient and flexible with their career plan.

WEBINAR #4   JANUARY 24, 2021
“Refinery 101” with Christy Tormey, BSME.

Learn about her journey to a Mechanical Engineer career & her inside view of the exciting life of a Design Engineer in an oil refinery.

Christy Tormey, Optimization Operations Assistant at Chevron Refinery, Richmond, CA
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering (2014)
–  1+ year as Optimization Operations Assistant: Provide direction and strategy to optimize refinery operations. Continuously manage response to fluctuating conditions for safe and sustained operations.
–  1+ year as Operations Shift Team Leader: A member of refinery operations management supervising the activities of 23-25 union represented operators across three separate divisions. The job requires strong leadership and communication skills and operational and technical knowledge to optimize the unit and provide updates.
–  4 years as Design Engineer: Served as Lead Shutdown Engineer for planning a major plant turnaround; Lead Design Engineer and project management for hydro-processing reactor turnaround with a cross-functional team of technical, maintenance and operations personnel, plus other responsibilities.
–  Currently working as Diversity Ambassador for Chevron Richmond Refinery.

WEBINAR #3  JANUARY 10, 2021
Topic: “Let’s Make a Spectroscope!”
featuring Astrophysicist Dr. Rosalie McGurk, PHD

Meeting Recording: HERE

Dr. Rosalie McGurk, PHD (Instrumentation Fellow @Observatory of The Carnegie Institute for Scienc

Dr. McGurk is involved in building a new near-infrared multi-object spectrograph for Magellan with configurable slits and full JHK band coverage.  What is it?  Ask Dr. McGurk during the webinar.  She loves black holes and discovering new things in space.  Dr. McGurk was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg Germany, and has done work for and at other observatories.

NOTE:  You will need to have the following supplies ready for use during this webinar: paper towel tube, a CD or DVD, duct tape, scotch tape.

Let’s make a spectroscope! And what can we do with it?  Astronomers study the universe by doing spectroscopy, or spreading light into its component wavelengths/colors. Spectroscopy allows us to see what elements make up stars and galaxies, and measure the velocities of stars and galaxies. Unfortunately, most of our current spectroscopic instruments only show us a small part of most local galaxies, which limits our understanding of them. As an astronomer at Carnegie Observatories, Dr. McGurk is building a new spectroscopic instrument that can display much larger views and will let us look at an entire galaxy in one observation. This will allow us to measure the inherent properties of galaxies such where their elements are located and how they are moving.  She will teach you how to make a spectroscope, explain why she loves black holes, and describe her path to becoming an Instrumentation Fellow at Observatories of The Carnegie Institution for Science.  Hear more about how a career in astronomy or another STEM field is within YOUR reach.

WEBINAR #2  DECEMBER 13, 2020
“My Career from the Lab to Launching New Consumer Products”
featuring Deborah Martin MPH/CIH

Meeting Recording HERE

Deborah Martin  MPH/CIH, Global Manager. Product Stewardship & Regulatory, Dupont Nutrition and Biosciences

Learn about the dynamic field of sustainable product stewardship, which is taking a consumer product, making it more “sustainable,” and taking it to market (on grocery shelves). A great career choice for women looking to blend science and business, a skill set in high demand.  I will describe my education and career journey, give examples of the work to bring safe sustainable products to consumers. Product Stewardship is the business process responsible for the management of regulatory compliant products throughout their life cycle focusing on the health, safety and environmental issues at each phase. Case studies will be given to illustrate specific examples.

WEBINAR # 1 Sunday, November 22, 2020
“Engineering with a Purpose”
with Adrienne Johnson  

Meeting Recording  HERE

Topic: “Engineering with Purpose”, with Adrienne Johnson, B.S. Civil Engineer; M.S. Sustainable Design and Construction, 2016. How she built a Net Zero Energy School in S. Africa while still in College.

Adrienne Johnson (Sustainability and Project Engineer @Point Energy Innovation)
Adrienne Johnson, BA/BS Stanford University.  Sustainability and Project Engineer for Point Energy Innovation.  While getting her Master’s degree, Adrienne was project leader for a NET Zero Energy project designing the Parkwood Tech Center school in Cape Town, South Africa, in a community disadvantaged by the legacy of apartheid.  She and a co-lead won the prestigious Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2017.   Adrienne is considered one of the top “20 to Watch: Women in HVAC” for her achievements in designing sustainable buildings.  She is a member of Society of Women Engineers