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Early Career Scientist Leadership Program

 

Students, postdocs, and other early career scientists (ECS) are the future of the GSA community. To strengthen their voice in the Society, the GSA has developed an ECS leadership and professional development program. This program provides rich opportunities for early career scientists to develop skills, gain leadership experience, network, and produce concrete deliverables that demonstrate their abilities.

 


 

WHO: The program is designed for grad student and postdoc members of the GSA looking for leadership and professional development opportunities.

 

WHAT: You will work closely with other ECS members, as well as experienced mentors, to explore issues and themes related to advancement of early career members. Each subcommittee proposes, develops, and implements programming that addresses unmet needs in our community.

 

WHERE: Anywhere in the world. The program is conducted remotely via phone, internet, and e-mail. Participants in some locations in North America may also have opportunities to take part in-person at GSA Conferences and Career Development Symposia.

 

WHEN: Appointments are typically for two years, and the next cohort will be appointed in January 2020. Applications are due November 30, 2019.

 

WHY:

  • Contribute to the advancement of early career scientists and the scientific enterprise.

  • Receive training and mentoring from GSA staff, GSA board members, other academic faculty, and leaders from the non-academic workforce.

  • Collaborate with PhD geneticists working in diverse sectors and industries.

  • Produce deliverables that show the fruits of your hard work (important for a job search), such as blog posts, infographics, program documents, lists and resources, social media campaigns, e-mail newsletters, surveys, and more.

  • Develop and demonstrate your professional skills, including: writing and editing, writing for nonscientists, communication, mentoring, seeking advice from advisors and mentors, demonstrating workplace etiquette, complying with rules and regulations, upholding commitments and meeting deadlines, maintaining positive relationships with colleagues, contributing to your discipline, planning and organizing projects, time management, delegating responsibilities, leading and motivating others, serving as a role model, careful recordkeeping, demonstrating responsible authorship and publication practices, and maintaining a professional network.

HOW TO APPLY: To apply, please use the linked form. Are you a current member? Check your membership status here. Questions? E-mail esuderman@genetics-gsa.org

 

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Current Early Career Scientist Leaders and committees

 

Click to expand Committee

 

›› Early Career Scientist Steering Committee

photo of Gavin Rice photo of Ryan Briscoe Runquist photo of Ina Anreiter

Gavin Rice
Steering Committee Co-Chair

Ryan Briscoe Runquist
Steering Committee Co-Chair

Ina Anreiter
Member

photo of Veronica Donato photo of Nele Haelterman photo of Lindsay Holden

Veronica Donato
Member

Nele Haelterman
Member

Lindsay Holden
Member

photo of Shan Meltzer photo of Anthony Arena photo of Mahlon Collins

Shan Meltzer
Member

Anthony Arena
Liaison, Policy Subcommittee

Mahlon Collins
Liaison, Communication &
Outreach Subcommittee

photo of Kristin Lee photo of Lucy Xie  

Kristin Lee
Liaison, Career Development Subcommittee

Lucy Xie
Liaison, Diversity Subcommittee

 

Advisors:

Victoria McGovern (Burroughs Wellcome Fund), JoAnne Engebrecht (GSA Board of Directors, UCSD)

 

Goals:

• Understand the interests, challenges, and concerns of early career scientists.

• Collect and disseminate data to guide the activities of the three subcommittees.

 

Initial Projects:

• Create communication pieces on policies that impact training, including suggestions for change.

• Collaborate with early career social scientists to survey the scientific community.

 


 

›› Career Development Subcommittee

photo of Tony Patelunas photo of Amanda Shaver photo of Bernarda Calla

Tony Patelunas
Co-Chair

Amanda Shaver
Co-Chair

Bernarda Calla
Member

photo of Abigail DiVito photo of Malgorzata Gazda photo of Nicole Green

Abigail DiVito
Member

Malgorzata Gazda
Member

Nicole Green
Member

photo of Ruchi Jhonsa photo of Seyma Katrinli photo of Kristin Lee

Ruchi Jhonsa
Member

Seyma Katrinli
Member

Kristin Lee
Member

photo of Sonali Majumdar    

Sonali Majumdar
Member

 
 

 
 

 

Advisors:

Erika Matunis (GSA Board of Directors, Johns Hopkins University), Pat Phelps (Johns Hopkins University)

 

Goals:

• Build relationships with professionals and companies in the larger scientific community to create deeper connections with the Society and its membership.

• Highlight the versatility of model organism geneticists to enter a variety of career pathways.

 

Initial Projects:

• Develop the “Decoding Life” interview series as blog and social media posts to demonstrate the diversity of career options for PhD scientists.

• Create communication pieces highlighting the strength of underrepresented life histories to advance the scientific enterprise.

 


 

›› Communication & Outreach Subcommittee

photo of Adam Ramsey photo of Jessica Velez photo of Narjes Alfuariji

Adam Ramsey
Co-Chair

Jessica Velez
Co-Chair

Narjes Alfuariji
Member

photo of Haifa Alhadyian photo of Anna Bajur photo of Carla Bautista Rodríguez

Haifa Alhadyian
Member

Anna Bajur
Member

Carla Bautista Rodríguez
Member

photo of Mahlon Collins photo of Angel Fernando Cisneros Caballero photo of Zach Grochau-Wright

Mahlon Collins
Member

Angel Fernando Cisneros Caballero
Member

Zach Grochau-Wright
Member

photo of Adelita Mendoza photo of Vandana Raghavan photo of Raj Rajeshwar Malinda

Adelita Mendoza
Member

Vandana Raghavan
Member

Raj Rajeshwar Malinda
Member

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Amey Redkar
Member

Joseph Tolsma
Member

 
 

 

Advisors:

Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University), Thomas Merritt (Laurentian University)

 

Goals:

• Draw connections between fundamental discoveries that have originated in the genetics community and show how they have contributed to advancements in science, medicine and technology.

 

Initial Projects:

• Create infographics and communication pieces describing transformative discoveries for a general audience.

 


 

›› Policy Subcommitee

photo of Lacy Barton photo of Emma Powell photo of Anthony Arena

Lacy Barton
Co-Chair

Emma Powell
Co-Chair

Anthony Arena
Member

photo of Jo Bairzin photo of Albert Hinman photo of Ana Mesquitaa

Jo Bairzin
Member

Albert Hinman
Member

Ana Mesquitaa
Member

photo of Nathaniel Noblett photo of Lossie Rooney  

Nathaniel Noblett
Member

Lossie Rooney
Member

 
 

 

Advisors:

Lynn Marquis (Coalition for the Life Sciences), Gary McDowell (Future of Research)

 

Goals:

• Explore current policies and their implications for graduate and postdoctoral training, research funding, and the advancement of the scientific enterprise.

• Communicate with Society members, government representatives, and other scientists.

 

Initial Projects:

• Create policy newsletter.

• Curate list of policy fellowship and training opportunities.

 


 

 


 

Learn more about the ECS Leaders and their projects:

 

ECS Leadership Spotlights - Read profiles of our current ECS leaders.

 

Science Policy Fellowship Database and Interview Series

 

GENETICS Peer Review Training Program - Receive one-on-one mentoring in manuscript reviewing from members of the GENETICS Editorial Board.

 

Decoding Life - Interviews with geneticists who have diverse career paths, tracing the many directions possible after research training.

 

Early Career Scientist Weekly e-newsletter - Featuring resources, opportunities, and job listings for our early career members.

 

GSA steps up its focus on early career scientists - Read about Sonia Hall’s vision for the Leadership Program. Sonia is GSA’s Director of Engagement and Development.