The AWIS Palo Alto Chapter and Community Outreach
Mission statement: "To create a community network for current and future women scientists that promotes excellence in life-long learning and achievements."
The local Palo Alto chapter (www.pa-awis.org), which serves an area from San Francisco to San Jose, was founded in 1985 and has over 100 members. Our volunteers are composed of graduate and postdoctoral students, scientists working in local computer, biotech, patent law, or aerospace industries, and academic researchers. Their scientific expertise covers a wide range of disciplines including biochemistry, chemistry, physics, engineering, geophysics, geology, ecology, neurobiology, molecular biology, and medicine. AWIS scientists will act as role models for the students by demonstrating their enthusiasm for science and, when requested, talk about their career paths- what drew them to science and their particular field of study. We would like to show that women enjoy being scientists!
The AWIS-Palo Alto Chapter Outreach Program can assist you with
- Leaders for hands-on presentations and activities (Young Explorers)
- Career days speakers
- Science fair judges
- Science fair prizes
- Network and resources for ideas and contacts
Current Activities
To donate or volunteer, please contact our Outreach Chair, Katy Korsmeyer
- Career day speaker
- Donate Old Lab Coats
- Donate supplies and equipment
- Science club speaker or presenter
- Tutoring (list of tutors for independent hire in science and math)
- Expanding Your Horizons
- Girl Scouts Go Tech
- Tech Museum-Tech Challenge
- Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship
- Girls for a Change
- Sally Ride Science Festival
- MentorNet
- Science Buddies
Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics conferences nurture girls' interest in science and math courses to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Click here to visit the Girl Scouts Girls Go Tech website.
Typically held in the spring and hosted in the spring by the San Jose Tech Museum. Click here for more information.
Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship
Held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. 300 volunteers serve as judges in teams of three to four to determine winners at each grade level. Judges will be encouraging and sharing their experience with all the students. Contact: Katy Kuo Korsmeyer at kuokaty@scientist.com or register at http://www.science-fair.org/judges If you have friends, colleagues or fellow members of the professional societies who would make good judges, please forward this message to them.
Do you want to empower the next generation of women leaders? Girls For a Change is searching for women who want to support urban girls to become community leaders and social change makers. Girls for a change needs coaches who facilitate teams of about 10 girls. The coaches support girls projects and enhance the skills, resources and creativity the girls innately possess. These women coaches will provide a safe, supportive space with partner with and sometimes guiding the girls though the implementation of their projects.
Check back soon for more information.
E-mentoring opportunity - just 20 minutes per week
The MentorNet one-on-One Mentoring Programs are a chance to make a big difference in the life of someone else, while spending as little as 20 minutes a week using email. MentorNet's One-on-One Mentoring Programs pair women engineering and science community college, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs as proteges with female or male professionals from all sectors as mentors for one-on-one, email-based mentoring (e-mentoring) relationships.
How can you volunteer to be a mentor? 1) Join the MentorNet Community. 2) Sign in to the Community and follow the One-on-One Mentoring Programs links to create a mentor profile.
Since 1998, MentorNet has matched nearly 20,000 proteges and mentors with strong results. We hope you will join them! For more information, please go to www.MentorNet.net.
Do you: - WANT to "give back to society" in a meaningful way without costing you a penny? - HAVE AN INTEREST in helping middle-school and high-school students be more interested in the sciences and technology? - HAVE on average 1 hour per week to spare for a 12-week period to give advice online (no fixed times, totally flexible, purely web-based interaction)? - HAVE a Bachelor's degree in any field of science or engineering?
If so, please consider becoming a Science Buddies Advisor. "Science Buddies" is a creative and worthwhile program that is an unusually convenient and hassle-free way for busy scientific and engineering personnel to do a volunteer activity.
What is Science Buddies? Science Buddies recruits 10th - 12th grade student ("Mentors") to help 7th - 10th grade students ("Investigators") complete science fair projects. They recruit and match scientific and engineering professionals from the community to serve as "Advisors", providing deeper expertise to each student mentoring team. The program provides an online mentoring environment where participants interact.
Contact: Katy Korsmeyer, Ph.D. Outreach Committee Co-Chair, Palo Alto Chapter Association for Women in Science (AWIS) kuokaty@scientist.com
