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

Current Early Career Scientist Leaders and committees

Click to expand Committee

›› Early Career Scientist Steering Committee


Gavin Rice Steering Committee Co-Chair	Ryan Briscoe Runquist Steering Committee Co-Chair	Ina Anreiter Member

Veronica Donato Member	Nele Haelterman Member	Lindsay Holden Member

Shan Meltzer Member	Anthony Arena Liaison, Policy Subcommittee	Mahlon Collins Liaison, Communication & Outreach Subcommittee

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


Tony Patelunas Co-Chair	Amanda Shaver Co-Chair	Bernarda Calla Member

Abigail DiVito Member	Malgorzata Gazda Member	Nicole Green Member

Ruchi Jhonsa Member	Seyma Katrinli Member	Kristin Lee Member

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


Adam Ramsey Co-Chair	Jessica Velez Co-Chair	Narjes Alfuariji Member

Haifa Alhadyian Member	Anna Bajur Member	Carla Bautista Rodríguez Member

Mahlon Collins Member	Angel Fernando Cisneros Caballero Member	Zach Grochau-Wright Member

Adelita Mendoza Member	Vandana Raghavan Member	Raj Rajeshwar Malinda Member

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


Lacy Barton Co-Chair	Emma Powell Co-Chair	Anthony Arena Member

Jo Bairzin Member	Albert Hinman Member	Ana Mesquitaa Member

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.