We’re taking time to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us to learn more about our early career scientist advocates.

Divya Mishra
Career Development Subcommittee
National Institute of Plant Genome Research, India

Research Interest

I have always been deeply curious about various aspects of life. This curiosity has continued to drive me along my scientific journey. I am fascinated by the dynamic interplay among various signaling pathways under stressful conditions. My research interest involves unraveling the intricate molecular mechanisms behind plants’ responses to harsh environments. I aspire to significantly contribute to an in-depth understanding of plant stress biology to generate climate-resilient crops with better yields. Stress-resilient crops are more likely to adapt to climate change, decrease food security, and be farmed sustainably. Collaborating with the scientific community, I hope to minimize global challenges, including food security and sustainability.

As a PhD-trained scientist, you have many career options. What interests you the most?

I recall the beginning of my PhD journey, a time when alternative career paths were not widely explored or considered mainstream. Nevertheless, the landscape has evolved, and individuals now leverage their PhD training to embark on different career trajectories. It’s crucial to acquire transferable skills during the PhD, skills that guide researchers in defining their future paths. I think career options are subjective to each individual because everyone has a different personality and capabilities. It is not easy to navigate the scientific journey to both understand what exactly we want and find a path for it in a competitive world.

I feel immense satisfaction from conducting experiments in the lab, feeling almost therapeutic. Throughout the scientific journey, it has been clear to me that I am a lifelong researcher, whether in academia, industry, or even pursuing my start-up ideas. The exploration in science keeps me engaged. Every day brings something new, often pushing the boundaries of how experiments are approached and sometimes uncovering cool things about them.

Equally, I love effectively communicating and presenting science to a wider audience, as I aim to enhance its accessibility and broader impact.

In addition to your research, how do you want to advance the scientific enterprise?

I believe in effectively communicating science to audiences beyond my research arena to bridge the gap between scientists, policymakers, and the rest of the public. I value providing people with the overview of what we are doing in the lab. I enjoy spreading knowledge and resources among my peers, as well as younger generations. I strongly encourage thinking outside of the box. It is so important to develop a scientific mindset that helps younger generations create hypotheses about science and life in general. Incorporating a course within the PhD curriculum that involves effective writing, hypothesis testing, scientific illustration, and data representation would benefit their PhD work and overall scientific journey.

I want to mentor and support aspiring scientists through my experiences. We are often unaware of the career choices in science; therefore, we need a support group for sharing knowledge. By doing this, we can surely make a better scientific community.

Another goal is to make the research workplace more inclusive so that we get opinions from a more diverse scientific community. I always feel that individuals from different backgrounds and experiences come with unique problem-solving approaches that could lead to effective, meaningful solutions. Inclusivity might help to reduce bias and stereotyping towards specific individuals in a working team. An amalgamation of diversity in the scientific community enhances the research quality and contributes to the development of a better society as a whole.

As a leader within the Genetics Society of America, what do you hope to accomplish?

As a leader in GSA, my aspirations align with enhancing the professional development program of the Career Development Subcommittee. The ECLP holds significance both for my own professional growth and for the empowerment of other early career researchers. Therefore, I am committed to raising awareness about this wonderful program among peers.

My main objective is to provide resources on career paths and trajectories. These resources are made up of workshops and written materials where field experts shed light on their experiences and accomplishments. The workshops and seminars could provide a platform for researchers to communicate, network, and collaborate with field experts.

For broader reach, I am determined to enhance the visibility of the ECLP and various events of the GSA by reaching out to interested individuals who can benefit from seminars organized by the Career Development Subcommittee. By harnessing the power of social media platforms, I will make the information from seminars and workshops available for global access and engagement. Knowledge becomes more valuable when shared with different people. That’s why it is essential to make the information available to everyone.

Previous leadership experience:

• Early Career Representative, Education Committee in American Society of Plant Biologist (2023-present)
• Social Media Editor, Crop Science Journal (January 2023-June 2023)
• Spotlight Editor, Physiologia Plantarum (2022-2023)
• Assistant Feature Editor, Plant Physiology (2021-2023)

During this time, Oindrila De (then a member of the Career Development Subcommittee) approached the leadership within the Early Career Leadership Program with an idea to increase accessibility at GSA and address the needs of early career scientists with disabilities. “At a young age,” says De, “I became sensitized to the needs of people with disabilities, as I witnessed the challenges of my older brother’s visual impairment. My passion for supporting people with disabilities grew stronger, and I began incorporating accessibility in my professional endeavors. In September 2020, I went to the leadership with a proposal to implement accessibility measures at GSA, which included accessibility of web resources, closed captions for online meetings, and increased visibility of people with disabilities. We briefly discussed the scope of this idea and thought of developing it into an ECLP project. With incredible support and guidance from Molly Matty and Jessica Vélez, I formed the Accessibility and Disability Advocacy Group in April 2021.” 

This interest group consisted of members from ECLP subcommittees, who served as liaisons. Meeting bi-monthly, we led discussions to learn about disability, inclusive language, and etiquette, and we ideated ways to improve accessibility of existing projects, resources, conferences, and other programming at GSA by using concepts of universal design. ECLP leaders Gavin Rice, Adelita Mendoza, Madhumala K. Sadanandappa, David Peede, Nele Haelterman, Leire Abalde-Atristain, Corey Calhoun, and Karyn Onyeneho graciously volunteered to serve as members of this group and helped to communicate ideas and disseminate knowledge to ECLP subcommittees.

After realizing that the group’s objectives required proactive long-term efforts as we continue learning about disability and accessibility, the needs of the GSA community, and ways to cater to those needs with current technology, we sought to establish a dedicatedAccessibility Subcommittee, with Oindrila De and Adelita Mendoza serving as Co-chairs. Aside from benefiting the GSA community as a whole, we envisioned that this subcommittee would provide excellent leadership and training opportunities for current and future ECLP members, and it would be a feasible and sustainable way to recruit members annually to lead the endeavor. GSA leadership was extremely supportive of this goal, and within a matter of a few months, the group was officially recognized as an official ECLP subcommittee. In February 2022, the subcommittee onboarded the first cohort of new members Jillian Freese, Peiwei Chen, Alyssa Paparella, Anna Moyer, and Selcan Aydin.

This transition promptly bore fruits, as the subcommittee recruited two advisors with ample experience in matters of accessibility advocacy. Ahna Skop is a professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studying the function of midbody-associated RNA. Skop has a long-standing trajectory as mentor and inclusion advocate, while also suffering from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. In 2018, she was awarded the first ever Inclusive Excellence Award by the American Society for Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She recently served as an advisor to the chief diversity officer at the NIH, and she is a diversity consultant to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. In 2019, she was honored as one of 125 women in STEM with an American Association for the Advancement of Science IF/THEN Ambassadorship. The subcommittee is also very fortunate to have Stephen Klusza as an advisor. He is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Clayton State University. Klusza focuses on increasing accessibility to model organism research through the creation of low-cost reagents/protocols and creating quality, low or no-cost educational resources with ADA compliance to remove all barriers to quality education for all students. He also does scientific outreach with neighboring communities and advocates for disability representation in STEM.

Since its inception, the subcommittee has accomplished many milestones and made several recommendations to GSA staff and committees. The first initiative was to have Otter.ai closed captions at all online meetings and virtual events within the ECLP and at GSA conferences. We suggested the inclusion of an open-ended “accommodations request” field in registration forms for online events. We also prepared an exhaustive list of suggestions to improve accessibility at GSA Conferences and presented them to the Conferences Committee. One of the subcommittee’s recommendations, which was included in presenter guidelines in 2022 GSA Conferences, was to use colorblind-friendly palettes and accessible fonts in oral and poster presentations. Additionally, extra seating was made available at poster sessions, per the suggestion of the subcommittee. “Accessibility” was included as a component in ECLP project proposals, and the subcommittee members evaluated accessibility of new project ideas. 

The subcommittee collaborated with the Career Development Subcommittee and hosted a #WorkshopWednesday on “Building an Inclusive and Accessible Environment in Academia,” a virtual panel discussion featuring Alyssa Paparella, Stephen Klusza, and Vance Martin, who spoke about ways to be a better ally to people with disabilities. In October 2022, we launched a new workshop series “Accessibility in STEM (AiS),” with the inaugural event on “How to Make Teaching Accessible,” where experts Logan Gin, Ingrid Steiner, and Sheryl Burgstahler discussed best practices in inclusive teaching. The subcommittee’s current ongoing projects include surveying the ECLP community for access needs and knowledge of accommodation requirements, creating a resources blog, and working with the Equity and Inclusion Committee to make GSA events more accessible.

The journey is still a work in progress. The subcommittee’s routine meetings and discussions continue to teach us about the diversity of disability, barriers to access, and the need for accommodations. The subcommittee members and advisors actively advocate for accessibility and have helped foster an inclusive culture and build a safe community, where everyone feels welcome. 2023 marks the second year of recruiting new members, and the subcommittee welcomes Pravrutha Raman, Riya Mahapatra, José Humberto da Cunha, and Meareg Gebreegziabher Amare to the team! The subcommittee hopes to continue expanding efforts to make ECLP and GSA more inclusive and accessible to all scientists.

To learn more about the Accessibility Subcommittee, you can visit their webpage. If you have any ideas or suggestions, we encourage you to reach out to engagement@genetics-gsa.org.

Increasing support for parents in science means making conferences more child-friendly.

Guest post by Elisabeth Marnik and Julie Claycomb, members of the GSA Conference Childcare Committee.

The scientific community works on the cutting edge. We implement new techniques and methods as soon as we can with the understanding that—though there may be challenges along the way—the end result is worth it. We hope that this mindset will also hold true with regard to scientists implementing important changes in relation to parenthood and attendance at scientific meetings. In a 2018 PNAS article, Rebecca Calisi and a Working Group of Mothers in Science outlined the “childcare–conference conundrum”:

“Primary caretakers of dependent children face inequitable hurdles to fully attending and participating in conference activities because of responsibilities related to pregnancy, breastfeeding, and caretaking. It’s a serious problem because it creates a culture of inequity for parents, with mothers generally experiencing greater disadvantages than fathers because of biological, prejudicial, and often socially driven childcare demands.” 

The article suggests changes that need to happen within the scientific community to help alleviate this unfair “baby penalty.” Based on the recommendations from Calisi et al. and the results of our survey earlier this year, the GSA Conference Childcare Committee is working to implement new policies and offer new resources for TAGC 2020. As is true of any new change, there will likely be some bumps in the road, but expanding our support for parents in science is an important step on the path to making things more equal. Ultimately, lowering barriers to participation will contribute to a more diverse community and benefit scientific progress overall as smart minds—belonging to those who happen to be parents—are encouraged to fully engage and remain in their field. 

The following resources will be available at TAGC 2020:

1. On-site childcare (at a cost)
2. Nursing/pumping rooms
3. Grants to help offset the costs of childcare associated with attending the meeting (applications due December 5!)
4. Reserved seating at the back of large meeting rooms to allow parents easy access in and out of sessions
5. Badges to allow additional caregivers access to meeting spaces for drop-off/pick-up

These are important steps in making conference attendance more inclusive, but a big part of the equation is a needed shift in conference culture that tells parents, “You’re wanted and welcome here!” That’s why we’re saying, loud and clear, that infants and children are welcome at TAGC 2020 and allowed in plenary and poster sessions. To make this work, we need parents and non–parents to come together and adapt. The shift might not be easy at first, but as highlighted in Calisi et al.: “Minor interruptions are a small price to pay for this step toward inclusion, which benefits mothers [parents] in science and, by extension, the academic enterprise.” In hopes of making this a better experience for all involved, we offer the following suggestions and tips to attendees bringing children and those who aren’t:

For those bringing children:

• Bring along another caregiver to help or utilize on-site childcare options when possible.
• Take advantage of childcare grants to help provide for childcare at home or at the meeting.
• Network with other parent scientists through the Parents in Science Slack and the Parents in Science Meetup at TAGC 2020.
• Coordinate with other parents to arrange playdates and meetups during the conference. Look for others that would be willing to work together on childcare arrangements.
• Ask a colleague for their session notes if you miss part of a session due to your child’s needs.
• Bring snacks, coloring books, puzzles, and other quiet activities to help entertain children during sessions.
• Remove disruptive or fussy children from session rooms until they are settled down. Many session rooms will have a remote viewing option so that you don’t have to miss the science if you need to exit with a fussy child. 
• Keep an eye on safety. Children 12 and under must be accompanied at all times in conference spaces, and running, performing gymnastics, and other physical exertions are not permitted in any conference areas. Note that children are not allowed in the exhibit/poster hall during set-up or break-down times.
• Be patient with yourself and your child. There may be some challenges to navigating TAGC 2020 with your child, but you are taking an important step in doing so!

For those attending without children:

• Leave the reserved rows at the back of plenary sessions free for those with children so they can easily exit the room when needed.
• Avoid stirring up a child who may be misbehaving.
• Be respectful of nursing mothers/infants.
• Do not harass a parent about their child’s presence or behavior in a session. 
• Practice empathy. No parent wants to disrupt a session with an unruly child, and every parent is acutely aware of their child’s behavior in situations like this. 
• Be an ally. Recognize that parents bringing children to the conference may be outside of their comfort zone, too, but that to change our culture, we all need to work together.

We recognize that change like this might feel uncomfortable to some; however, we’re committed to doing what we can to address this particular contribution to the “leaky pipeline” of women in science. This isn’t a challenge that is unique to women; parents and caregivers of all genders can face hardships balancing a career in the sciences and parenthood. But it’s true that much of the career penalty that can come from having children is borne by mothers. There is a long-standing perception that science and motherhood are not compatible; it’s up to us to change that perception by providing better support for all parents in science.

It is our job as a community to ensure that talented scientists can succeed in their careers regardless of their decision to be parents. We hope you’ll join us in working to make TAGC 2020 inclusive to all attendees.

FURTHER READING

Problems in the Pipeline: Gender, Marriage, and Fertility in the Ivory Tower
Nicholas H. Wolfinger, Mary Ann Mason, and Marc Goulden
The Journal of Higher Education. 2008. 79(4): 388-405. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2008.11772108

Keeping Women in the Science Pipeline
Marc Goulden, Mary Ann Mason, and Karie Frasch
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 2011. 638(1): 141-162. doi: 10.1177/0002716211416925

Do Babies Matter?: Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower
Mary Ann Mason, Nicholas H. Wolfinger, and Marc Goulden

About the authors:

Elisabeth Marnik

Elisabeth Marnik is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Updike Lab at The MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME, mom to a 7-month-old boy, and a member of the GSA Conference Childcare Committee.

Julie Claycomb

Julie Claycomb is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, mom of a 2 and a half-year-old boy, and a member of the GSA’s Conference Childcare Committee.

Guest post by Tânia Reis, Chair of GSA’s Conference Childcare Committee, on barriers to conference participation and how we can address them.

I’m a Scientist. I’m a Mom. I couldn’t pick one over the other; half of me would be missing. I am lucky I have never had to choose. Yet, there were and are times that these two roles seemed incompatible.

But why should it be this way? Despite the challenges, being a scientist has made me a better mom, and being a mom has made me a better scientist. Why the barriers? Why the lack of support? These are questions many of us have when we are “in the trenches.” And being in the trenches has made me think a lot about the many little things that could easily be changed to make a huge difference to the mom and dad scientists.

My husband is a dad. And a scientist, a dad scientist, and a scientist dad. His “barriers” have been very different from mine. At our institutions, we are very used to juggling our kids and our science, planning who can drop everything for the sick kid that day, who goes on the field trip, who has a meeting or an assay that day. For the most part, we handle it, not as gracefully as we imagined before parenting, but in a way that balls don’t get dropped (at least not the major ones…a minor ball may bounce away now and then, and we’re learning to live with it).

Our kids are veterans at scientific meetings. Both have breastfed, melted down, and played hide-and-seek in the hallways of the different hotels and universities of GSA conferences. (When you next see me, ask me about that time that we ended up in the San Diego Children’s ER just as the fly meeting started! The joys!!). We have had institutional retreats where we both present and the kids come along. They know the drill. They even enjoy listening to talks from time to time.

Yet, one of our biggest challenges was TAGC 2016: we always attend the GSA fly (me) and yeast (him) meetings, and we were excited to attend this one, too. We were actually one of the 28 parent attendees to be awarded a GSA childcare grant. We used ours to fly our three and seven-year old kids with us to the meeting; without nearby family who could drop everything, we had no choice. I had a workshop to host and a poster to present, some lunches to sit in; husband had a talk to give. We juggled it all again, as we know so well how to do. But, this time around we both thought that we missed too much. We took too little out of this meeting, and we wanted to take so much more. With TAGC 2020 just around the corner, we want to ask: how could the experience of parents with young children be different?

Our experience and variations are far from unique. Scientists everywhere end up missing meetings because of lack of childcare support. And it’s not just them missing out— the whole community misses out when parents can’t fully participate.

Because GSA wants to help address this problem, it has formed a Conference Childcare Committee. I think my years of “nagging” for something to improve has earned me the committee Chair position. Like me, many others reached out.

This is who we are, and we are pumped!

• Julie Claycomb, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
• Sean Curran, Associate Professor, University of Southern California
• Rhea Datta, Assistant Professor, Hamilton College
• Madhumala Sadanandappa, Postdoc, Dartmouth College
• Elisabeth Marnik, Postdoc, MDI Biological Laboratory
• Thomas Merritt, Professor, Laurentian University
• Maureen Peters, Associate Professor, Oberlin College
• Maria D. Vibranovski, Assistant Professor, University of São Paulo
• Gillian Stanfield, Associate Professor, University of Utah

As you can see, the Drosophila and C. elegans communities are well represented. Because every GSA meeting looks and operates differently, we’d love to have members of other communities, too. Are you also interested in making conferences more inclusive, and don’t see your community represented? Send us an email!

After our first couple of meetings, it was obvious that, like me, many others have been thinking over the years “How can we make this better for parents and caregivers? Accessible for everyone? So everyone can contribute their science to the community?”

We have so many ideas.

We are building a growing list of “first steps” (relatively easy-to-implement ideas, some of which build on existing GSA initiatives) and “big goals” (harder, either practically or financially, to implement) for parents and caregivers. We are also working on messaging, and we’re researching opportunities for funding, from grants to requesting supplements from vendors. If you know of an organization looking to fund meaningful projects for improving science, let us know!

Here are some ideas from the (ever-growing) list:

First steps:

• Data collection at registration: better understand how many attendees are bringing children, how many need nursing facilities, etc; including an option for connecting with other parents attending.
• Better informing parents: adding inclusive messaging to the website and providing more detailed information on resources available. Making sure parents know that they and their children are welcome.
• Family Room at the conference: Provide a Family Room that includes games for kids and session broadcasts for parents.
• Connecting parents at GSA conferences: Set up a Slack channel or other forum for parents and caregivers to connect at the meeting.
• Nursing Room standards: Ensure Nursing Room is easily accessible and equipped with a fridge, sink, microwave, and private pumping areas.
• Exhibitor support: Offer exhibitors the opportunity to donate to the childcare funds and to equip the Family Room.
• Conference session: Develop a work/family life session or workshop for current and future parents or caregivers.
• Kids Session: Fun outreach opportunity for kids to present their parents’ work or other passion area in science.

Big goals:

• Provide onsite childcare: Although costs make this a major challenge, particularly for GSA’s smaller community meetings, it would be a game changer for parent attendees.
• Expanding the Childcare Grants: These need-based grants can be given to provide care either at the meeting or at home; the more funding we can find, the more we can offer. We would like to support more people and provide more support per grantee.

We are working with the GSA Board of Directors on setting priorities and finding funding to see as much as possible in effect for TAGC 2020.

We have so far only looked at things we personally missed and guessed at those things we think others may be missing. Because we’re sure others have additional ideas (or support for existing ones), we’d like to ask the community what they think. What would help you and your family? What do you have to add?

Contact me at tania.reis@cuanschutz.edu.

About the author: 

Tânia Reis

Tânia Reis is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, mom of a 9-year old boy and a 5-year old girl, and chair of GSA’s Conference Childcare Committee.