Educational Opportunities, Diversity, & Inclusion
Overview
I strongly believe science needs to be a more diverse and inclusive space. Diversity is defined here as any race, ethnicity, religion, creed, gender, age, national origin, citizenship status, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, socio-economic status, or veteran status, which is a minority at WHOI and in STEM, more broadly. I work to recruit members of the lab from these diverse groups and have tried to create an open and respectful work and training environment for scientists of all backgrounds. The lab currently includes an awesome group of postdoctoral investigators, research assistants, graduate students and undergraduates. I also serve as the Co-Chair of the WHOI Committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which examines these issues across the institution with the primary charge to aid the Institution in its efforts to recruit, retain and mentor a diverse community of employees, students and postdoctoral researchers and foster a culture of inclusion. We have a great list of resources here. And thanks to Sammy Kata for the original design and inspiration for "In this lab, we believe...", modified by lab member Emilie Skoog and me.
Research Opportunities for Community College Students (CC-CREW)
Application for Summer 2024 are closed! Please direct all questions about future opportunities to mserres@whoi.edu.
For the last 9 years, together with Dr. Gretta Serres, we have hosted community college students in my lab, with the last 5 a partnership between Cape Cod Community College (4Cs) students and WHOI. We provide a paid, non-residential summer research experience for community college students to work at WHOI. The students learn about work in a science lab, participate in research, and get exposure to the many STEM careers a research institution like WHOI has to offer. Students receive mentoring on the transition from a community college to a university and on options for graduate studies in areas they are interested in. Students also have a chance to present their research to an audience of peers and mentors. Students have come to us from 4Cs, Massasoit CC, Mt Wachusett CC, and Bristol CC. Learn more about CC-CREW here. Additional programs are planned so watch this space!
More Opportunities for Students and Postdocs at WHOI
There are so many opportunities to come and learn at WHOI. The WHOI Education's website is a great first resource. I encourage all students to reach out via email to Julie at jhuber@whoi.edu to learn more after checking out these websites!
- For community college students, read the section above!
- For undergraduate students, WHOI hosts both a Summer Student Fellowship program, which is a paid summer residential research experience, and Julie also participates in the Woods Hole Partnership in Education Program, which also provides paid summer residential research experiences.
- For graduate students, WHOI has a Joint PhD Program with MIT. Julie is part of the Chemical Oceanography program, but can also co-advise students from MIT EAPS and in other programs.
- For postdoctoral scientists, WHOI has a Postdoctoral Scholar program that awards a paid 18 month appointment to work at WHOI. Postdocs may also apply for their own funding to come work at WHOI, and previous members of the lab have been supported by NSF, NASA Astrobiology, and L'Oreal postdoc fellowships.