OSU Physicists for Inclusion in Science (PhIS)\nhas had an amazing year! We are a student organization sponsored by the physics\ndepartment and our aim is to increase the number of female and underrepresented\nminority physics majors on campus by fostering a more inclusive environment. We\nhave continued working towards that goal this year through a number of\neducation, mentoring, community building, outreach, and social events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our goal in the fall term was to focus on\nmentoring and we were very successful. During orientation, we attended the\nWomen in Science luncheon with the first year women physics graduate students.\nWe were able to connect with people from other departments and meet and talk\nwith new students in our department. We also participated in both the Beaver\nCommunity Fair and the College of Science Open House where we gave out candy,\nbuttons, and stickers to promote our group and signed up lots of new students!\nThis led to a significant increase in undergrad presence in our meetings. We\nkicked off the term with both an undergraduate student mixer and a graduate\nstudent mixer. Both of the mixers were heavily attended and gave us\nopportunities to meet and engage with new students in the department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had our own table at Discovery Days\nthis year and made a laser maze demo. We gave it a Halloween theme for extra\nspooky fun. We also handed out stickers commemorating the new Nobel Prize\nwinner, Donna Strickland. Outreach for elementary schoolers was a great\nopportunity to mentor outside of our department. Kids and volunteers both\nenjoyed this event a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our biggest mentoring event in the fall\nterm was our annual coffee breaks.Through this event, we provided the\nopportunity for undergraduate students interested in physics to meet and talk\nwith physics graduate students and faculty members one on one in a casual\nsetting. This was a great opportunity for mentorship and to discuss research,\ngraduate school, and diversity-related issues in physics as well as build\ncommunity in our department. This is the third term we have organized this\nevent but the first time we involved faculty members and the feedback we\nreceived was very positive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PhIS book club read \u201cTestosterone Rex:\nMyths of Sex, Science, and Society\u201d by Cordelia Fine in the fall term, which\naimed to disprove the myth that sex inequalities in society can be attributed\nto evolved sex differences in the brain and to men\u2019s high levels of\ntestosterone. The book was very thorough in the scientific studies it presented\nand touched on a lot of topics that are relevant to our own experiences of sex\nand society, particularly working in scientific fields. We had a lot of new\nmembers join our book club this term, including students from other departments.\nBook club also had faculty involvement; our advisor, Professor Liz Gire hosted\none of our meetings! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the fall term, PhIS continued to\nsponsor a one credit seminar that meets once a week to discuss articles and\nessays relating to social topics in physics. The seminar, Social Topics in\nPhysics (STiP), has a mix of undergraduate and graduate student attendance.\nThis seminar has been a great way for students to engage in interesting and\nimportant discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working in STEM is emotionally and\nmentally demanding so we made it a goal to check in with each other more often.\nAs a group, we really want to work on building a sense of community and support\nin the physics department. We hosted our first board game night at the end of\nthe fall term which drew many students from outside of our group and was a fun\nbreak from work and stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In winter term, our goal was to focus on\nbuilding community in our department. We achieved this through our biggest\nevent of the year, our second annual departmental dinner. Our dinner was\nattended by graduate and undergraduate students, faculty members, and friends\nand family of the physics department. This year, we held the event at the HSRC\non campus. The event included dinner, a silent auction, and trivia, all\nprepared and presented by members of PhIS. It also featured a display of\nself-described identities of members of our department, highlighting the\ndiverse range of experiences. The event was a big success and lots of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the third year in a row, PhIS\nrepresented the physics department in the outreach event, Discovering the\nScientist Within. This is a workshop hosted by the Center for Outreach in\nScience and Engineering for Youth designed to introduce middle school girls to\ncareers in science, technology and engineering. For the event, we showed the\ngirls how to make their own pinhole cameras, pushed them on the hovercraft, had\nthem solve our laser mazes, and gave them diffraction glasses. We were very\nappreciative to once again have Ari Denison help the girls make light-art with\nlong exposure photography. Finally, as always, we ended the session with liquid\nnitrogen ice cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the winter term, the PhIS book club\nread \u201cBetween the World and Me\u201d by Ta-Nehisi Coates. As a book about the feelings,\nsymbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the United States, this\nbook was a departure from the themes of our recent book club books and was\nparticularly impactful. It fostered a number of very interesting and important\ndiscussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the spring term, one of our main goals\nwas to focus on self-care, which we achieved through a number of self-care\ngroup activities. We had two coloring events in Yunker Library where, as a\ngroup, we worked on a large coloring poster together. Coloring is a great way\nto relax and relieve stress and also provided an opportunity to socialize and\nbuild community in our department. PhIS had a movie night and pajama party,\nhosted at our advisor, Liz Gire\u2019s house. Everyone got comfy and took their minds\noff physics for a bit. When the weather got nice, PhIS went for a hike in Peavy\nArboretum, where we were able to destress and enjoy some of the beautiful local\ntrails. Finally, as a break during finals week, PhIS hosted our second board\ngame night in the department and everyone had a blast. We are looking forward\nto more events like these in the future where we focus on taking care of our\nmental health and creating an environment of communal support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PhIS has also been continuing our\nbeautification efforts in order to make Weniger a more welcoming and inclusive\nenvironment for everybody. Check out our newly decorated display cases! There\nare boards featuring PhIS, STiP, and the History of Weniger on the 3rdfloor and\na look at \u201cwhat a physicist looks like\u201d in our department on the 2ndfloor. This\nis an ongoing effort and we hope to have more display cases decorated (and\nmaybe even some more rooms painted) this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PhIS tabled at the OSU Spring Drag Show,\nhosted by the Rainbow Continuum, where we were able to increase exposure to our\ngroup while supporting other groups on campus who similarly value diversity and\ninclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PhIS also participated in the Astronomy\nOpen House, hosted by the Astronomy Club. In our room, we had a number of demos\nthat demonstrated different representations of physics concepts. Attendees were\nable to interact with gravity visually through a gravity well, audibly through\nsonification, tactilely through 3D surfaces, as well as mathematically through\nequations. They also got to interact with waves on a string as well as through\nlight waves and sound waves. In addition to these demos, we presented a diverse\narray of scientists through scientist profiles that we displayed on the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PhIS was able to offer Social Topics in Physics\nas a seminar course again in the spring, with growing participation from\nundergraduate and graduate students. Make sure to register for STiP in the\nupcoming fall term!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PhIS book club began reading\n\u201cMerchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues\nfrom Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming\u201d by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway in\nthe spring term. This book was recommended to us by our 2018 Yunker lecturer,\nLaura Greene. The book explores how a handful of scientists spread doubt and\nconfusion on the scientific consensus around the dangers of issues such as\ntobacco smoke and global warming in order to oppose action. It is a fascinating\nbook that we will be continuing to read this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We held elections this term for the 2019-2020\nschool year. Our new officers are President Acacia Patterson, Vice President\nGina Mayonado, Treasurer Abbie Glickman, and returning Secretary Mattia\nCarbonaro. Our new chairs are Events Chair Georgia Carroll, Outreach Chair\nJaden Downing, Recruitment and Retention Co-Chair Kelby Hahn, and Website Chair\nMacKenzie Lenz. Our new advisor is Davide Lazzati. Congratulations to all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PhIS expanded our social media presence\nwith our new Instagram. Follow us @osu_phis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you to all of our members, supporters,\nand advocates. We have had a great year and are really excited to continue our\nefforts in the upcoming year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Gina Mayonado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OSU Physicists for Inclusion in Science (PhIS) has had an amazing year! We are a student organization sponsored by the physics department and our aim is to increase the number of female and underrepresented minority physics majors on campus by fostering a more inclusive environment. We have continued working towards that goal this year through… Continue reading