Patricia Jaimes has received the MSU Department of Geological Sciences Neil Research Award. Paty will use this award to fund data collection and presentation of research findings for her project, Within and Beyond the Leaky Pipeline:Understanding Minority Student Transitions in Earth System Science.
Congratulations, Paty!
The Geocognition Research Lab is proud to announce that first-year graduate student Patricia (Paty) Jaimes is the proud recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship! Paty’s research project, Within and Beyond the Leaky Pipeline: Understanding Minority Student Transitions in Earth System Science, will allow her to explore the underlying causes of the lack of diversity among Earth System scientists. Paty’s work has the potential to dramatically influence what it means to be a scientist studying the planet and we are all looking forward to both her research and her recommendations for diversifying the field!
Congratulations, Paty!
Patricia Jaimes, a first-year student in the Geocognition Research Lab, has received the 2016 Tracy A. Hammer Award for Professional Development from the Michigan State University College of Natural Sciences. This award is made even more special because Fellow first-year graduate student Caitlin Kirby made the nomination. Congratulations to both students!
To quote from Caitlin’s letter of recommendation: “I have witnessed Paty’s dedication…during her first semester of graduate school as she has fully dived into…her graduate classes, submitting a proposal to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and generating research ideas and analyzing data…As a researcher in the Geocognition Laboratory, she is working to discover why there is a lack of underrepresented minorities in Earth System Sciences (ESS), and to find avenues for improving the pathways for minority students to ESS degrees. Her interests were shaped by her job mentoring fellow students at NEIU, where she was frustrated by the trend of minority students dropping out of STEM degrees because of challenges they faced at school and at home. Paty has turned this frustration into positive energy, and is working as a research assistant on an NSF-funded grant seeking to understand the links between social capital, mentoring relationships, and success in ESS for diverse populations…“
I personally think the final sentence of Cailtin’s letter says it best: “It is in connecting with others …that Paty’s passion becomes evident and, I believe, has the power to improve the climate of ESS to make it more inclusive for everyone, regardless of their personal challenges.“
I’m looking forward to future surprises from my amazing cohort of current students (Caitlin Kirby, Patricia Jaimes, and Amanda Lorenz) and am so thankful that they support each other!
New graduate student Paty Jaimes has received an On To the Future award to travel to the 2015 Geological Society of America annual meeting. Congratulations, Paty, and well done!
From the Geological Society of America On To the Future page: “The On To the Future Program (OTF) is a grassroots initiative of the Geological Society of America (GSA) that addresses the organization’s overall strategic commitment to building a diverse geoscience community by engaging groups traditionally underrepresented in the geosciences. The OTF Program awards partial travel scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students, and recent graduates studying in the geosciences, to attend their first GSA Annual Meeting.”
I hope other students consider applying to help diversify the geosciences!
The GRL is pleased to announce that Paty Jaimes has officially joined the lab, and is already hard at work helping to reorganize space and enter data. Welcome, Paty, and good luck over the next few years as you become a geocognitist!
Patricia (Paty) Jaimes will be joining the Geocognition Research Lab as a new graduate student in July 2015. She was chosen to give the commencement speech at Northeastern Illinois University. Check her out and get inspired!
