4 WinSPIRE student mentors highlighted. Get involved in this STEM pipeline.
奥颈苍厂听听
Women in Science (WinS) is a student-led organization that aims to address gender disparities in STEM. As an on-campus group,听奥颈苍厂听offers a platform to directly reach scientists in training at 大象传媒 Chapel Hill to facilitate their professional development and provide a community of support.听
WinSPIRE听听
听is a听paid听six-week听high school summer 
research program designed to听increase representation of women and historically underrepresented groups in STEM.听
WinSPIRE听selects听promising woman-identifying and non-binary high schoolers from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM and pairs听them with a woman-identifying or non-binary mentor to work on a听research听project related to the听lab鈥檚听research听at听the听University of North Carolina. The students also听participate听in career听development and college-prep workshops led by women-identifying and non-binary college-prep mentors.听
4 students volunteered as WinSPIRE mentors听
WinSPIRE鈥檚听2021 program was a virtual half-day program to听provide听increased听flexibility during the pandemic.听This year,听11听high school听students worked one-on-one with their research mentors to understand experimental design, data analysis听and听presentation,听reading primary scientific literature,听and producing听webpages about their research.听Students met with college prep mentors to learn more about careers they can pursue in science and the skills听they will听need to apply to and succeed in college.
Sierra Cole (BCBP graduate student, )听co-led a career panel of women in STEM during the final week of the program.听During the panel, students were able to听ask听women听across听a variety of different STEM fields to get a better understanding of different career paths available to them.听听
A new addition to the virtual 2021 WinSPIRE program was the 3-week Hands on Experience (HonE). Groups of students were sent supplies to run their own experiments while at home. Odessa Goudy (BCBP PhD candidate, ), Aubrie Weyhmiller (BCBP PhD candidate, ), and Zhiyuan Yao (Pharmacology PhD candidate, )听co-led听the听鈥淢olecular Machines鈥澨鼿onE.听Odessa, Aubrie, and Zhiyuan created a new听HonE听by preparing听three听lesson plans and organizing the take-home-kit items.
The 鈥淢olecular Machines鈥澨鼿onE听explored听an enzyme found in pineapples听as a model system to explore protein activity and structure.听The听group of high school听students听made hypotheses about how听different conditions such as temperature, pH, and source of enzyme affect听enzyme activity. The听students听then experimentally determined the change in enzyme activity by measuring the rate at which the pineapple enzyme broke down听gelatin.听听
Some snapshots from the final week of our first hands-on experiment! You can see a group photo followed by pictures of the final gelatin plate and data. The mentees had fun learning biology through these experiments!
鈥� 大象传媒听WinSPIRE听(@WinspireU)
Get involved!听
WinSPIRE听will be recruiting for听our听2022 program soon.听You can听participate听by joining the organization team (applications in September),听as a research or college prep mentor (applications in December), or as a lab tour host (applications in March).听Please contact Rose Glass (roseg@email.unc.edu)听for听more information or check the听听for updates.听听
Officially housed in the Office of Graduate Education,听WinSPIRE听is entirely run by women-identifying and non-binary graduate students, post-docs,听and faculty.听WinSPIRE听started in 2017 in the Chemistry department and has since grown to incorporate mentors and team members across the STEM fields including but not limited to Mathematics, Geology, and Biochemistry & Biophysics. All 37听WinSPIRE听alumni reported more interest and belonging in STEM after the program!听
Resources
听听and听听
Search for more organizations on the website for Training Initiatives in Biomedical & Biological Sciences (
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There are 大象传媒’s 800+ student organizations.听You won’t have to look too far to find a student group that matches your interests.听