September 25, 2024 | Claire Tremont

Fourth Annual Women in STEM Conference Gains Traction

The expo is the first event sponsored by the Jeanine Armstrong Gouin Initiative for Women in Leadership at UConn Engineering

Panelists Ran Feng, Kristina Wagstrom, and Zongjie Wang.

Panelists Ran Feng, Kristina Wagstrom, and Zongjie Wang during the Women in STEM Frontiers in Research Expo.

Women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields are experiencing a new period of growth, acceptance, and respect in the modern workforce. 

But when UConn alumna Jeanine Armstrong Gouin studied civil engineering in the 1980s, it was hard to feel welcome in an engineering building that didn’t even have a women’s bathroom. 

Despite the dreary beginning, Gouin (who graduated in 1987, about four years before the Castleman Building installed women’s restrooms) delivered an inspirational message to an audience of young female STEM students last week.

A woman asking a question to the panel.
A member of the audience asks a question during the Q&A portion of the Career Panel.

The Women in STEM Frontiers in Research Expo (WiSFiRE) was held on Friday at the UConn Storrs campus. It brought together university undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and STEM employees and supporters. 

WiSFiRE was one of the first conferences in the region to specifically highlight the work of women researchers in STEM. That mission has been solidified through a recent endowment by Gouin.

Gouin, who is both a UConn Trustee and U.S. division president of environmental consulting firm SLR International Corp., made an undisclosed gift in July to endow the Jeanine Armstrong Gouin Initiative for Women in Leadership at the UConn College of Engineering. 

The gift will provide financial support for leadership programs and activities that are available to all engineering students, not just women.   

Part of that endowment will continue to support WiSFiRE.

Friday’s event included panels, technical talks, and networking opportunities for the men and women leading the STEM fields today. 

Speakers, panelists and moderators included: Gouin; physics professor Nora Berrah; alumna and University of Kentucky professor Gosia Chwatko; earth sciences professor Ran Feng; animal science professor Sarah Reed; chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Kristina Wagstrom; civil and environmental engineering professor Guiling Wang; electrical and computer engineering professor Zongjie Wang; statistics professor Elizabeth Schifano; biomedical engineering professor Leila Daneshmandi; civil and environmental engineering professor Alexandra Hain; molecular and cell biology professor Kat Milligan-McClellan; biomedical engineering professor Kristin Morgan; civil and environmental engineering professor Fatemeh Fakhrmoosavi; animal science professor Maria Gracia Gervasi; mechanical, aerospace, and manufacturing engineering professor SeungYeon Kang; computing professor Lina Kloub; chemistry professor Priya Shah; pharmacy professor Kristin Waters, and mathematics professor Xiaodong Yan. 

The expo is co-chaired by UConn Engineering professors Qian Yang and Anna Tarakanova. 

To the students and budding engineers, UConn faculty advised them to challenge themselves, answer the unanswered questions, get involved, and above all else, be the hard worker they always dreamed of being. 

“Learn the skills you know you need to learn,” Wagstrom said. “Critically look at everything you’re producing. You are the best judge of your own work.” 

Tarakanova explained that through Gouin’s support, they hope to build momentum throughout the year, with smaller events and opportunities to gather together between the annual exposition. 

Jeanine Armstrong Gouin presenting.
Jeanine Armstrong Gouin presenting during the fourth annual WiSFiRE.

“We look to establish more mentor/mentee models through the STEM fields in the university,” Tarakanova said. “While many of us are blessed to have found our ‘home’ of supporters early on in our careers, there are many young women who still need to find their ‘STEM sisters.’” 

After the event, participants supplied feedback about the days’s offerings. 

“I personally enjoyed seeing that many amazing women in STEM,” one participant said. “It’s been a long time since the last time I felt welcome in an academic environment, but this event reminded me of who I always wanted to be.” 

Students enjoyed the opportunities for networking, and the panel speakers. 

“I enjoyed talking to other people, hearing the inspirational words, and hearing students present research,” one student commented. “I didn’t realize how intimidated I was by research before, and this experience has given me confidence and assurance that I can do it too.” 

View photos from the event online.