Diversity in academia

I have ADHD and dyslexia. It has taken me years to be comfortable openly talking about this. I think the most surprising thing to me was that the greatest obstacle was myself. Not only the ‘diversity community’ but the academic community as a whole have been very welcoming. Below are my thoughts and experiences but I realize that many have not been so fortunate as myself.

I think its important to talk openly about this. First, it helps us accept ourselves - both our strengths and weakness. Secondly, there are a …

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Ethereal Expression

My image, Ethereal Expression, was included as a semi-finalist in the University of Illinois Image of Research (2017). The entries represented a diverse set of fields including Math (honorable mention) and Library and Information Science (winner). Its wonderful to see the variety of research here at the university!

Two stickleback eggs - the left egg is transgenic and glows red under UV light while its sibling is unaffected.

Two sibling fish eggs sit next to each other, preparing to hatch in the coming days. Immediately after fertilization, the left egg was genetically modified so its cells would fluoresce red when they use a particular gene. All of the cells in …

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The Art of Science 6.0

My image was included in the Art of Science 6.0 (2016). This is a wonderful opportunity to work with local artist to bring science to a larger audience. The artwork was featured at Gallery 217.

Original Image Artistic Reinterpretation
The Mind that Knows Itself
H & E stained saggital stickleback brain section with nuclei in purple and lipids in pink.
  Artistic reinterpretation including bright colors.

This image is a top view of an extremely thin slice of a fish brain. The colors are the result of staining; dense cell nuclei appear blue while proteins appear in shades of red. The frontal bulbs (located at the top of the image) form …

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