{"id":14654,"date":"2021-06-09T13:26:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T17:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=14654"},"modified":"2025-05-06T08:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:39:05","slug":"jaws-chemistry-webinars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/jaws-chemistry-webinars\/","title":{"rendered":"JAWS Shreds Stereotypes, Spotlights Diverse Chemists"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Daniela
Kalamazoo College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo is challenging the stereotypical image that comes to mind when we picture a scientist by inviting undergraduates and postdocs to present their science in JAWS, a series of chemistry webinars spotlighting scientists from underrepresented groups.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you hear\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0time for JAWS, don\u2019t fear a shark attack. Instead, get ready for a chemistry seminar featuring\u00a0Kalamazoo College\u00a0Assistant Professor\u00a0of Chemistry<\/a> Daniela Arias-Rotondo, who is challenging the\u00a0stereotypical image\u00a0that\u00a0comes\u00a0to mind when we picture a scientist.<\/p>\n

JAWS, or Just Another (Chemistry) Webinar Series,\u00a0gives scientists from underrepresented groups\u00a0a chance to be heard, and undergrads and postdocs a chance to share\u00a0their work\u00a0through\u00a0easy-going\u00a0conversations\u00a0and publicity\u00a0in\u00a0a production quickly gaining recognition.<\/p>\n

The project was started by Arias-Rotondo\u00a0along with post docs\u00a0Craig Fraser\u00a0of Northwestern University, Madison Fletcher of New York University and\u00a0Monica Gill\u00a0of Carleton University. Its\u00a0name would\u2019ve been Just Another Chemistry Series, but the acronym JACS\u00a0is well known as the Journal of the American Chemical Society. As a result, and to show a little humor, Arias-Rotondo\u00a0and her fellow organizers chose\u00a0JAWS.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day we might get a cease-and-desist letter from Steven Spielberg or someone,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe’ll figure out what name we give it at that point.\u00a0But for now,\u00a0who doesn\u2019t like sharks?\u201d<\/p>\n

The point of JAWS, though,\u00a0is down to\u00a0earth as it\u00a0enables\u00a0early career chemists\u00a0to\u00a0build foundational\u00a0presentation\u00a0skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs\u00a0scientists,\u00a0we always emphasize that it’s important to be able to communicate your ideas,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cAnd one thing that we’ve always seen is that it’s hard as a\u00a0postdoc or a graduate student\u2014and even worse as an undergrad\u2014to get the opportunity to present your science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professors commonly receive invitations to\u00a0give\u00a0talks and\u00a0attend\u00a0conferences. They might also be\u00a0the\u00a0people in line for a Nobel Prize. Students, however,\u00a0gain experience\u00a0working with faculty\u00a0yet\u00a0their work gets\u00a0little exposure. That\u2019s something Arias-Rotondo\u00a0wants to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with the pandemic, we\u2019ve\u00a0still\u00a0been\u00a0doing talks,\u00a0and giving\u00a0people who don’t have a name for themselves yet\u00a0an opportunity,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0particularly\u00a0looking at\u00a0those\u00a0who, even under normal circumstances, maybe wouldn’t\u00a0be as likely to present.\u00a0A scientist doesn’t have to be the old\u00a0white\u00a0guy with crazy hair. Being able to\u00a0invite\u00a0these\u00a0other\u00a0people\u00a0who don\u2019t necessarily fit a mold\u00a0to\u00a0come in and talk about their science\u00a0is so important in terms of really showing\u00a0a broad spectrum of people\u00a0that\u00a0you can be a scientist,\u00a0too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show has built buzz for itself through a loyal following on its Twitter feed. It\u2019s also drawn presenters from every continent except Antarctica\u00a0and\u00a0viewers\u00a0from all over the world,\u00a0including\u00a0JACS Editor-in-Chief\u00a0Erick\u00a0Carreira, an\u00a0organic chemist and professor at ETH Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the name among our attendees and we began texting back and forth while watching,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u00a0were\u00a0wondering if\u00a0that\u00a0was really him or\u00a0somebody impersonating him because it was huge\u00a0for us. It was a sign of how\u00a0far\u00a0we\u2019d made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent JAWS guests have included post docs from University of California, Vanderbilt University and National University of Singapore who have presented on topics ranging from radiation to molecular aggregation. The\u00a0time for JAWS varies to accommodate presenters from a variety of time zones, but\u00a0generally\u00a0it\u2019s scheduled\u00a0at 11 a.m. or 8 p.m.\u00a0Eastern on\u00a0Tuesdays.\u00a0Presentations are posted online<\/a>\u00a0for about a week. Ultimately, Arias-Rotondo\u00a0hopes to measure the success of the program not only by the number of viewers or\u00a0its website traffic<\/a>, but by successful variations of representation and its impact on students including those at K.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that my students\u00a0see that they can attend the seminars, they can present at the seminars, and that there is a welcoming community that wants them to be chemists,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u00a0also want them to see me as someone who is not just teaching or doing research with them but also working\u00a0to make science more available and\u00a0more accessible for people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you hear\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0time for JAWS, don\u2019t fear a shark attack. Instead, get ready for a chemistry seminar featuring\u00a0Kalamazoo College\u00a0Assistant Professor\u00a0of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, who is challenging the\u00a0stereotypical image\u00a0that\u00a0comes\u00a0to mind when we picture a scientist. JAWS, or Just Another (Chemistry) Webinar Series,\u00a0gives scientists from underrepresented groups\u00a0a chance to be heard, and undergrads and postdocs a chance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":14657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233],"tags":[50,39],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-14654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","tag-chemistry","tag-faculty"],"yoast_head":"\r\nJAWS Webinars Shred Stereotypes, Spotlight Diverse Chemists<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JAWS, or Just Another (Chemistry) Webinar Series, gives scientists form underrepresented groups, undergrads and postdocs a chance to share their work.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link 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Instead, get ready for a chemistry seminar featuring\u00a0Kalamazoo College\u00a0Assistant Professor\u00a0of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/chemistry\/\">Chemistry<\/a> Daniela Arias-Rotondo, who is challenging the\u00a0stereotypical image\u00a0that\u00a0comes\u00a0to mind when we picture a scientist.<\/p>\n<p>JAWS, or Just Another (Chemistry) Webinar Series,\u00a0gives scientists from underrepresented groups\u00a0a chance to be heard, and undergrads and postdocs a chance to share\u00a0their work\u00a0through\u00a0easy-going\u00a0conversations\u00a0and publicity\u00a0in\u00a0a production quickly gaining recognition.<\/p>\n<p>The project was started by Arias-Rotondo\u00a0along with post docs\u00a0Craig Fraser\u00a0of Northwestern University, Madison Fletcher of New York University and\u00a0Monica Gill\u00a0of Carleton University. Its\u00a0name would\u2019ve been Just Another Chemistry Series, but the acronym JACS\u00a0is well known as the Journal of the American Chemical Society. As a result, and to show a little humor, Arias-Rotondo\u00a0and her fellow organizers chose\u00a0JAWS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne day we might get a cease-and-desist letter from Steven Spielberg or someone,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe’ll figure out what name we give it at that point.\u00a0But for now,\u00a0who doesn\u2019t like sharks?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The point of JAWS, though,\u00a0is down to\u00a0earth as it\u00a0enables\u00a0early career chemists\u00a0to\u00a0build foundational\u00a0presentation\u00a0skills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs\u00a0scientists,\u00a0we always emphasize that it’s important to be able to communicate your ideas,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cAnd one thing that we’ve always seen is that it’s hard as a\u00a0postdoc or a graduate student\u2014and even worse as an undergrad\u2014to get the opportunity to present your science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Professors commonly receive invitations to\u00a0give\u00a0talks and\u00a0attend\u00a0conferences. They might also be\u00a0the\u00a0people in line for a Nobel Prize. Students, however,\u00a0gain experience\u00a0working with faculty\u00a0yet\u00a0their work gets\u00a0little exposure. That\u2019s something Arias-Rotondo\u00a0wants to change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven with the pandemic, we\u2019ve\u00a0still\u00a0been\u00a0doing talks,\u00a0and giving\u00a0people who don’t have a name for themselves yet\u00a0an opportunity,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0particularly\u00a0looking at\u00a0those\u00a0who, even under normal circumstances, maybe wouldn’t\u00a0be as likely to present.\u00a0A scientist doesn’t have to be the old\u00a0white\u00a0guy with crazy hair. Being able to\u00a0invite\u00a0these\u00a0other\u00a0people\u00a0who don\u2019t necessarily fit a mold\u00a0to\u00a0come in and talk about their science\u00a0is so important in terms of really showing\u00a0a broad spectrum of people\u00a0that\u00a0you can be a scientist,\u00a0too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The show has built buzz for itself through a loyal following on its Twitter feed. It\u2019s also drawn presenters from every continent except Antarctica\u00a0and\u00a0viewers\u00a0from all over the world,\u00a0including\u00a0JACS Editor-in-Chief\u00a0Erick\u00a0Carreira, an\u00a0organic chemist and professor at ETH Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw the name among our attendees and we began texting back and forth while watching,\u201d Arias-Rotondo\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u00a0were\u00a0wondering if\u00a0that\u00a0was really him or\u00a0somebody impersonating him because it was huge\u00a0for us. It was a sign of how\u00a0far\u00a0we\u2019d made it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recent JAWS guests have included post docs from University of California, Vanderbilt University and National University of Singapore who have presented on topics ranging from radiation to molecular aggregation. The\u00a0time for JAWS varies to accommodate presenters from a variety of time zones, but\u00a0generally\u00a0it\u2019s scheduled\u00a0at 11 a.m. or 8 p.m.\u00a0Eastern on\u00a0Tuesdays.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jawschem.wixsite.com\/home\/\">Presentations are posted online<\/a>\u00a0for about a week. Ultimately, Arias-Rotondo\u00a0hopes to measure the success of the program not only by the number of viewers or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jawschem.wixsite.com\/home\/\">its website traffic<\/a>, but by successful variations of representation and its impact on students including those at K.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that my students\u00a0see that they can attend the seminars, they can present at the seminars, and that there is a welcoming community that wants them to be chemists,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u00a0also want them to see me as someone who is not just teaching or doing research with them but also working\u00a0to make science more available and\u00a0more accessible for people.\u201d<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14654"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24775,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654\/revisions\/24775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14654"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=14654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}