WICTO Magazine: 2022-2023 Edition

WICTO

Working towards Inclusivity in Chemistry Toronto

Magazine

2022 to 2023

MEET THE TEAM

2022 - 2023 EXECUTIVES AZALEA UVA Co-chair

ALICIA BATTAGLIA Co-chair

ALEX GABBEY Secretary

HARRISON MILLS Treasurer

ANGELA LIN Media Relations Coordinator

ABBEY CLAPPERTON Events Coordinator

TAYLOR WU Seminar Series Coordinator

STEPHANIE SEBASTIAMPILLAI Mentorship & Outreach Coordinator

ELYSE HUDSON UTM Campus Representative

VALERIA MOROZOVA UTSc Campus Representative

Anyone interested in learning more about WICTO or would like to join as a member-at-large, send us an email at wicto@utoronto.ca.

Table of contents 01

WICTO mission statement

02

The evolution of WICTO

03

Select Initiatives & Events

04

Person of influence

05

Future Initiatives

06

Useful resources

What is WICTO?

How the organization has grown over the years

Journal club, mentorship program, sticker campaigns, global women’s breakfast & WICTO symposium

Influential figures in S.T.E.M.

Future events & reflections

Living list on WICTO website

01 WICTO MISSIO “

Promoting equity, diversity, an community through awarene

W I C T O From Women in Chemistry Toronto Initial aim was to promote gender diversity in chemistry community.

to

Original logo

ON STATEMENT

nd inclusion within the chemistry ess, engagement, and advocacy.

“

Working towards Inclusivity

in

Chemistry

Toronto

evolut 02 The The evolut 2015

CWIC Network: Women in Chemistry Toronto Chapter founded.

2015 WICTO team

2016

First Person of Influence post.

On Dr. Marie SklodowskaCurie

2017 2018

Start of undergraduate-graduate mentorship program.

Start of journal club.

Elementary school outreach programs.

Start of blog posts on website.

Check out wicto.ca!

WICTO week: Professional development events spanning a week.

WICTO tion of tion of WICTO 2019 2020

Expansion to include representative from UTM and UTSc campuses.

Name change to Working towards Inclusivity in Chemistry.

2021

First LGBTQ+ sticker campaign.

2022

Collaboration with CHM3000 course for professional development events.

Successfully raised over $1200 for The 519!

Second sticker campaign raises over $600 for Visions of Science.

First WICTO Symposium: Connecting through Chemistry.

03

JOURNAL CLUB

INITIATIVES & EVENTS

WHAT IS OUR JOURNAL CLUB? Each month, WICTO selects a journal article pertaining to topics of EDI, mental health, teaching, mentorship or graduate student life.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? To incite discussion amongst the chemistry community and share ideas on how to improve our environment for undergraduate, graduate, post-docs, and faculty.

THE EVOLVING FORMAT OF JOURNAL CLUB FIRST EDITION A WICTO member would present a summary powerpoint presentation on an article of interest, followed by an in-person discussion amongst WICTO members.

Drawback: limited audience, primarily WICTO members.

SECOND EDITION An asynchronous journal club on Yammer, a workplace communication tool so that a larger audience can be reached. A WICTO member selected a journal article and created a list with discussion points to be posted on Yammer.

Drawback: Yammer not commonly used by community.

THIRD AND CURRENT EDITION A WICTO member selects a journal article and creates an interative presentation with time given for discussion in small groups. Our March journal club will center around mental health and include mental health therapy dogs!

INITIATIVES & EVENTS

SEMINAR SERIES

03

Our Seminar Series strives to showcase successful and accomplished people of diverse backgrounds from both academia and industry. Various speakers from around the globe give hour-long talks in Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories at the University of Toronto to inspire, inform, and motivate students. Speakers often give a 1-hour research talk and participate in a round-table event to discuss their personal experience in S.T.E.M.

SPEAKERS FROM THIS ACADEMIC YEAR PROF. MIA HUANG Associate Professor, Scripps Research Reasearch: Strategies to fabricate defined protein glycoconjugates and the study of interactions between glycoproteins and glycan-binding proteins in cells.

PROF. ASHLEE HOWARTH Assistant Professor and Concordia University Research Chair, Concordia University Reasearch: Rare-earth metal-organic frameworks and their potential applications in pollution remediation, catalysis, and chemical sensing.

AND THERE IS MORE TO COME FOR 2023!

03

INITIATIVES & EVENTS

Mento

What is the mentorship program?

A sense of community and support from peers is vital to person mentorship program started in 2016 focuses on connecting up field of chemistry of their interest. The value of this connection i for the reasons listed below and supported by testimonials from

The value of the mentorship program For graduate mentors • A chance to develop leadership and professional skills.

• Gain experience in advising students interested in your field • Hone interpersonal skills.

Testimonials Most beneficial aspect?

“Being able to reflect on your own experience and understand the pros/cons of each decision made.”

“Meeting my mentor in an initial formal sense and then building relationship through the prompts given by WICTO helped me bu a more personal one. His insight has been invaluable and I am grateful that I was able to meet him through this program.”

“Having done my second and third year online, it really discourag career in science. I am grateful that I was able to meet my mento do to meet the goals I want to achieve.”

orship Program

n’s development, both personally and professionally. The annual pper year undergraduate students with graduate students in a is felt by both the graduate mentor and undergraduate mentee m previous participants.

ga uild

For undergraduate mentees • Learn from a diverse set of mentors about pursuing higher education in science.

• Be supported in your personal and professional goals and receive tailored advice to your situation.

“I learned how to be a better listener.”

“Cultivating a relationship with a person that is earlier in their studies. This requires you to understand issues/challenges from their perspective.”

“Just having someone to run ideas past and have some reassurance that I am on the right path and I am in the right headspace. My mentor really made me feel like I am doing okay which really helped me build confidence.”

ged me from taking any palpable steps towards furthering my or in this program and have guidance in what I could possibly

03 INITIATIVES STICKER CAMPAIGNS

The simple act of someone having a sticker in a visible place can make p feel immediately more welcome and included - this is the motivation b WICTO’s sticker campaign. A portion of proceeds go to charity based o cause for that year chosen by WICTO members.

SECOND CAMPAIGN 2022

Charity: The 519 Over $1200 raised.

Expanded to include magnets.

Charity: Visions of Science Over $600 raised.

CN Tower

FIRST CAMPAIGN 2021

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY 70

80 St George St.

6 .5

6 .0

Gooderham building

City hall

Rogers arena 7.5

90

Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories

5.5

5.0

4 .5

4 .0

3.5

3.0

Toronto skyline (km)

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

GLOBAL WOMEN’S BREAKFA

Annually since 2019, IUPAC has hosted the Global Wo Breakfast to celebrate women in science, build a global ne to close the gender gap in science, inspire younger genera and support professional development of women in scien

There is a different theme every but it is always centered a gender equity in science. WICT proudly participated every ye hosting our own event for the Department of Chemistry at all of our tri-campus locations.

PHOTOGRAPH OF GWB 2023 PARTICIPANTS AT UTSG CAMPUS

& EVENTS

people behind on the

WICTO Symposium: Connecting through Chemistry On November 19th, 2022, WICTO hosted its inaugural professional development symposium. More than 70 participants, including undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs from the Chemistry department across all three campuses (St. George, UTM, and UTSC) participated in the event.

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PHOTOGRAPH OF ALUMNI PANEL

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This free event comprised of workshops tailored for both graduate and undergraduate students, graduate student flash talks, a alumni career panel, and a networking session.

PHOTOGRAPH OF SYMPOSIUM PLANNING TEAM

WICTO is grateful to the Student Initiative Fund, the Faculty of Arts & Science Milestones & Pathways grant, and the Department of Chemistry for their support in funding our event

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PERSON OF INFLUENCE

Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi Prof. Bertozzi is a Professor at Stanford and one of this year’s recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, known for her wide-ranging work spanning both chemistry and biology. She invented the field of “bioorthogonal chemistry,” which allows researchers to chemically modify molecules within living systems. This approach is now used to study molecules such as proteins, DNA, and RNA in live cells, and has the potential utility as a drug delivery system for cancer therapeutics.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW BRODHEAD/STANFORD UNIVERSITY HANDOUT—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.com

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Every month, WICTO selects someone influential in S.T.E.M. (past or present) to highlight their contributions to the field. It is a great opportunity to become informed about different areas of research as well as inspire fellow colleagues to continue pursuing their goals, regardless of the hardships and obstacles many marginalized people face in the workforce.

Dr. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Marie Skłodowska-Curie is notably one of the most well-known female scientists. She was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research in the field of radioactivity. Her passion for the field lead her to develop the theory of radioactivity, to create novel techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and to the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium.

Mme. Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 and for Chemistry in 1911. This made her the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and the only woman to receive this prestigious award twice.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BETTMANN / GETTY IMAGES

Keep an eye out for future POIs on our social media platforms!

05

FUTURE INITIATIVES & EVENTS

As a team dedicated to improving the chemistry community for all those in it, WICTO is constantly thinking of ways to improve our current initiatives and events based on the invaluable feedback received from participants.

FOR THE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

• Increased networking and community building events both inside and outside of UofT • Professional development workshops • “Tri-mentor pairings” between an undergraduate, lower year graduate student, and an upper year level graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or professor

FOR WICTO SYMPOSIUM

• Increased diversity in alumni career panelists • A systematic mingling session and/or poster session • Interactive session between graduate and undergraduate students

FOR THE STICKER CAMPAIGN • Inclusion of previous popular designs in current campaign • Continuous selling of stickers and magnets vs. only selling for a set period of time

FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S BREAKFAST

• Interactive networking session during event • Invite a speaker related to the theme of the year

FOR WINE & CHEESE EVENT Previously a social event that focuses on bringing the community together. For the 2023 event, the idea is to expand past a casual social event (e.g. collaborative mural, speed networking, art exhibit).

WE’D LOVE TO SEE YOU AT OUR EVENTS AND/OR MEETINGS!

EVERYONE IS WELCOM ALTERNAT

e ,

WICTO maintains a living list of useful resources for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ scientists on our website.

06

USEFUL RESOURCES

SCAN ME FOR LINK

Check it out at: https://www.wicto.ca/resources-and-links

PHOTOGRAPH OF WICTO WEBSITE, RESOURCES SECTION

ME TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS AND PARTICIPATE IN OUR BIWEEKLY MEETINGS! TIVELY, WE ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE BY E-MAIL AT WICTO@UTORONTO.CA.