At the first Annual PEB/QBio Retreat, PEB Director Paul Turner announced the creation of the “Excellence in Service to the Quantitative Biology Institute and the Program in Physics, Engineering, and Biology” award. This award recognizes the exceptional contributions of trainees in QBio/PEB who are dedicated to improving the PEB and QBio communities. This years awardees were Sara Siwiecki, Charles Lomba, and Gustavo Maderia Santana.
Sara is recognized for her work during PEB education and outreach events for middle, high school, and undergraduate students. Her lab tours that include showing students the ctenophores that she works with are a highlight for the students! In 2023-2024, Sara has also contributed to programming for the PEB Summer Undergraduate Research Program. In the summer of 2023, she created a “What’s next? MD/PhD, PhD, Postbac” Panel and served on the same panel in summer of 2024. This panel has been highly rated by summer students and helped them think through what they might do after complete their undergraduate education. She has also recruited on behalf of PEB at the NIH graduate and professional recruitment fair, has helped build community within PEB by organizing our happy hours during the 2023-2024 academic year, and taught a communication workshop to her peers during the PEB Methods and Logic course.
Charles is recognized for his work building community within the QBio institute and his dedication to education and outreach. Charles has organized weekly QBio chalk talks for several years and has also organized QBio social events to bring together the community. He has also led efforts to create new hands-on outreach demos and interactive lab tours for visiting middle and high school students and undergraduates. Charles was also a member of the group of PEB PhD students who created the Python Bootcamp for the PEB Summer Undergraduate Research Program in 2022, and has continued to help refine the curriculum. Charles also was a key member of the PEB recruitment team at SACNAS 2023.
Gustavo is recognized for his work inspiring the next generation of scientists. During PEB education and outreach events for middle, high school, and undergraduate students, Gustavo has given lab tours that include showing students the how to sex flies, which is always a highlight. Gustavo has recruited on behalf of PEB at several events in 2022 and 2023 – the most out of any trainee. This has included speaking individually with students who later reach out to him to follow up to learn more about the program and how to write a competitive application. Gustavo is also a member of the group of PEB PhD students who created the Python Bootcamp for the PEB Summer Undergraduate Research Program in 2022, and has continued to help refine the curriculum.
Thanks to Sara, Charles, and Gustavo for all their contributions to the PEB/QBio community!
