The Spring 2022 Physics Careers Seminar Series Concludes on May 19 with a Presentation by Dr. Jia Gloria Lee

The Spring 2022 Physics Careers Seminar series concludes Thursday, May 19 with a hybrid seminar by alumna Dr. Jia Gloria Lee from the University of San Diego, who will talk about "Teaching and Mentoring at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution" at 2:00 p.m. Details of Dr. Lee's seminar are given below.

Time: 2:00 p.m. Central Time on May 19, 2022

Location: Rm. 276 Loomis; A Zoom link will also be forwarded to the Illinois Physics Grad Student email list. For a copy of the link, please contact Lance Cooper (slcooper@illinois.edu).

Title: Teaching and Mentoring at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

Speaker: Dr. Jia Gloria Lee, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow, University of San Diego

Abstract: The University of San Diego is a liberal arts college dedicated to serving its 5500 undergraduate students. I will describe my experiences as both a postdoc and lecturer in USD’s Department of Physics and Biophysics for the last three years. My decision to work at a small undergraduate focused institution, despite my previous experiences in large research universities, stemmed from a desire to work closely with students in both teaching and research capacities. In each of these roles, mentoring has been an essential component of my work. I would love to end my talk by thinking collaboratively about how to effectively mentor and be mentored, as I believe good mentoring relationships are key to creating a sustainable work environment in academia.

Bio: Dr. Jia Gloria Lee is a lecturer at the University of San Diego with a background in experimental biophysics. She received a BA in physics from UC Berkeley and a PhD in physics from UIUC. Her graduate work focused on tracking ‘jumping genes’ using fluorescence microscopy and describing their evolutionary impact using statistical mechanics. As a postdoctoral researcher at USD, she synthesized active tunable biomaterials and characterized their mechanical properties. In addition to teaching, she is dedicated to creating inclusive communities within physics. To that end, she works as a Core Organizer for the Access Network, a collection of student-led programs that promote diversity and equity within STEM fields at universities across the country.

You can see the rest of the Spring 2022 Physics Careers Seminar series here: https://physics.illinois.edu/calendar/careers-seminar