CU Caf矇 seminars percolate diversity in research
Leslie Leinwands research lab on 做厙輦⑹s East Campus has more than two dozen researchers. Most are graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and some are undergraduate students.
Its an international mix, with Italy, Greece, Puerto Rico, the United States and China represented among the labs benches.
The CU Caf矇 organizing group, from left to right: Assistant Professor of Physics Loren Hough (faculty sponsor); Clifford Bridges; Alia Lubers; Eugenia Silva-Herzog; Sarah McQuate; Simone Hyater-Adams; Rosaura Padilla-Salinas; Kaylan Haizlip (not shown: Christopher Moore; Lynn Sanford; Gary Simmons; Carlos Vera; Andrea Stith (Advisor).
Diversity is important to science, but what does that really mean? asks Leinwand, a distinguished professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, and the chief scientific officer of the BioFrontiers Institute.
To really answer scientific questions, you need to be able to approach them from different directions. Having a diverse research group means that youre able to bring a broader range of experience and knowledge to your work.
Two researchers from Leinwands lab, Carlos Vera and Kaylan Haizlip, participate in a newly formed student organization designed to inspire students from underrepresented backgrounds to become successful in academia.
The group, called CU Caf矇 (the group initially began meeting over coffee), offers a student-run seminar series that brings in minority scholars from other institutions to talk about their research and give their perspectives about succeeding in the academic environment.
Its small, but its powerful, says Sarah McQuate, who was part of the initial effort to start the student-run organization. She is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Amy Palmer, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and BioFrontiers Institute faculty member.
CU Caf矇 gives us a way to support the campus community while letting us do the research work we want to do.
The diversity in our lab motivates people to talk more and work to understand each other better, because were coming from different countries and different research styles.
That programs goal is to increase diversity among future leaders in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields by providing mentorship, goal-setting and hands-on research experiences. The program has graduated more than a thousand new researchers.
Summers encouraged CU Caf矇s creation in its early stages and suggested a seminar series as a way of bringing new ideas to campus.
The CU Caf矇 seminar series was designed to bring different perspectives to CU-Boulder about research and the importance of creating diverse research teams. The group has already hosted a variety of speakers, covering a range of topics that appeal to researchers across the campus, including:
- Ahna Skop, professor of genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Enrique De La Cruz, professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University
- Gabriel Lopez, vice president of research and professor of biomedical engineering at the University of New Mexico
- Geronimo Villanueva, research professor, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Kalai Mathee, professor at Florida International University and director of the Global Health Consortium (scheduled for April 28)
What makes CU Caf矇 seminars unusual is that the speakers are asked to bring a researcher or mentee from their labs to lead an additional, less-formal, discussion about their work. CU Caf矇 sees this as a way to network with researchers from different academic institutions long after the events are over.
It also acts as a recruitment opportunity to attract these researchers to CU when they are looking for faculty positions later in their careers.
In the Leinwand lab, MCDB graduate student and CU Caf矇 member Carlos Vera says the labs work on cardiovascular disease was the initial attraction for him, but the diversity within the lab eased the transition from Puerto Rico to Boulder.
The diversity in our lab motivates people to talk more and work to understand each other better, because were coming from different countries and different research styles, he says.
If we came from the same backgrounds, I think we would just assume we understood things in the same ways. Our different experiences make our conversations, and our work, a little bit richer.
Vera and the other CU Caf矇 members hope to serve as a student-based consulting group for the university to help bring awareness of diversity issues through different campus activities and initiatives.
Follow CU Caf矇 and learn more about the groups 泭events on its blog at: .
Emilia Costales is communications manager at the .
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