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Scientist Spotlight: One Year of WiES
15 March 2022
A year of UCL WiES: who are we and what have we done? Since our inception on International Women's Day, 8th March 2021, WiES has brought together people from within UCL Department of Earth Sciences and beyond - students, scientists, speakers, mentors, and supporters.
The UCL Women in Earth Sciences has reached many milestones over the past year, from movie nights to virtual gatherings the group has grown into a platform for the WiES members, showcasing their journeys in scientist spotlights, providing networking opportunities and setting up a global mentoring network of over 15 women in science.
Scroll through our slideshow below and follow the timeline of events from our first year, you can also find out more about each of these on our Events Page and sign up for our future events too.
March 8th 2021: WiES is launched with our first ever (Zoom) meeting
April 28th 2021: Phoebe Cohen presents from the US on belonging in the geosciences, highlighting that the time to act is NOW
June 8th 2021: Joanna Reynolds, Frances Cooper and Eleni Bohacek outline their careers to date, inspiring us with their diverse achievements
September 16th 2021: Our first face to face event is a picnic where we finally get to meet in real life
October 27th 2021: Sara Seager takes us through the challenges and achievements of her career and inspires us to overcome our own hurdles. Photo credit: Bob Richman
November 9th 2021: Our first Gather.Town virtual get together with interactive games, articles and photos to explore
November 23rd 2021: A Yoga session led by one of our WiES members, Alessia!
February 11th 2022: WiES members and friends watched 'Hidden Figures' where we learned the shocking history of brilliant black women in NASA's space program
Possibly one of the greatest achievements is the membership of the group which has grown to 34 members from undergraduate to professor and across the many facets of Earth science.
We asked our members to reflect on our first year and what was important about WiES and we were delighted to hear their positive responses:
“I am continually amazed, but not surprised, to see how talented and capable our WiES are”
“WiES has been a triumph this year – I am constantly inspired by this incredible group of women!”
“WiES got me saying "women are amazing" since the beginning. The strength and effort put into this project just to have a support network are extraordinary. Thank you girls for everything, you keep me going in this world, the Earth Sciences!”
“… passion and determination to understand, assist and help other underrepresented minorities; even though women face discrimination within academia”
“Being a part of this inspiring group has given me a ‘place’ in science that women don’t always feel they have. Hearing others’ achievements, often overcoming significant barriers, has given me a sense of drive and positivity relating to my own career.”
“So lovely to see WiES supporting each other to do things they may otherwise not have done”
Looking towards the future of the group we have many more events in store, both virtual and in person. We are excited to see where this group can go through the mentoring, careers advice, ideas and information shared at our events.
Thank you to all our members and supporters within UCL and around the world for working with us and we look forward to an active and positive future as an ever-growing community.