Nadine Gassner, associate director of the UC Santa Cruz Chemical Screening Center, has been chosen to receive the 2010 Ellen Weaver Award for mentoring young women in science.
The Ellen Weaver Award, presented by the Northern California Chapter of the Association of Women in Science (NCC-AWIS), is given to a woman who is at an early stage in her research career and has distinguished herself in science and, more importantly, as a mentor. All NCC-AWIS awards are focused on women scientists who have made time to help younger women in science develop their career aspirations.
"Nadine is a gifted and exuberantly generous scientist and mentor who is worthy of this recognition," said Olof Einarsdottir, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry and associate dean of physical and biological sciences.
Gassner is an enthusiastic participant in outreach programs at UCSC that encourage young women and other students to pursue careers in science and technology. She created an exercise to explain "high-throughput" chemical screening procedures to high school girls as part of the Expanding Your Horizons Ambassadors program. She also leads research lab tours for the ACCESS Program, a bridge program to local community colleges.
Ellen Weaver, a faculty member at San Jose State University until her retirement in 1991, served as president of the national Association of Women in Science. Weaver herself will present the award to Gassner at the NCC-AWIS 16th Annual Banquet in late April in San Mateo.
