Best of the WWEST

Life sciences is not a widely understood area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), but Wendy Hurlburt is here to set the record straight. She tells host Danniele about her hopes to establish life sciences as a vital part of the economy and talks all about how LifeSciences BC is a networking hub that advocates for many stakeholders. But Wendy and Danniele don't just talk shop - you'll also find out about Wendy's personal life, including how she manages work/life balance and her favourite activities.

Wendy Hurlburt is the President and CEO of LifeSciences BC. She is a career executive with more than 20 years of Global Finance, Operations and Compliance experience in the healthcare and technology sectors.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Lexmark
• LifeSciences BC
• Wendy on LinkedIn

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, we hear from Vienna Lam, a graduate researcher and the Lab Manager at the SFU Centre for Forensic Research and School of Criminology. She tells host Danniele about her love for learning, which took her from a bachelor degree to a second bachelor degree to a master's degree. You'll hear about her passion for the whole research cycle as well as strategic planning, and you'll even learn what it was like for her to find her first human remains while on an excavation in Fiji, plus much more.

Vienna Lam is the Lab Manager and a graduate researcher at Simon Fraser University's (SFU) Centre for Forensic Research and School of Criminology.

Vienna's forensic anthropology research is on the decompositional effects of lake submerged skeletal material and works with the Canadian Drowning Prevention Coalition to examine aquatic deaths in Canada using geospatial tools.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Best of the WWEST Interview with Dr. Gail Anderson (Criminology)
• British Columbia Coroner
• Dr. David V. Burley (Simon Fraser University)
• Forensic Taphonomy
• International Student Research Forum
• KonMari (Marie Kondo)
• Publications & Research by Vienna Lam
• World Health Organization Drowning Report 2015

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.

Elyssa Manis has built her company NavaWeb from the ground up, and tells WWEST manager Danniele all about it in this episode. She gives advice for those who are interested in being their own bosses, talks about the positive impact she hopes her work has on the world, and gets nerdy about why she loves web design. Plus, you'll find out about all the great ways to learn digital marketing and web design online and Elyssa answers the question - just what is a "funnel?"

Elyssa Manis is the founder of NavaWeb, a one stop shop creative design and digital marketing Agency. She has been a freelance web technologies expert for the past 22+ years and has a strong passion for design and tech in her professional life.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Bissli & Brutus (Instagram)
• Cathy Olson
• Create Your Laptop Life
• The Digital Gangsta
• Geocities
• Moist
• Ophelia: A Moist Page
• The Pomodoro Technique

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 Danniele had the opportunity to speak with two aircraft engineers from the Red Arrows, the aerobatics display team of the British Royal Air Force. Flight Lieutenant Alicia Mason and Corporal Lydia Ford share what it's like being the only two women currently in the Red Arrows circus, where their current tour is taking them, and how they were able to pursue their dream jobs.

A junior Engineering Officer, Alicia Mason's Circus duties include being a resource manager, military commander and professional engineer. This is her third season with the Red Arrows. From Cannock, Staffordshire, Lydia Ford joined the Royal Air Force in 2008 and started her career working on the Tornado GR4, before joining the Red Arrows in 2017.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• A-Levels
• British Royal Air Force
• "Queen's Birthday: Red Arrows fly over Buckingham Palace," Newsflare
• The Red Arrows

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.

What is it like to release a mobile game from start to finish? How does game design foster collaboration? Is there space for the silly and strange in the video game sphere? This week's guest, Leanne Roed, answers all of these questions with WWEST manager and podcast host Danniele, and also tells us about the windy road that led her to where she is as a game designer and artist today.

Leanne Roed is a game designer and artist living in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She has worked for several years in the games industry primarily in the mobile space and as an independent game developer.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Alt Games Vancouver
• Anemone Hug Interactive
• Cribbage with Grandpas
• Game Curious
• Heart Projector
• Itch.io
• I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (game), Northway Games
• Justin Smith
• Lan's website
• Sword & Sorcery (board game)
• Vancouver Film School's game design program

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.

Lianna Mah has seen big change at Associated Engineering in her 29 years of being part of the organization. She tells us about the changes she has seen around diversity and inclusion not only at Associated, but in engineering in general. You'll learn about how mentors are an extremely important part of increasing diversity in an organization, along with tips about entering the workforce and thriving in university. Lianna also tells us about the achievements she's had in her career as an environmental engineer.

Lianna Mah is the Vice President of Business Development at Associated Engineering, where she is responsible for business development, marketing, and communications. Lianna is an Environmental Engineer with more than 30 years of experience. As a design engineer and project manager, she specialized in the planning, assessment, design and construction of water and wastewater treatment and civil infrastructure projects. Her experience includes projects across Canada and in the Caribbean.

For full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Associated Engineering
• Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia (ACEC-BC)
• "Bright minds recall darkness of Polytechnique massacre," Montreal Gazette, 2018
• Commercial Drive, Vancouver
• Engineers and Geoscientists BC
• Lianna on LinkedIn
• Marg Lathum, chair of WinSETT Centre (Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology)
• Women in Engineering and Geoscience Division (formerly DAWEG), Engineering & Geoscientists British Columbia
• WWEST
• University of British Columbia

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.

Deborah Harford calls herself a "science translator," and tells us all about what that means in this episode. She gives background on the organization she co-founded, the Climate Change Adaptation Team (ACT), explains how studying how animals and humans will have to adapt to climate change is extremely important, and also how her communication and English background factors into this organization that intersects with so many research areas. But it's not all serious - she reveals some non-work related details of her life in the Lightning Round as well.

Deborah Harford leads research into adaptation to a range of climate change impact areas, spanning water, food, health, biodiversity, energy, infrastructure, and population displacement with the Adaptation to Climate Change Team or ACT. ACT's focus includes integrated climate solutions that advance low carbon resilience and co-benefits.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• An Inconvenient Truth (film)
• The Climate Change Adaptation Team
• The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (book)
• Dr. Nancy Olewiler
• The Paris Agreement
• Pasture to Plate
• Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Dr. Richard G. Lipsey
• Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• The SFU Summer Semester in Dialogue

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.

Tara Robertson, Diversity & Inclusion Lead for Mozilla, is a diversity champion. In this episode, you'll learn about her passion for an open internet, and why jobs in tech are "awesome." Tara candidly admits she still has a lot to learn, but also talks about her proudest moments and accomplishments. You're going to hear about a lot of things an organization is doing right when it comes to diversifying their workplace and supporting their people. Plus, you'll find out how she lifts heavy things - both for fun and for work.

Tara Robertson is an intersectional feminist who uses data and research to advocate for equality and inclusion. Currently working as the Diversity & Inclusion Lead for Mozilla, she has more than 10 years experience making open source and tech communities more diverse and welcoming.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Aubrey Blanche
• Berkeley Lab - Diversity & Inclusion
• Firefox
• Firefox Monitor
• Highland Games
• "How to Support Your Transgender Employees," Forbes, April 28, 2019
• Lizzo
• Mozilla
• Pocket (by Mozilla)

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, we look at the trades again and speak with Nemaiah Shaw, who tells us why she loves being an apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer, what it takes to become one, and her excitement for her eventual licensing. She also tells us what it's like navigating a career with low participation of women, her love for learning, and her hopes for the future of her career.

Nemaiah Shaw is an apprentice Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with a passion for rotary wing aircraft working at the Langley Airport. As a student Nemaiah had a passion for the subject and it showed in both her academic and practical work. She continues to display this drive and is using her time as an apprentice to gain insight from her colleagues. As an active intersectional feminist and queer person Nemaiah brings a unique perspective to her workplace. She works to create a healthy and welcoming workspace for all.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Bessie Coleman
• Hozier
• Langley Regional Airport
• Northern Lights College
• Obtaining an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) licence
• Queer ASL

Hosted by: Danniele Livengood (@livengood) 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.

In this special episode, podcast producer Vanessa will walk you through the Creating Connections 6.0 conference which took place on May 3-4, 2019 in Vancouver, BC. Creating Connections is a diversity conference focused on attracting, engaging, and retaining women and underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). You'll hear the conference's knowledgeable and diverse guest speakers weigh in on panels including - but not limited to - "How to be an Ally in the Workplace," "Intersectionality in STEM," and "Being a Role Model." Vanessa also conducts mini-interviews with attendees who give insight into why a conference such as Creating Connections is important and what they learned from it. For more information about Creating Connections, please click here. You can also find one-on-one interviews with two of the conference's keynote speakers, Ella Chan and Michele Romanow. In addition, we provided a recap for Creating Connections 5.0 on the podcast as well, which you can find here. More details about the speakers and panels will be included in this episode's transcript.

For a full transcription of this episode, click here.

Relevant Links:

• Ella Chan on Best of the WWEST
• Michele Romanow on Best of the WWEST
• Creating Connections Main Page
• Creating Connections 5.0 recap podcast episode & blog post
• Creating Connections 6.0 wrap report

Hosted by: Vanessa Hennessey 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.