APS-IDEA Virtual Meeting Speakers

Gibor Basri is Professor Emeritus in Astronomy at the Univ. of California, Berkeley. His research has included studies of star formation, stellar magnetic activity, brown dwarfs, and rotation and activity on low mass stars. He was a Co-Investigator on NASA’s Kepler mission, which revolutionized our understanding of exoplanets and took stellar science in new directions. Back on Earth, he received a Chancellor’s Award in 2006 for efforts in faculty diversity and encouraging the participation of minorities in science then became Berkeley's founding Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion from 2007-2015.

Dr. Robbin Chapman is Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at the UPenn Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include investigating computational tools for learning in public spaces and technologies for supporting scholar activism. Dr. Chapman provides consults to academic and corporate institutions on transformative leadership, learning technologies for equity and social justice, and also serves on a number of non-profit boards. She previously served as Associate Provost and Academic Director of Diversity and Inclusion and Lecturer in Education at Wellesley College, and Assistant Associate Provost for Faculty Equity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Tabbetha Dobbins is a Vice-President for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rowan University. Her research program focuses on gaining a fundamental understanding of the relationship between structure (at the atomic, nano-, and micro- levels) and dynamics (e.g. electron and phonon excitations, diffusion, and reaction kinetics) in composite materials. She currently serves on the AIP TEAM-UP Task Force which aims to increase representation of African-American students in physics and astronomy at the undergraduate level.

Joel C. Corbo (he/him) is a Senior Research Associate in the Center for STEM Learning at the University of Colorado Boulder. His work focuses on implementing and studying mechanisms for improving undergraduate education in STEM departments, with a particular focus on organizational/institutional change, equity and inclusion, and community. As a graduate student, he helped to found and lead the Berkeley Compass Project, a student-run organization dedicated to supporting students from marginalized groups in physics, and he co-leads the Access Network, a national network of student-centered equity programs inspired by Compass. Before coming to CU, Joel received a bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT and a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley. As a member of the Whaley group at Berkeley, he studied ultracold atomic gases using quantum Monte Carlo simulation techniques.

William Evans (pronoun ‘he’) is a condensed matter physicist and Division Leader of Physics in the Physical & Life Sciences Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His research interests include the properties and dynamics of matter at extreme conditions – high pressures, high/low-temperatures. He is a former member of the APS Committee on Minorities. In his free time he enjoys running.

Dr. Simone Hyater-Adams is a physicist, artist, educator, and researcher with a passion for creating more opportunities for Black STEM students. After receiving her B.S. in Physics from Hampton University, she pursued graduate studies at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Currently, Simone is an Education and Diversity Programs Manager at American Physical Society working with their National Mentoring Community. In addition to this work, Simone also develops and facilitates equity workshops with goals to cultivate more inclusive and equitable STEM learning and working environments.

Nia Imara is an astrophysicist and artist. She's a professor of astronomy at UC Santa Cruz, where she researches stellar nurseries, the sites of star formation in the Milky Way and other galaxies throughout the universe. Parallel to her work in astronomy, Imara is also a painter whose art reflects her love for people and their stories. Imara has worked on many initiatives to foster equity in science and is the founder of Onaketa, a nonprofit that provides free STEM tutoring to students of color.

Rachel Ivie is Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute of Physics (AIP). For most of her 23-year career at AIP, she has worked with the Statistical Research Center, where she recently served as Director. Dr. Ivie received her PhD in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specialized in research methods, statistics, and gender. While at AIP, she has studied the careers of physicists and astronomers, particularly the careers of women in these fields. She has designed and carried out numerous studies: from a global study of scientists outlining gender differences in career progress to a longitudinal study of astronomy graduate students that explains the factors that may make women more likely to leave the field. Dr. Ivie is a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society.

Courtney Ngai (she/her/hers) is a Research Scientist within The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) at Colorado State University and a consultant for Empowered Consulting. Dr. Ngai’s current work focuses on enacting and sustaining organizational change in higher education. She has facilitated multiple teams working to improve their undergraduate programs and has developed and led several workshops on using the DAT Model for change. As a consultant, she supports projects with her background in chemistry, organizational change, and education research.

Maria (Mia) Ong, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist and Evaluator at TERC, a STEM education research organization based in Cambridge, MA. For over twenty years, she has researched the lived experiences of women of color and members of other minoritized groups in STEM higher education and professions, with emphases on qualitative research and syntheses projects. She currently leads three projects, funded by the National Science Foundation, on literature synthesis methods and on the experiences of Native women and two-spirit students and professionals in STEM. Prior to her work at TERC, she directed an undergraduate physics program for students of color at the University of California at Berkeley; for this work, she co-received a U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (1998). She has twice served as a Member of the United States Delegation of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics International Conference on Women in Physics (2005 and 2011). Dr. Ong has served on a number of committees, including the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE), the National Academies Committee to Address the Underrepresentation of Women of Color in Tech, and the American Institute of Physics National Task Force to Eliminate African American Underrepresentation in Physics & Astronomy (TEAM-UP). Dr. Ong holds a doctorate in Social and Cultural Studies in Education from the University of California at Berkeley.

Jonathan (Jon) Pelz received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. After postdoctoral research at the IBM Watson Research Center, Pelz joined the Ohio State University Physics faculty in 1990. Pelz’s experimental condensed matter physics research focuses on nanometer-scale electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of surfaces, interfaces, and device structures, primarily using scanned probe techniques and electronic modelling. Pelz is currently Vice Chair of Graduate Studies for the OSU Physics Department and co-directs the OSU M.S-to-Ph.D. Physics Bridge Program. He loves biking, cooking, and good wine.

Dr. Grace Wong Sneddon is an adjunct professor in the Department of Art History and Visual Studies and an associate fellow in the Centre for the Studies of Religion and Societies at the University of Victoria. As the former Director of Academic Leadership Initiatives and Adviser to the Provost on Equity and Diversity at the University of Victoria, she has been responsible for the development and implementation of professional development for senior leaders, a diverse faculty renewal program and tasked with creating a campus wide culture of respect that values diversity, equity and inclusion.

Dr. Wong Sneddon has an Interdisciplinary Ph.D in Anthropology and Pacific and Asian Studies from the University of Victoria. Her areas of research include: race and gender in popular culture, Asian North American identity, the Chinese diasporic culture, women in leadership, equity, diversity and inclusion. Her research has informed her extensive experience in the areas of educational and employment equity and she consults widely with post-secondary institutions locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. She is passionately committed to her local community and is President of the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation, Director of the Hoy Sun Ning Yung Benevolent Association and Pacific Opera Victoria, Vice-Chair of the Victoria Chinese Museum Society and past Chair of the Victoria Foundation.

Amy Wendt (she/her) is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a member of the APS Division of Plasma Physics. She is also interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Research-Physical Sciences and co-Director of the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI) at UW-Madison, and is committed to identifying and updating institutional policies and practices that present barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion. Her fundamental research in low-temperature plasmas serves the goal of optimization and control of plasma-driven materials process applications, with a current focus on the development of non-invasive diagnostics of plasma properties using optical emission spectroscopy.

LaNell Williams is a current PhD student at Harvard University's Physics Department. She students the self-assembly of spherical RNA viruses. LaNell is the Founder of the Women+ of Color Project and currency serves as the APS Councilor for the Forum on Graduate Students and Forum on Early Career Scientists since January 2020. LaNell will be serving on the APS Board of Directors as of January 2021. She is currently serving on the APS-IDEA Steering Committee.

Sherry J. Yennello (she/her) is Regents Professor of Chemistry, Director of the Cyclotron Institute, and holder of the Bright Chair in Nuclear Science at Texas A&M University. A fellow of the American Chemical Society (2011), the American Physical Society (2005), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2013). Her research on the nuclear equation-of-state impacts such fundamental questions as, “What is the origin of the elements?” and “How are neutron-rich and heavy nuclei synthesized in the core of a star during stellar evolution?” Her research has recently expanded to include studies of radionuclides for targeted alpha therapy. Her areas of interest include equity and access to education and professional advancement for all, including both creating opportunities and motivating students to take advantage of opportunities that are available. She strives to motivate current stakeholders to be agents of change.