NEWS

Four women either previously or currently involved in New Mexico EPSCoR projects were among 13 other women honored earlier this month as New Mexico Women of STEM. Diana Northrup taught the EPSCoR-funded Communicating Science class at UNM in Spring 2014; Lorie Liebrock was an exceptional participant in our previous grants; Phyllis Baca has worked with EPSCoR for several years and is involved in the current Energize New Mexico grant; and Jeri Timlin is a current team member of the Bioalgal Component. Please read the press release below for more information about the honorees and the New Mexico Women in STEM event. Congrats to all these exceptional women! Thanks for all you do for New Mexico STEM education and careers!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Seventeen New Mexico women honored for inspiring young women to pursue STEM fields.

Albuquerque, NM - August 4th, 2015: Dubbed the New Mexico Women of STEM, 17 women from across the state were honored for their contributions in motivating young women to pursue education and careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The room at the Pete Domenici Health Center of UNM was packed Saturday, August 1st, 2015, with 14 of the honorees (see attached photo), their guests, event organizers, and VIPs in attendance. The reception took on a sunflower theme to symbolize the spreading of seeds to a younger generation of female STEM professionals. Each honoree received a NM Women of STEM poster featuring themselves with a favorite inspirational quote, an award letter, and also took part in a photo shoot for a 16-month calendar that will feature these ‘STEM Sunflowers’.

The honorees come from a variety of organizations across the state including, Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, New Mexico State University, Intel, Albuquerque Public Schools, NM Dept. of Game and Fish, University of New Mexico, Acaji, Santa Fe Community College, Navajo Technical University, Expanding Your Horizons Conferences, and New Mexico Tech.

Quotes from the honorees in attendance:
“What a wonderful event…Thank you so much for including me in this awe inspiring group of women.” Turtle Haste, APS
“Excited and honored to be among so many great women leading STEM efforts in New Mexico.” Cristina Montoya, LANL

The calendars will be distributed to students at schools throughout New Mexico around the beginning of the school year and will serve a dual purpose, with each feature page including the women’s accomplishments and biography that can also be used as a tear-off promotional poster to encourage young women in schools to make STEM choices for their own education. The cover will feature Jill Hruby, who was recently appointed president and director of Sandia National Labs, and will be the first woman to lead a national security laboratory.

The Supercomputing Challenge is one of the main sponsors of the calendar and recently wrapped up its 25th anniversary year of introducing middle and high school students across New Mexico, to the combined power of supercomputers, modeling and problem solving. The calendar was the brainchild of Challenge Program Manager, Patty Meyer who said, “The calendar will be a beautiful tribute to our diverse group of New Mexican women working in STEM fields of expertise. It will show all young women, regardless of race or background that they CAN succeed in STEM careers too.”

Along with private donations, other sponsors of the calendar include the Albert I. Pierre Foundation, UNM STEM-H Center and the NM Public Education Department. If you would like to help with a donation, please contact Patty Meyer with the NM Supercomputing Challenge at nmstemcalendar@googlegroups.com for more information.

About the NM Supercomputing Challenge - Founded in 1990, the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge is a nonprofit educational organization that sponsors an annual computational science competition for middle and high school students across New Mexico. To learn more about the Supercomputing Challenge and its mission, please visit their website at http://supercomputingchallenge.org.

Contact:
NM Supercomputing Challenge – Patty Meyer, Program Manager
PH: (505) 220-7273 EM: nmstemcalendar@googlegroups.com
http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org

NM Women of STEM honorees pictured (attached) from left to right:

• Diana E. Northup, Ph. D., University of New Mexico
• Cristina Montoya, M.S., Los Alamos National Lab
• Mia Kalish, Ph.D., New Mexico State University
• Nina Lanza, Ph.D., Los Alamos National Lab
• Phyllis Baca, M.S., Santa Fe Community College
• Rebecca Galves, M.S., New Mexico State University
• Turtle Haste, M.S., Albuquerque Public Schools
• Teri Roberts, B.S., Los Alamos National Lab
• Mary Jemin, B.S., Expanding Your Horizons Conferences
• Jill Wick, M.S., NM Dept. of Game and Fish
• Lorie Liebrock, Ph.D., New Mexico Tech
• Jeri Timlin, Ph.D., Sandia National Labs
• Janeen Anderson, B.S., Acaji
• Heather Yazzie-Kinlacheeny, B.A., Navajo Technical University

Also honored, but not in attendance were:

• Patty Lopez, Ph.D., Intel
• Diane Oyen, Ph.D., Los Alamos National Lab
• Jill Hruby, M.S., Sandia National Labs