Graduate student, NOvA
University of Virginia
I am a graduate student from the University of Virginia working on NOvA. I have worked at Fermilab for just over a year now and, before the pandemic changed all our schedules and routines, I deeply enjoyed being at Wilson Hall every day, working and interacting with people from all over the world. As isolating as grad school and research can be, having an active organization like FSPA working to help connect people in both professional and social settings has really helped me know that I am not alone here, and brought me new friends I likely wouldn’t have met otherwise. Everything going on in the world right now has affected us all both personally and professionally, meaning that having FSPA as a continued source of connection to others is especially important. If elected as a FSPA officer, I would be honored to help continue the effort to bring us all together.
As a FSPA officer, I would like to explore more options for virtual social events, such as virtual game nights or trivia nights, so that we can continue to foster interaction between members of our community during this pandemic. I also would like to find ways for FSPA to host more professional development panels or workshops that focus on areas of our careers that aren’t strictly academic, including what good mentorship looks like, how science policy affects us, and how we can advocate for changes in science policy.