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Biology Faculty Awarded Grant, Host STEM Discussion Panel

Biology faculty members Drs. Darlene Panvini and Chris Barton were recently awarded a grant entitled “Promoting Undergraduate Well-Being in STEM Fields through Community and Civic Engagement” from the Bringing Theory to Practice organization.  The grant award provided funds to host a number of seminars aimed to increase community engagement among undergraduate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students at Belmont.

As part of this grant, the Biology Department hosted eight Nashville-based STEM leaders  on March 21 in the Wedgewood Academic Center. The panel discussion was attended by students and faculty and focused on ways undergraduates can become more involved in the community through service and internships and students were given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the panelists following the seminar.

Additionally, a dinner with panelists and faculty from the College of Sciences and Mathematics was hosted after the event. This gave faculty a chance to interact with the panelists and discuss how faculty can best prepare students for community engagement and internships.

The list of invited STEM panelists included:

  • Tony Weil (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics at Vanderbilt University)
  • Wes Hall (Tennessee STEM Innovation Network)
  • Jon Staples (NextGxDx and Code for Nashville)
  • Taylor Murphy (Data Procurement at NextGxDx)
  • Carol Etherington (Vanderbilt Institute of Public Health)
  • Bryan Mayes (Engineer at Eventbrite)
  • David Withers (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)
  • Rebecca Leslie (Nashville Academy of Medicine)

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