At Brown, all coordinators share the responsibilities and leadership of GWiSE, hosting both social and outreach events to promote diversity in science.

The signature event hosted by GWiSE is the annual Young Scholars Conference where women at different stages in their academic and career paths in STEM are invited to connect at Brown. The conference highlights networking, interview and presentation skills, as well as workshops, all to promote the continued success of women in the STEM fields. 

The theme of this year’s Young Scholars Conference was “Communicating Your Science” with keynote speaker Kay M. Tye, PhD, Associate Professor at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT. The conference focused on sharing techniques for effectively presenting data applicable to different fields within the sciences. The career panelists introduced at the conference represented a broad scope of career paths available to students. Attendees heard from a Senior Scientist at Biocytogen and an assistant professor at Bard College to the STEM Program Director for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Director of Brown’s Science Center, Gelonia Dent.

The GWiSE leadership team brings together a diverse array of studies in science and engineering. Through their involvement, they contribute to a supportive community for women in science at Brown and beyond.

“I'm involved with GWiSE because I think that more can be done in general as well as here at Brown to support womxn in STEM”, says Valerie Estela, the Community Coordinator for GWiSE. “As you see in the news, we are still dealing with difficulties and inequalities, especially in the STEM fields of academia, and creating a community of support is an important way to help us make it through.” 

The GWiSE Leadership Team

• As Community Coordinator, Valerie Estela facilitates collaboration with different graduate student groups at Brown. She is a graduate student in Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Rebecca Burwell’s laboratory, where she studies learning and memory. Estela aims to uncover how different parts of the brain work together to encode contextual environmental information. 
• Megan Gura is a fourth year PhD student in Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry (MCB) and serves as the Logistics Coordinator for GWiSE. Gura studies a gene called TAF4B and its role in female fertility in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Freiman. Outside of the laboratory, Gura enjoys playing video games and reading. 
• Adeene Denton, the Media Coordinator for GWiSE, is both a scientist and a historian. Denton is a Presidential Fellow pursuing her PhD in planetary geoscience, with a focus on early Martian climatic and geologic history.
• Cintia Barbosa Castilho, the Finance Coordinator, refers to herself as a video game nerd and passionate traveler. She is pursuing her PhD in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the laboratory of Engineering professor, Robert Hurt as a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund trainee. DeCastilho’s thesis focuses on breathable wearable graphene-enabled fabrics. 
• Gina Vimbela, a second-year master's student in Biomedical Engineering in the lab of Anubhav Tripathi, Professor of Engineering and Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology. She studies how bioreporter molecules can be harnessed to develop diagnostic tools. Through her work, she is developing a biosensor for detecting water pollution levels in the Narragansett Bay. As the Northeastern region liaison, Vimbela bridges the GWiSE community at Brown to graduate women students in science and engineering at other colleges and universities in the region. 
• Meghan Gallo, a third year PhD student in the Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences studies the effects of early life stress on reward learning and circuit development. She studies in the lab of Kevin Bath, Assistant Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences. Gallo is committed to understanding and confronting the effects of economic hardship and ELS on developmental outcomes.

Beyond connecting women in science across different institutions, GWiSE also connects to with the broader Rhode Island community. In her role as Outreach Coordinator, Gallo organizes events in collaboration with Junior Achievement Inspire to increase science communication and accessibility among students in Rhode Island.

GWiSE also plans other events during the academic year to build community, such as happy hours, coloring study breaks, speed-friending events, and a Beers and Biases series. Learn more by visiting the GWiSE Facebook page.