Sara Wisser

• University of Oregon Graduate 2005, MS, Organic Chemistry studied with PI- Professor Darren Johnson
• Senior Genetic Analysis Sales Professional, Thermo Fisher Scientific

Sara is a Senior Sales Professional at Thermo Fisher Scientific, she is based in the Austin, Texas region. She believes: When we work together, your goals become mine. I am intentional with my thoughts and actions to communicate in a caring, strategic and intelligent manner with you. I have an owner’s mentality and that’s your assurance that I won’t stop until you tell me “Job well done!”

Sara strives to fulfill her passion for people and driving science forward through her role within the Life Sciences Commercial Sales Team at Thermo Fisher Scientific. She currently selling the Genetic Analysis portfolio of platforms including Next Generation Sequencing (Ion torrent), Real-Rime PCR and Capillary Electrophoresis Sequencing Systems (Applied Biosystems), engaging with her customers to assist them to accomplish their goals, and working with her colleagues to always provide a team solution. During the past 9.5 years at within this company, Sara started her career as a Molecular Probes Technical Scientist on the Technical Support Team, then grew into a Senior Sales Role which included spending time selling the Cellular Analysis portfolio in the Mid-West US and Canada regions as a Technical Sales Specialist, while acting on the Sales Advisory Council. More recently, she achieved the 2013 Top Genetic Analysis System Sales Representative for Western North America and was invited to be part of the 2014 Chairman’s Club.

Sara has a passion to help develop women leadership. She has shown drive both in her personal & professional activities.

Highlights:

• Founder of the Women In Graduate Science community at University of Oregon during her graduate tenure
• Sixteen years of service raising money and knowledge for Breast Cancer Awareness through the National Sorority Alumnae National Offices
• Service on the leadership team of Life Technologies’ International Women’s Influential Network (IWIN) Field Chapter as a Co-Leader and Recruitment and Retention Co-Chair for the past 5 years

Julia Widom

I did my doctoral work in the lab of Andrew Marcus at U of O, and graduated at the end of 2013. I started a postdoc at the University of Michigan in January of 2014, working in the lab of Nils Walter. In my current work, I am using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to study RNA dynamics in transcription and splicing complexes.

Ruth Siboni

Ruth earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 2015 while working in the lab of Dr. Andy Berglund. Upon graduation, she was awarded a National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI) fellowship, which allowed her to spend the summer in Osaka, Japan as a researcher in the lab of Dr. Masayuki Nakamori. Upon returning to the United States, Ruth accepted a Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As a PMF, Ruth has been assigned to the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, where she supports the space biological research team by reviewing research plans, writing policy memoranda about NASA’s research strategies, and attending STEM-related outreach events in coordination with other federal agencies.

Liesl McCormick

I am an assistant professor of biology at Pacific University, located in Forest Grove, OR. At Pacific, I have taught a variety of courses – from upper-division courses in neurobiology and developmental biology, to non-majors courses in genetics and the biology of Iron Man! I am currently focusing on developing and teaching both semesters of a new year-long introductory biology sequence, and am interested in developing assessments to evaluate the success of new teaching strategies.

Spring Knapp

I’m currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison, working with Prof. Clark Landis. My research is on the development of a high-pressure NMR reactor that can be used to study gas-fed reactions under realistic reaction conditions using NMR spectroscopy. I am currently using the reactor, which we have dubbed the Wisconsin High-Pressure NMR Reactor, or WiHP-NMRR (pronounced whip NMR), to investigate rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation, and hope to expand the scope of my studies to other homogeneously catalyzed gas-fed reactions.

Sarah Brady

Sarah earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2013 while working in Professor David Tyler’s Lab. After graduation, she accepted a California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) Policy Fellowship where she was a fellow in Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla‘s office. Sarah was assigned several legislative bills authored by Assemblywoman Bonilla. Last Fall, Governor Brown signed AB 2350 ‒ Keeping Women in STEM into law. This bill was developed by an original policy idea Sarah presented to Assemblywoman Bonilla. The new law seeks to increase the number of women in STEM careers by preventing pregnancy discrimination in graduate programs and requiring all California universities and colleges to establish a maternity leave policy for their graduate students. Upon completion of the fellowship, Sarah accepted a permanent position in Assemblywoman Bonilla’s office as a Legislative Aide. In addition to handling legislation, Sarah conducts bill analysis and provides vote recommendations to Assemblywoman Bonilla on all bills related to utilities and commerce, energy, water, natural resources, and environmental toxicity. In her free time, Sarah likes to brew beer, cook, hike, and is the Programming Chair for the CCST Science Fellows Alumni Group.