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Dana is a third year PhD student studying Biological Engineering. Her research focuses on new therapeutics for hard-to-treat infectious diseases. Dana was recently awarded a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award based on her commitment to making CU Boulder and the larger community a more inclusive space for everyone. We asked Dana a few questions to learn more about her work and get to know her better. Read more below!

Give us a brief overview of your recent DEI work.

My primary role in DEI work involves my participation in the student organization STEM Routes, which works to create an inclusive community for STEM graduate and undergraduate students who are first-generation, low-income, or under-represented. Our biggest program right now is the .

The Uplift Program collaborates with existing undergraduate research programs, such as UROP and BSI, to ensure participants gain the skills and experience they need to become competitive applicants for any hands-on scientific projects. Many existing opportunities demand that students volunteer their time (which is not possible for many low-income students) or learn on the fly (which is exceptionally challenging without excellent mentorship). We address these challenges by dedicating the first 8 weeks of our 24 week program to shadowing and training. Students are also required to attend regularly occurring workshops that inspect a technical aspect of career development (such as science communication or REU applications) or a soft-skill necessary in the sciences (such as navigating imposter syndrome or finding an identity in STEM). Finally, in addition to a lab mentor, participating Uplift students also meet every other week with an identity-based STEM Routes mentor to ensure students feel supported even outside their science. Student participants have no GPA or coursework prerequisites for this program and they receive a stipend for their work, making this program a bridge into the world of undergraduate research for many students.

What resources do you recommend for someone who is interested in getting involved with DEI?

CU has a variety of DEI efforts at every level (campus, college, department, etc.) and they all overlap and collaborate. The best way to find a DEI effort that you jive with is to get involved! The more you engage, the more you'll learn about other programs, clubs, and efforts around the university.

If you're in a STEM field, I recommend the organization STEM Routes, a program run by graduate students which predominantly serves low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented undergraduate students in STEM. If you're looking for something campus-wide, check out Diversify CU Now which brings together students, faculty, and staff to work towards institutional changes which better support diverse members of our campus community.

How would you define Diversity, Equity, and/or Inclusion?

I'm not sure the textbook definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion are too important beyond motivating work which contributes to a community that ensures the success of every individual. Enabling success is not controversial; accounting for diversity, equity, and inclusion in pursuit of enabling success means we must consider that success is achieved and ultimately manifests in unique ways and that each individual has the agency to define that success for themselves.

In other words, diversity acknowledges that every individual's definition of success, excellence, and happiness is unique. Equity ensures that resources are available to enable each individual to accomplish their goals and pursue their lifepath. Inclusion empowers each individual to identify and explore their definition of success and celebrates the many different ways success, excellence, and happiness can manifest.

Tell us a bit about the people and communities you have connected with during your DEI work.

There is no shortage of incredible people you meet doing this kind of work. I've met incredible individuals across the school through prospective student recruitment events, mentorship trainings, conferences and community meetings or forums, and more. The more I engage, the more I expand my network.

A potent epicenter of creative thinkers in the DEI space is the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL), where I've never failed to find individuals so stoked to explore the nuance of normalized community practices and experiences. The BOLD Center (an inclusive community for underrepresented students in the College of Engineering) has been a home for me since 2014 when I began my undergraduate degree at CU Boulder. Today, it continues to be a trove of incredible student advocates and passionate engineers. My home base DEI community is STEM Routes, a graduate student-led organization which creates programming to help underrepresented students advance their STEM career. Beyond the event planning, STEM Routes is a supportive community of students—each with their unique obstacles and challenges in pursuit of a STEM career—who informally mentor one another. I've established some of my closest friendships through STEM Routes while contributing to serving as the mentor I wish I had.

Tell us a fun fact about you that is not related to your research, advocacy, or academics.

I'm obsessed with working on projects. I have about 16 hobbies that I keep up with on a regular basis. Typically, I'll finish a long day at school, working towards externally imposed deadlines, only to come home and work on my personal deadlines. Some of my hobbies include reading, painting, graphic design, skateboarding, studying foreign languages, and playing video games.

Oh, I also keep track of my projects with mini syllabi that I put together myself and manage in a digital planning app called Notion. I suppose I could list planning and tracking as an additional hobby of mine...

What is a good book you have read recently and why did you enjoy it?

TJ Klune is a lovely author whose stories evoke all the warm, fuzzy feelings you want when you're curled up in front of a fireplace (real or virtual) with a hot drink in the coldest months of the year. But my favorite part of Klune's books are that he confronts modern-day issues, like systemic racism or death and grieving, in a contemporary fantasy world. Furthermore, Klune is queer himself and his stories include accurate, positive queer representation.

Most recently, I read Under the Whispering Door, a story which follows a recently deceased lawyer, whose ghost lingers around a tea shop until he is ready to cross over to whatever comes next. During his time at the tea shop, our protagonist lawyer reflects on the way he lived his life and pursues a more profound happiness with the people he meets at the tea shop in his few remaining weeks. This book explores grieving, death, nostalgia, love, and chaos in such a simple, achingly human way. Klune managed to describe experiences and emotions I wasn't able to put into words. I absolutely did not know how much I needed this book until I read it.