More than 17 years ago, a group of Illinois chemistry graduate students founded the ACS East Central Illinois Women Chemists Committee to promote the development of women in the chemical sciences.
Alum Stefanie Bumpus McBride (PhD, ’10, Kelleher) was a graduate student then and one of the founding members.
McBride now works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as acting associate director for AR Policy and Partnerships in the Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit.
“Founding the WCC was a highlight of my time at UIUC,” McBride said. “It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know others in the department, develop leadership skills, and provide both educational and fun opportunities for others.”
With support from the local ACS chapter and the Department of Chemistry, WCC was officially founded in October 2005, and today, the graduate student organization continues to fulfill its mission to support the development of women in the chemical sciences through programs and events that offer professional and social opportunities for graduate students, faculty, staff, and undergraduates.
From the beginning, McBride said, there was a lot of interest in forming the WCC, and many of those who were part of the initial effort stayed involved their entire time at UIUC. She said there was also a lot of support from leadership in the department, which was helpful.
“I think organizations like this are so important – they help build skills that we need outside of the lab, for example, teamwork, planning, coordination, and they help make connections with leaders in the field by going to larger WCC meetings at ACS and help raise interest in STEM for younger generations through the camps that WCC still hosts.”
In her daily work, McBride said she uses skills that she developed in WCC and in other extracurricular activities.
“I’m very proud that something we started so many years ago is still going strong,” McBride said.
The 2023 WCC Executive Board has a busy year of events planned, which includes activities dating back to its founding year and some new ones.
Alexis Hoane, the 2023 chair of WCC, said the board is looking for other opportunities for social events.
“And one thing we are considering is a hiking event, just to bring people together to go hiking,” she said. “I think it’s important to have social events in the department, especially post COVID.”
The pandemic forced WCC to pivot a lot of its events and activities to a virtual format, including one of WCC’s major outreach events, Bonding with Chemistry Day Camp.
After three years (2020-2022), the popular event will return to an in-person format on July 15, 2023.
“We are really excited to be doing it in person again. It’s much more engaging to do it in person,” Hoane said. “I think people in the department are excited about it.”
WCC quickly filled its request to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers for 40 volunteers to help plan and run the event. About 60 area middle school students will participate in a full day of hands-on chemistry-related activities at the Chemical and Life Sciences Laboratory on the UIUC campus. The primary goal is encouraging middle schoolers to develop a deeper interest in chemistry.
Hoane first got involved by volunteering for the WCC Day Camp. A third-year PhD student from New York, Hoane works on next generation battery research in the Gewirth group. She has been an active member of WCC for three semesters and chair of the executive board since January.
“I love the wide variety of everything we do from professional development to bringing in invited speakers to social events to outreach events. If you want to be involved and promote women in science, WCC has every type of opportunity to get involved,” she said.
The WCC welcomes the participation of all who support the purpose and mission of the committee. To be a voting member, a student must have volunteered for one WCC event within the previous two years and participated in one other WCC event or meeting in the past year.
“WCC is a bit of a liaison between students and the department on women’s issues, so I think it’s important that many people have a say on who’s on the WCC board,” Hoane said.
The current board, Hoane said, has also been thinking about ways to make WCC more accessible to people in the department, so they have been coordinating coffee outings that not only offer students a break from their routine, but a chance to meet and interact with other graduate students and learn more about WCC events:
- Annual ice-skating event in February.
- Annual Women’s History Month event in March.
- Dow sponsored lectures 2-3 times a year that feature graduate student alumni working in industry and offer graduate students and others an opportunity to learn more about various chemistry PhD career paths.
- Annual Uncorked Potluck, which is hosted by a professor and encourages members to meet, socialize and network at the beginning of the academic year.
- A Latinas in STEM event co-hosted with SACNAS.
WCC also sponsors a Travel Award, which is awarded each fall and spring to cover a graduate student’s travel to a conference to present research.
WCC also organizes a mentoring program that pairs each first-year graduate student with older graduate students in the same research area. The mentors and mentees meet monthly to discuss everything from how to choose a research group to what classes they should take.
“I think it’s a good experience for both the mentors and mentees,” Hoane said.
And like McBride, Hoane said she is developing valuable skills as a WCC member and as Executive Board chair, including leadership skills, the ability to organize events, manage professional situations, navigate bureaucracy, and learn how to work with others and delegate tasks.
“I have so many highly skilled people working with me that I can delegate to, so for me it’s been learning how to support them without doing everything,” she said.