Best of the WWEST

Mitzi Dean, MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin and British Columbia Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, has 3 main priorities: Tackling gender-based violence, getting rid of systemic barriers, and economic and political empowerment of girls and women. In this episode with WWEST manager and podcast host Danniele, PS Dean tells us why women in STEM are important to the BC government (because they very much are), how her favourite part of her job is meeting so many amazing women, and gives us a glimpse into her journey being elected an MLA and appointed Parliamentary Secretary.

Mitzi Dean was elected as MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin in 2017, and was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity in February 2018. Parliamentary Secretary Dean grew up in southeast England and has spent the last 30 years helping the most vulnerable people in our community.

Relevant Links:

• Girl, Woman, Other (book by Bernardine Evaristo)
• Mitzi Dean on Facebook
• Mitzi Dean at the Legislative Assembly
• Mitzi Dean on Twitter
• WWEST blog post on Gender-Based Analysis

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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, WWEST manager and Best of the WWEST host Danniele speaks to Lieutenant Commander Calley Gray, Marine Systems Engineer Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy. She gives us all a rare glimpse into what it's like to be a woman in the Navy and the amazing and big strides the Armed Forces have taken to create a more diverse and equal landscape. LCdr Gray also gets nerdy about naval architecture in the best way, tells us fascinating stories of the work the Navy does to make the world a better place, and how her time in the Royal Military College of Canada shaped her into the Lieutenant Commander she is today.

Lieutenant Commander Calley Gray is a Marine Systems Engineering Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and she specializes in Naval Architecture. She has a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and a double Master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.

Relevant Links:

• Canadian Forces Sports
• External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces (Deschamps Report)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Operation HONOUR
• Royal Military College of Canada

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

Which career allows you to marry environmentalism and data science? Being a quality manager at an engineering firm! Louise Wilkinson is our guest on the podcast for this episode, and she shares how she ended up in her dream job after working full time while in university. You'll also hear how her initial choice of career was drastically different from where she ended up, how her fur baby is her best support; and she gives us hope for a present and future where companies are focusing on the environmental impacts of their work.

Louise Wilkinson has 20 years of industry experience predominantly in laboratory operations and quality assurance, and is now working in corporate sustainability as well as quality assurance - focusing on utilizing her research skills, and love of excel to calculate corporate greenhouse gas emissions for a multi-national firm. She has worked in a variety of industries throughout her career; from polymers to pharmaceutical, food and supplements, animal feed and cosmetics, to healthcare and technology and now in built environment systems engineering.

Relevant links:

• Integral Group
• Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
• The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST)

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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 of Best of the WWEST, podcast host and WWEST manager Danniele will introduce you to the 7 women who are featured in WWEST's new photography project, "In Plain Sight." This project is a photojournalistic look at the lives and careers of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, where they are often overlooked. Women are underrepresented in these fields and are rarely seen in the media as STEM professionals. Deanna Flinn, of Free Admission Photography, has captured the aspects of these women's lives that are not often seen as congruent with a career in a STEM field. For this episode, these 7 featured women speak about family, community, advocacy, collaboration, and mentorship. Featured in the exhibition and in this episode are Lianna Mah, P.Eng.; Leigh Joseph (Stayawat), Dr. Sheryl Staub-French, P.Eng.; Edoye Porbeni, Dr. Tammara Soma, Humaira Ahmed, and Christin Wiedemann. Find their bios at WWEST's website.

Due to COVID-19, this exhibition at Science World was cut short, but you can see the online version here. Find photographer Deanna Flinn's work at DeannaFlinn.com and FreeAdmission.ca

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

This episode marks the first in a miniseries by the WWEST Associate Chair program hosted at iSTAND at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO). iSTAND is the Integrative STEM Team Advancing Networks of Diversity, which is creating a network to recruit, support, and increase underrepresented persons in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). You can learn more about their program here and about the WWEST Associate Chair program here. In this episode, iSTAND Communications and Resource Design Assistant Maxine van Zyl and WWEST Associate Chair Dr. Jennifer Jakobi introduce us to 3 women in STEM in the Okanagan. These women demonstrate diverse lived experiences of being underrepresented people in STEM. The guests interviewed cover themes of evolution from scientist to academic, how to explore career options and development, and how cultural experiences and personal awareness can lead to growth.

Featured on this episode are Dr. Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal of UBCO; Dr. Bowen Hui, instructor in Computer Science of UBCO; and Dr. Mina Hoorfar, professor of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering at UBCO.

Hosted by: Maxine van Zyl and Dr. Jennifer Jakobi Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey and Maxine van Zyl

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.

Leila Abutaleb joins WWEST manager and podcast host Danniele to get nerdy about digital communication. She shares her journey starting as a contractor to a full time employee managing a communications team and how technology has always been the underpinning in her career. You'll also hear her very relatable story of how stress forced her to refocus and realign with her goals and how this experience changed her career for the better.

Leila Abutaleb is a digital communications manager at BC Hydro. Leila studied Communications at Simon Fraser University and is Nielsen Norman UX certified. She works with developers, designers, and engineers to improve user experience on the web, E-mail, and social channels.

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

Girls to the Power of Math is a girl-to-girl math mentorship program, and it was all born out of research into whether gender influences confidence in math for elementary students. This program was started by Alexa Bailey, and she's our guest for this episode. She tells host Danniele about what it's like to be a girl with an interest in STEM in high school, what she hopes to accomplish with Girls to the Power of Math, and shares her frustration at the bias she has experienced as a girl even at school. If you want some extra inspiration, you're going to love this episode.

Alexa Bailey is a grade 9 student with a love of math, who decided to do some research into whether gender influences confidence in math for elementary students from kindergarten to grade 7. Once she identified this confidence gap, she was determined to help find a solution. Alexa started the Girls to the Power of Math program, which provides girl to girl math mentorship that includes fun, creative, and interactive activities to boost girls' confidence in math.

Relevant Links

• All the Light We Cannot See (book), Anthony Doerr
• Engendering Success in STEM (ESS)
• "Girls to the Power of Math," by Alexa Bailey, Medium
• Girls to the Power of Math Instagram
• Girls to the Power of Math YouTube
• The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST)

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

WWEST manager and Best of the WWEST host Danniele talks to Mary-Jane Piggott, Senior Water Resources Engineer, about why she came to Canada from Australia, how the arts can intersect with STEM, and how her job lets her travel to really cool places. Plus, you'll find out where you can see the evidence of a water resources engineer's work in everyday life and Mary-Jane offers some really great advice for STEM students and professionals.

Mary-Jane Piggott is the North America Regional Manager of the Mining and Environment Group at Klohn Crippen Berger or KCB. Mary-Jane is a Senior Water Resources Engineer who specialises in stormwater management with 20 years' experience in Australia, Canada, the USA and South America in investigation, design and project management of mining, civil and water resource projects. She manages the North America region of KCB's Mining Environmental Group and enjoys being part of a team of experienced scientists and engineers. Outside of work she enjoys camping, photography and spending time with family and friends.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Best of the WWEST interview with Lianna Mah
• Klohn Crippen Berger
• "Madame Secretary" (TV show)
• What is an engineer of record?

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

This time, WWEST manager and podcast host Danniele speaks with Dr. Sharona Gordon, a professor at the University of Washington's School of Medicine who is making waves with her various projects, including Below the Water Line, whose mission is to combat sexual harassment in academia. Dr. Gordon also explains her fascinating research into chronic pain, and her passion for everything she does is palpable in this episode. You don't want to miss it.

Dr. Sharona Gordon is a professor of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Gordon has a deep understanding of the environment and challenges in academic science. She has chaired the Board of Scientific Councilors of the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health; serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of General Physiology, chaired the program for the Biophysical Society Meeting, an international scientific conference with over 10,000 attendees; and founded Below the Waterline, a grassroots organization working to implement the recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicines report on Sexual Harassment.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Dr. Anita Zimmerman, Brown University
• Below the Waterline
• Gordon Lab, University of Washington
• "Hit the Ground Running: A professional development program for post-doctoral scholars," 2018, Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training
• How to be an Anti-Racist (book), Ibram X. Kendi
• Restorative Justice
• "Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine," The National Acadmies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.

We've heard it time and time again: Don't read the comments. Except today, WWEST manager Danniele speaks with Dr. Maite Taboada, a professor in linguistics at Simon Fraser University, who actually takes time out of her day to read and study those very comments online. In this episode you'll hear all about her work with Informed Opinions on the Gender Gap Tracker, a tool that tracks in real time the number of women and men quoted in major news platforms, plus Maite's journey that took her to computational linguistics at SFU.

Maite Taboada is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University. Her research combines discourse analysis and computational linguistics, with an emphasis on discourse relations and sentiment analysis.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Discourse Processing Lab
• Gender Gap Tracker
• Informed Opinions
• Maite's Publications

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) Theme Music: "Positive and Fun" by Scott HolmesProduced by: Vanessa Hennessey

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.