Students,
There is still space available in next weeks panel discussion, "Career Paths for Women in the Sciences and Science-Related Fields." There will be a panel of women available to talk about their student to staff experiences. If you are not pursuing a degree in the sciences you are still encouraged and welcome to attend. This will be a great opportunity to meet other students, as well as, get some guidance from some very successful and interesting women. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. If we have a good response with this initial event we will continue the same format with different panelists and topics.
I hope you will join us!

The following is a list of speakers and more information

Title: =93Career Paths for Women in the Sciences & Scienc= e Related Fields.=94
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Location: Canyon Complex, room 165
Time:    noon-1:30

The presenters are:

Jessica Clark
Jessica Clark an equipment design engineer at Merrick & Company. Her primary design focus is gloveboxes and hot cell systems. She obtained her degree BS degree in engineering with a mechanical specialty from the Colorado School of Mines in 2001. Jessica is also an active member of Society of Women Engineers.

Morrison Bennett
Morrison Bennett is a technical writer and editor for the Laboratory and is also a licensed intellectual property attorney with a practice having an emphasis on patent preparation and prosecution in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. She also provides counsel on technology transfer matters.

Bennett has a technical background in chemistry with a B.S. degree from the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (1982) and a J.D. degree from the College of Law of the University of Denver (1987). Bennett is admitted to practice in New Mexico and Oklahoma and is registered to practice before the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the state bars of New Mexico and Oklahoma, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Bennett is currently working for the Information Management group at LANL as a technical writer and editor. She was a patent attorney for the Business and Patent Law group of the Laboratory Counsel at Los Alamos from 1995 to 2002. Before coming to Los Alamos, Bennett was a patent attorney for Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Kimberly Thomas
Kimberly W. Thomas received her BA in Chemistry from Middlebury College (1973).  Her experience as a summer student at Brookhaven National Laboratory convinced her to pursue a career in nuclear chemistry. She obtained her advanced degrees from the University of California-Berkeley as a student of Glenn Seaborg (PhD, Nuclear Chemistry, 1978) and Cornelius Tobias (M. of Bioradiology, 1978).  Immediately upon graduation from Cal, she became a Technical Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Nuclear and Radiochemistry group of the Chemistry Division. In over 25 years at Los Alamos, she has held research positions in weapons radiochemical diagnostics, isotope separations, radio and environmental chemistry, nuclear reaction studies, waste transmutation, and nuclear waste management.  She has held numerous management positions currently serving as Deputy Division Leader for Chemistry (~475 employees, ~$99M budget).  Other positions include LANL Program Manager for Hanford Tank Wastes, Yucca Mountain Project Leader, Deputy Group Leader, Group Leader, and Chief of Staff for Physics Division.
 
Kim is chair-elect of the American Chemical Society Division of Nuclear and Chemical Technology and a member of the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. She is also a member of the Network for Women in Science and has served on the DOE Advisory Committee on Nuclear and Radiochemistry Education. In 2000, she received a LANL Outstanding Mentoring Award for her efforts in fostering career development of women and in her community. She serves as a soccer referee, administrator, and instructor and as a BSA/GSA merit badge counselor in numerous disciplines, including chemistry.

Maya Gokhale

Maya Gokhale received her Ph.D. in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. She has been employed in academia (University of Delaware Computer Science Department), industry (Burroughs Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, and Sarnoff Corporation), and government-sponsored R&D Labs (IDA Supercomputing Research Center and most recently Los Alamos, 1999- present). Gokhale has conducted research in reconfigurable computing since 1988 and holds several patents on compiling for reconfigurable logic devices. Her research interests are to develop programming models, languages, and software systems for novel high performance embeddable architectures.

Tinka Gammel

Tinka Gammel received her Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics from Cornell University in 1986. She came to Los Alamos as director-funded postdoctoral fellow in 1987, modeling the properties of conducting polymers.  She is now doing equation of state work as a staff member in T-1, modeling material properties over a broad range of densities and temperatures, and has over 75 published papers and over 1000 citations. Tinka organizes the LunchTalk series and manages the website for Los Alamos Women in Science, helps with the annual Expanding Your Horizons conference LAWIS holds each March for 8-10 grade girls, is a board member of the New Mexico Network for Women in Science and Engineering, is a regular participant ("the Magnet Lady") at Career's and Curiousity Days organzied by the American Association of University Women at area elementary schools, and is a member of the LANL Women's Diversity Working Group. She is also a former president of the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, organized a LASO student solo competition, and has been known to torture her cello at LASO concerts. Tinka's home burned in the Cerro Grande Fire, and she wrote and got the Los Alamos County Council to pass a lighting ordinance which reduced by half the number of street lights to be installed as part of the Burned Area Reconstruction, reducing light pollution so she could continue to enjoy using her telescopes from the roof of her new home.

Elvera (Vera) Vigil
Vera attended Northern New Mexico Community College in Espanola, NM and received an AAS in Computer Science, MIS, and Network Administrator and received her BS in Computer Application Design, Minor in Business Management from the College of Santa Fe. Vera has worked with computers for the last seventeen years.  The first ten years worked as an Accountant Analyst, Draftsperson and Executive Administrator.  Each of these jobs required skills and knowledge of different computer software applications.  After acquiring formal computer education job concentration has been in desktop support, system and network administration.  She has worked in the private sector, the education system and government environments. Her outside interests include participating in both indoor and outdoor sports. She enjoys the arts of music and theater, arts and crafts and volunteering in helping with=20
community needs and has mentored several students over the past five years.