Best of the WWEST

Best of the WWEST producer Vanessa interviews WWEST Program Manager Danniele about what got her into STEM, why she loves the work she does at WWEST, and what it takes to run such a program. She also gives insight into working with various non-profit entities and how their activities can work in tandem with WWEST's goals. Plus, you'll learn fun facts such as what her favourite activity was at summer camp and how she defines success.

Danniele Livengood is the Program Manager of Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (WWEST) at Simon Fraser University, operating under the NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering (BC/Yukon Region). At WWEST Danniele works to further the participation of women and other under-represented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• WWEST Episode #19 with Angie Byron
• WWEST Episode #1 with Cole Brown
• Connecting Environmental Professionals Vancouver
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering
• The Society for Candian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST)
• Society of Women Engineers
• Wonder Women Networking Event
• "Wymanizing" first year course at UBC

Hosted by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

How does someone who hates math and science with no role models of women in STEM end up as a Metals and Materials Engineer? Colleen Legzdins will tell you all about it in this interview with WWEST Manager Danniele. Rest assured - if you are interested in STEM but not much interest in science and math, you can still have a successful and rewarding STEM career, as Colleen demonstrates with her story. You'll learn how she pursued her education while starting a family, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and making a real difference for the environment with her work.

Dr. Colleen Legzdins has a background in metals and materials engineering and is a senior professional engineer with over 15 years of experience in industrial wastewater treatment and fuel cells.

Be sure to check out this blog post about Colleen by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, Petroleum!

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• BC Tech Association
• Engineers & Geoscientists Awards & Recognition
• Global Cleantech 100 Awards
• Indira Samarasekera, former president of the University of Alberta
• Lady Godiva Ride at UBC

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

Alison Anderson, the WWEST Associate Chair at Yukon College, interviews Kirsten Hogan and asks the real questions: What challenges does the Yukon face when it comes to environmental engineering, especially mining and environmental reclamation? Why is it important to get more women engineers registered across Canada? And just why does she love the Yukon anyway?

Kirsten has over 15 years of experience in Environmental Engineering with a focus on contaminated sites management and remediation, and greenhouse gas emissions quantification and management.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Aperture Consulting
• Canada Business Network
• Engineers Canada 30 by 30 Initiative
• Environmental remediation
• Environment Yukon
• F.H. Collins Secondary School

Hosted by: Alison Anderson (@AlisonVAnderson) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

On July 5th, WWEST Manager Danniele and Best of the WWEST Producer Vanessa visited the Telus World of Science for the First International Day of LGBTQ+ People in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math! (Short name: LGBT STEM Day.) Vanessa chats with other organizations who took part in this event to help raise awareness and increase support for LGBTQ+ people in STEM and finds out what brought them there and why they find it important. You'll hear from a variety of great organizations directly and indirectly related to STEM fields, and you can visit their websites by clicking the links below.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• ASTTBC
• International LGBT STEM Day
• PFLAG Canada & PFLAG Vancouver
• Telus World of Science
• Trans, Gender Diverse, and Two-Spirit support at The Vancouver Park Board
• TRIUMF
• Vancouver Pride Society

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) and Vanessa Reich-Shackelford Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

If you're looking for some insight into Microsoft's employee engagement, look no further. In this episode, Stacey Mulcahy tells us all about working at The Garage at Microsoft - why she loves it, what she does, and how maker spaces like The Garage can bring community together. She also describes what it's like being "a prototype" and how she defines success for herself.

Stacey Mulcahy is the Principal Program Manager of the Garage at Microsoft Vancouver. She's an international speaker and teacher and spent many years working in the digital agency space as a developer. She enjoys making things that some consider useless but that bring them joy all the same.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Microsoft Garage
• Shawn Hunt, BC-based Heiltsuk artist
• Transformation Mask
• Trello

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

If you're looking for some insight into Microsoft's employee engagement, look no further. In this episode, Stacey Mulcahy tells us all about working at The Garage at Microsoft - why she loves it, what she does, and how maker spaces like The Garage can bring community together. She also describes what it's like being "a prototype" and how she defines success for herself. 

Stacey Mulcahy is the Principal Program Manager of the Garage at Microsoft Vancouver. She’s an international speaker and teacher and spent many years working in the digital agency space as a developer. She enjoys making things that some consider useless but that bring them joy all the same.

Relevant Links:

• Microsoft Garage
• Shawn Hunt, BC-based Heiltsuk artist
• Transformation Mask
• Trello

 

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood)
Theme Music: “Positive and Fun” by Scott Holmes
Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

 

Chickens in the kitchen, positron beams, and asking big questions about the universe - you will hear about all of these things in this episode with Dawn MacDonald. Alison Anderson, WWEST Associate Chair at Yukon College, interviews Dawn in this next installment of Best of the West: Yukon Edition.

Dawn MacDonald earned her Bachelors in Applied Mathematics with a Theoretical Physics concentration at the University of Western Ontario in 1997, and was the only woman in many of her classes at that time. She benefited from mentorship by faculty in the Space Physics department and Positron Beam laboratory, who gave her summer undergraduate research positions in their offices and labs. She now works at Yukon College as Institutional Research and Planning Officer, using mainly social science research methods to provide data for institutional decision making.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Chariots of the Gods
• The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav
• Interface Science at Western University
• Yukon College Strategic Plan

Hosted by: Alison Anderson (@AlisonVAnderson) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

In this episode, Danniele speaks with Dr. Lori Brotto about her career in psychology and gynaecology and how they can intersect. She gives a glimpse into her research and her newly published book, Better Sex Through Mindfulness. In addition, you'll hear about how she survived her early years in university, why it is so important for women to be informed about their sexual health, and how collaboration and networking can be extremely helpful in a career.

Dr. Lori Brotto is a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of British Columbia. She conducts research on women's sexual health and difficulties, develops and tests psychoeducational interventions for women with sexual desire and arousal complaints, and studies many aspects of sexual health including: culture and sexuality, hormones and sexual desire, cancer and sexuality, concerns about HPV and sexuality, asexuality, and more.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Dr. Julia Heiman, Indiana University
• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
• Savage Lovecast
• UBC Sexual Health Lab
• Women's Health Research Institute

Publications:

• Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire by Dr. Lori Brotto
• UBC Sexual Health Lab publications list

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

Come along with Dr. Angelica Lim and Best of the WWEST host Danniele on a windy journey through Angelica's discovery of computing science and her passion for robots! Angelica talks about her studies taking her all over the globe and how she settled in at Simon Fraser University. You'll also find out how robots can connect people in a "human-like and grounded way."

Angelica is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Computing Science at Simon Fraser University, who has studied and worked in robotics for over 10 years in Canada, France and Japan. She has been featured on the BBC, given talks at SXSW and TEDx, hosted a TV documentary on robotics, and was recently featured in Forbes 20 Leading Women in AI.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Angelica's Twitter (@petitegeek)
• Grace Hopper Celebration
• Invent the Future AI Scholars Program
• Jane the Virgin (TV show)
• Tessa Lau
• Women in Computing Science at SFU

Publications:

• Collection at angelicalim.com

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.

In the second installment of Best of the WWEST's Yukon Edition, WWEST Associate Chair Alison Anderson sits down with Deanna Burgart to discuss her work integrating Indigenous traditional knowledge in engineering. Listen for her tips for getting young people engaged in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and a little sample of a song that will help you remember the quadratic formula!

Deanna Burgart is the President and COO of Indigenous Engeering Inclusion, Inc. She is a self-proclaimed "Indigeneer" and President of Indigenous Engineering Inclusion Inc. In addition to being co-founder of Empowered Innovation Enterprise, she has redirected her work towards professional speaking, post-secondary curriculum development, and resourcing organizations who want to improve their business strategies with Indigenous communities.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Cyber Mentor, University of Calgary
• Erin Brockovich (film)
• Fon du Lac Denesuline First Nation
• Indigenous Engineering Inclusion Inc.
• Positive Perspectives from Indigenous Engineering Inclusion Inc. (Facebook page)
• Power to Choose, career mentorship for Aboriginal Youth grades 7-12
• Quadratic Formula Song by Michael Kelly

Hosted by: Alison Anderson (@AlisonVAnderson) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott Holmes Produced by: Vanessa Reich-Shackelford

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher! For more from Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, you can follow us on Twitter at @WWEST_SFU, on Facebook at @WWEST.SFU, and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter at wwest.ca.