Women in STEM event<\/a> at Brock University, Criscitiello strives to inspire and encourage women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics \u2014 no matter how intimidating the path may at first seem.<\/p>\n\u201cI try to never say no to women in STEM events because they are so incredibly important,\u201d she said, while emphasizing the need to support those experiencing challenges with equality in their academic or professional careers. \u201cWe see the positive effect and self-confidence women gain from knowing someone like them attained their goals and went through similar experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Criscitiello is a professional high-altitude climber and a former U.S. Climbing Ranger and mountain guide. Her talk explored her ice core research and career journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to know they earned their roles because they were the right candidate for the job or program,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope I\u2019m an example that it\u2019s possible even in historically male-dominated environments.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Lauren Nesbitt, a Master of Science candidate in Brock\u2019s Department of Biological Sciences, attending Women in STEM was a valuable opportunity to make connections and learn about new research avenues.<\/p>\n
Nesbitt found her own research on fire history in the Northwest Territories showed interesting parallels to the ice core science Criscitiello conducts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s powerful hearing how others have navigated their schooling and knowing that what I experience throughout academia is normal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Nesbitt feels that balancing research and personal life can be tough, and that many people experience a sense of guilt when their focus is not on academic work 100 per cent of the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy going to these STEM events and hearing more experienced individuals talk about their journey, undergraduate and graduate students can start to see that it\u2019s important to balance work and personal life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Women in STEM initiative welcomed 269 attendees to 10 online and in-person sessions held Feb. 6 to 10. The event was made possible by eight external speakers, eight faculty members, seven Brock staff members and 29 graduate student volunteers who came together to make it a success.<\/p>\n
Now in its fourth year, the event has attracted and supported more than 1,000 participants, helping to highlight and discuss issues facing women across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alison Criscitiello is no stranger to challenging climbs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":83683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,7484,7,3319,41,1,4],"tags":[12429,703,12431,12430,8671,11176],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83682"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83707,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83682\/revisions\/83707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}