Spring Refresh: Updating your IDP Tool & Goals

Spring is the perfect time to refresh your goals and update your IDP tool. If you are not familiar with the IDP tool check out my blog post and visit the website to create your IDP. Since spring is here I decided it was time to share what I learned from the Creating and Owning Your Individual Development Plan workshop hosted by The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL). If you are ready to take the next step with your IDP check out the CIRTL follow-up workshop (I Completed my IDP…Now What?) on April 9. On the CIRTL website, you can register and find more resources to help you in your STEM education career. I’m looking forward to the follow-up workshop next month and I am ready to tackle my goals. Are you?

My Spring/Summer III Reading List:

Since summer is officially here and I haven’t shared my spring reading list I decided to combine my spring/summer list. I will update this list if I find a good book to share with you. If you have any books you want to recommend share them in the comments section.

My Spring/Summer Reading List:

Superwoman: Achieving Work-Life Balance

Even though I’m a young and healthy woman I have to remember I cannot do it all. I’m all for being a superwoman, but this superwoman needs a break. I’ve been reading a few blog posts here and there; talking to other women about this issue and realized that a superwoman needs to know her limits. In addition, a superwoman has to start saying “no”. When you say “no” that does not mean that you are being “rude”. A superwoman asserts herself and is confident. If you want to learn more about how you can be the best superwoman you can be in the workplace check out the book, Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel.

Besides this Lois P. Frankel’s book I recommend reading Dr. Amy Freeman’s book about work-life balance, Stress Less: 10 Balancing Insights on Work and Life. I did a Mademoiselle Spotlight on her last year and talked about how she is an inspiration to me as an Black Woman in STEM. She is a wonderful mentor and in her book I learned so many things about how I can achieve work-life balance.

Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientist: Science Mentor/Donna Kridelbaugh

In my last Mademoiselle Spotlight I talked about The Thesis Whisperer and for this post I wanted to feature Donna Kridelbaugh/Science Mentor as this month’s Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientist. Donna has amazing content for early career researchers and professionals. I’m happy to share information about Science Mentor because I enjoy finding resources for STEM-ers.

Photo Credit: ScienceMentor

Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientist: Donna Kridelbaugh:

When I started blogging I only had a handful of followers and I did not know about the science blogging community. I just knew that I wanted to share my journey with others. After a few months of blogging I received an email from Science Mentor and she told me how she liked my blog. This was exciting because I just started blogging. So I checked out her blog and it is indeed a gem of resources.

I enjoyed talking to her about my journey and moving forward in the science communication community. We have some overlapping interests and it’s good to talk to someone who understands the science journey. She gave me some great advice and I know it will help my readers out too. Even though I’m new to blogging and shy I’m going to work on putting myself out there because I want to help other STEM-ers. Thank you Donna for helping me and inspiring me to continue to share my journey through blogging.

Who is Science Mentor?:

My Summer Reading List II

Now that summer is coming to an end and many people are back from vacation I decided this was a good time for me to share what I’ve been reading this summer. If you checked out my spring reading list you will notice I picked a lot of books about careers and this summer I picked up some more.

My Summer Reading List II:

Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientists: MySciCareer

Last week I was reading Biochem Belle’s blog post, Changing Course, Part 3: Open exploration. This post was a continuation post and she shared how the myIDP tool helped her figure what she wanted to do next in her career. After spending time on the myIDP tool she discovered, MySciCareer.com. Since I never heard MySciCareer I had to explore and decided this would be a be a great double Feature Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientist post. Thank you, Biochem Belle for sharing this resource and I look forward to reading more about your changing course series!

Spotlight on Science/Mademoiselle Scientists: MySciCareer:

MySciCareer was founded by two Mademoiselle Scientists that are biochemists, Eva Amsen and Lou Woodley. Eva is the Outreach Director at F1000 Research and Lou is currently a freelance community engagement specialist. Another cool thing about these Mademoiselle Scientists is that they are both bloggers and are big on science outreach. They both have lots of writing and blogging up their sleeve. Eva launched and ran the developmental biology blog, the Node, shares her musician side on her blog, MusiSci, and blogs on easternblog.net and The Finch and Pea. Lou founded and served as Managing Editor of BlueSci Magazine, If you want to see more of her, check out her blog, Social in Silico, where she integrates people, science and technology.

It’s great to see fellow Mademoiselle Scientists that are bloggers and collaborating. When I started Mademoiselle Scientist I only knew about a handful of women in STEM bloggers, now every day my list is growing! If you know any blogs I should check out link them below in the comments section. I’m glad these Mademoiselle Scientists decided to come together to create MySciCareer. 

My Winter Reading List II

I hope you all are staying motivated and warm this winter. This Polar Vortex is insane. I like to keep my mind off the cold with a good book and some tea. This winter I want to read books that will motivate me and are career-focused.

Here’s What I’m Reading This Winter