Grad News Forum

On Saturday, April 6^th, over 150 children and adults turned out for the very first Science Day at Dartmouth. F. Jon Kull, dean of Graduate Studies, dubbed Science Day, organized by Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE), a “great success.”

Anna Prescott and Aarathi Prasaad, PhD candidates in Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS) and Computer Science respectively, organized the event with help from a small army of volunteers from across Graduate Studies. The aim of the event was to excite children about the sciences and being a scientist. Graduate students, being highly motivated scientists, were up to the challenge.

A graduate student walks a young person through a computer simulation.

Another motivation behind Science Day was to encourage female participation in the sciences.  Dartmouth graduate students have a reputation of challenging the “science is for boys” stereotype. Science Day was no exception. “Over 50% of women led activities or gave demonstrations,” says Prescott. Whilst men were not discouraged, the high interest of female scientists in the event showed young people that science is gender neutral.

GWISE set up 20 stations from the departments or programs in Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, PBS, Computer Science, Neurology and Biological science departments. Activities gave the young people an introduction to each discipline. For example, representatives from the Department of Physics and Astronomy illustrated centrifugal forces with a bike wheel and a rotating chair.

PBS had a particularly popular station. Rachel Pizzie, a PhD candidate in the department, gave participating students a “lie detector test.” She gauged excitement by measuring how well skin conducts electricity. Our hands sweat more when we are surprised or shocked, sweaty hands conduct electricity better. Pizzie placed sensors on volunteers’ hands to measure increases or decreases of sweat. From this she could determine her volunteers’ excitement to questions, much like a polygraph test. The audience’s excitement level did not need such a test.

Many parents noted that they were unable to get to each station, not because there were too many stations, or that the stations were too far apart, but because their children were so engaged that they lingered at each demonstration and activity.

The day’s success was facilitated by the dedicated efforts of graduate students. One parent remarked: “the students were great at explaining their research to the kids, and they had an infectious enthusiasm for research.”

Over 50 graduate students took five or six hours out of their weekend to help. They set up demonstrations, they showed the visitors around the college and they dropped pizza off to their hungry colleagues. Furthermore, GWISE took sole responsibility for organizing and funding the event.

Prescott remarked on the success of the day “there’s just something special about visiting the labs and campus buildings. We really wanted to show kids what careers in science look like.” She continued, “Meeting with enthusiastic kids to tell them about what we study, why it’s cool, why it’s important, and why we love it is a great way to reinvigorate ourselves!”

GWISE is going to build on the success of Science Day 2013, to make Science Day 2014 reach out to even more children and young people.

“Encouraging others to get involved in science is one of the most rewarding experiences a young scientist can have,” says Prescott.

by Dan Durcan

The Graduate-Undergraduate (G-U) Mentoring Program was officially launched on April 4^th, 2013 with a kick-off event co-sponsored by Dartmouth Graduate Studies and Career Services.

The launch event was hosted at the Career Services office in downtown Hanover and began with an introduction of the Mentoring Program by graduate students, Max Mehlman and Marie Onakomaiya. A panel discussion followed with Thayer professor, Dr. Kofi Odame and five graduate students (Stela Celaj, Max Mehlman, Erin O’Malley, Elizabeth Sergison, and Jeremy Thompson), who answered questions from the 30 undergraduates who attended the event. The final session was the meet-a-mentor breakout session, during which undergrads could mingle and talk one-on-one with graduate students in their field of interest.

Almost a year in the making, the idea for the Mentoring Program came from a conversation in the spring of 2012 between Onakomaiya, a PhD student in the Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine, and Jessica Friedman of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding. Friedman highlighted the need to connect Dartmouth undergraduates interested in graduate school with graduate students, so they could experience what graduate school is like. Unless they do undergraduate research in a lab or an honors thesis with a professor, students do not get to experience what it is like to go to grad school until they begin. This conversation led to the initial concept of a day of shadowing grad students.

Through collaboration with Mehlman, a PhD student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS), Anna Prescott and Aarathi Prasad of the Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) group, and Kathy Weaver, the assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research, the program evolved into more than just shadowing. A summer pilot was set up, and through announcements in the Graduate Student Council (GSC) Gazetteer, graduate students were recruited to be “low-pressure” mentors to undergraduate students in the Women in Science Program (WISP). Over 40 graduate students signed up to be mentors within a month of recruiting—an indication of the enthusiasm of graduate students to help the Dartmouth community fill this gap.

After the summer pilot, the feedback from the 18 participants was largely positive. One undergraduate, Holly Wakeman, said of the program “I found the program very helpful! I’m an undergrad considering applying to grad school, and I met with several mentors to talk about how and when to apply, their experiences, and my interests. While I’m not still in contact with most of the mentors I met with, it was a very valuable experience and really helped me to better understand what I’d like to do and how to get there!”

Through the fall and winter terms, Mehlman and Onakomaiya re-evaluated the program and worked on how to launch it campus-wide. Weaver connected them with key people in offices across campus involved in undergraduate-graduate education, including the Undergraduate Deans Office, Pre-Health Advising, Graduate Studies, and Career Services, among others. They also pitched the program to professors in different departments and schools on campus, who recognized the need and potential of the program. There was overwhelming support from all corners.

The program is designed to be self-sustaining. Undergrads are given access to a list of graduate students interested in being mentors, including their contact information and a short description of their graduate work and other expertise. The graduate students are available for questions over email and/or coffee, or to be shadowed, giving some flexibility to all concerned.

In the future, there are plans to receive quarterly mentor feedback and to set up a yearly mentor training session to provide support to the graduate mentors and help them be better mentors, as well as to re-assess the success of the program. Overall, the Mentoring Program is providing a direct way for undergraduates to learn more about graduate school, and has in the same turn provided a mentoring opportunity for Dartmouth graduate students.

The Mentoring Program is always recruiting new mentors. Graduate students interested in being mentors can e-mail either Mehlman or Onakomaiya. Undergraduate students interested in learning more about grad school can visit the Graduate-Undergraduate Mentoring Program website to connect with a mentor.

by Marie Onakomaiya

Every term, the Graduate Studies Office organizes an event for all graduate student leaders that helps develop team and leadership skills. On March 6, graduate student leaders from various groups, including the Graduate Student Council (GSC), the Dartmouth Graduate Outing Club (DGOC), the Dartmouth Argentine Tango Society (DATS), the International Graduate Mentoring Program (IGMP), and the Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE), participated in a rock-climbing event at the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center (GMRCC) at Quechee, Vermont. The GMRCC is the tallest and largest indoor climbing gym in the area with 24 top ropes.

In the past, the Graduate Studies Office has organized several ropes courses for graduate student leaders, as well as Strengths Quest team-building activities. Both of these types of activities have helped graduate students in identifying strengths and developing group work and management skills. This is the first time that rock climbing has been offered.

During the climb, each climber was supported by a belayer, who holds the end of a rope attached to the climber and uses a belay device designed to apply friction as needed to prevent falls. The climber must trust the belayer to provide the necessary friction. However, in addition to providing support, it is the belayer’s job to allow enough slack for the climber to continue climbing. Climbing pairs learn to work together to coordinate climbing course and pace and trust each other.

Most of the graduate participants had never climbed before, so there was a lot to learn. After around two hours of climbing, most of the students were sore, but they learned a key aspect of being a leader: gaining and giving trust. Aarathi Prasad, a graduate student in computer science, commented on the event: “I was pretty terrified since I had never done rock climbing before and almost wanted to back out at the last moment. However, I am glad I went, because the event was simply so much fun, very safe, and I think I returned a little more confident about myself than earlier.”

Overall the event was fantastic, free of injury and simply awesome. Thanks again to Graduate Studies for organizing such wonderful, skill-developing events.

by Gilbert Rahme

It takes years for graduate students to conduct research and write a dissertation, but recently eight of these experienced researchers explained their studies in just three minutes.

Their brief lectures came during a workshop this fall that gave Dartmouth graduate students an opportunity to sharpen their presentation skills and hear reactions and advice from audience members. The event, co-hosted by Dartmouth Graduate Studies and Dartmouth Graduate Women in Science and Engineering, was part of GWISE’s larger effort to develop professional skills and connect women across departments.

For the full article go to Dartmouth Now.

GWISE and the Graduate Office recently co-hosted a workshop in which eight graduate women were given a mere three minutes to present their research to peers in various fields of study. Being able to succinctly and clearly present your research is essential for networking, and for interviewing, so workshops like these are very useful.

Throughout each presentation, the viewers wrote their constructive criticisms on cards, for the presenters to review on their own time, and the workshop culminated in a group discussion of the techniques employed by the strongest presenters, why those strategies work, and how to effectuate them. Meanwhile, each talk was recorded, so presenters could see themselves in action — not always a fun activity, since we’re all our own worst critics, but very useful for banishing any bad habits that detract from a talk, and also great for pinpointing what your strengths are, and how to maximize them.

The group found that presenters who gesticulated more, seemed relaxed, and were able to clarify their points better. They also found that presenters who minimized jargon, and used non-scientific language, were more effective communicators.

Archana Murali, from the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, presented her research on Prion Disease (or, mad cow disease, as most people know it), and she was voted best presenter, by attendees, and other presenters. See a video of her presentation, here.