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Women Interested in the Study of Physics Calendar

We will post upcoming events for the Fall 2007 shortly. Below is a list of some past events.

Archive of past WISP events:

Spring 2004

Fall 2003

  • December 10- Meet with the colliquium speaker Sara Seager from the Carnegie Institue in Washington.

Summer 2003

  • July 2nd - Kelle Cruz recaps the state of women in astronomy and the events of the Women in Astronomy II meeting (June 28-29 in Pasadena, CA).

Spring 2003

  • April 8- Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) Breakfast at the American Physical Society's meeting. (4 wispers went).

Fall 2002

  • October 9- Meet with the colloquium speaker, Julianne Dalcanton from the University of Washington at 2:30 pm in the Faculty Lounge. (6 people came).

Summer 2002

  • July 25 - Meet with PSSA students for a discussion about women in science. (3 wispers came)

Spring 2002

  • April 24 - Take our Daughters to Work Day: Solar Observing. Wispers met with parents and daughters while observing clouds -- the Sun failed to make an appearance as previously planned. :-)
  • April 22. End-of-Year Social - Help us say goodbye to our graduating seniors. On the deck across from the Faculty Lounge.
  • April 10 - Meet with the Selove Speaker, Anneila Sargent. (4 people came)
  • WISP Colloquium - Vicki Colvin, Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University, will be presenting, "From Opals to Optics: Building Photonic Materials from the Bottom Up" at the WISP Colloquium on April 3 at 4pm. She will meet with WISP at 2:30-3:30pm on the afternoon of the colloquium. We will also meet for lunch at La Terrase on April 4. (5 people came to lunch)
  • Public Night at the Flower & Cook Observatory - On the evening of March 29, come out to Penn's off-campus observatory for a public night to be presented by WISP's own Nina Bonaventura and Kelle Cruz. Transportation will be provided. (3 people attended plus lots of family members!)
  • Professor Emily Thompson of the History & Sociology of Science Department has agreed to meet with WISP in an informal discussion of her varied and interesting career in science and academia. Before receiving her Ph.D. in the History of Science at Princeton University, Professor Thompson studied electrical engineering and physics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and worked at Eastman Kodak and AT&T Bell Laboratories. The discussion will be held at Houston Hall in mostly a Q&A fashion on Wednesday, March 20 at 5:30 pm. WISP members should meet at the DRL front entrance no later than 5:15 to walk to Houston Hall. Food and refreshments will be provided by Houston Market. (7 people attended)
  • January 29 - Seminar Series - Stephen McGill, a graduate student in the research group of Prof Jay Kikkawa, presented a talk entitled, "Working in Ultrafast Spectroscopy: Spin and Beyond." Steve discussed the concepts and techniques employed in his current research and offered insight into his experiences as a graduate student in the field. There were 13 people in attendance, and it was held at 3pm in DRL 2N36. Organized by Kiran Thadani.
  • February 21 - Organizational Meeting at 4pm in DRL 2N36 - there were 7 people in attendance.

Fall 2001

  • September 13 - Organizational Meeting at 3pm in DRL 3N6. There were 11 people in attendance.
  • September 25 - Introductory Social - Tuesday, September 25, 4pm in DRL Faculty Lounge - 11 people in attendance
  • October 22 - Trip to Flower & Cook Observatory - there were 3 people in attendance.

Summer 2001

  • July 25 - Meet with PSSA students for a discussion about women in science.

Spring 2001

  • January 30 - Introductory Social at 5pm in the Physics Faculty Lounge -- 12 people were in attendance. Organized by Kiran and Nina.
  • April 12 - WISP seminar at 4:30 pm, DRL 2N36, conducted by Zahed Wahhaj, who discussed the debris disk around the young star HR 4796A. There were four people in attendance.
  • April 26 - Open House at the Rooftop Observatory - From 1-3pm, visiting students took part in Take our Daughters to Work Day.
  • April 30 - Informal gathering for undergraduate majors with University of Michigan physics professor KATHERINE FREESE at 5pm in the Undergraduate Lounge.
  • May 2 - WISP End-of-Year Social, held on the deck across from faculty lounge from 12-1:30.

Fall 2000

  • September 7 - Organizational meeting at 3pm in DRL 2N36 -- 6 people were in attendance
  • September 18 - Introductory Social in the Faculty Lounge at 5pm. Organized by Andrea and Rachel.
  • September 20 - Informal meeting with physics educator guru Priscilla Laws at 2:30 pm, DRL 2N36.
  • October 6 - Organizational meeting at 4pm in DRL 2N36 -- 9 people were in attendance
  • October 18 - Informal meeting with Mara Prentiss, a professor at Harvard University who gave the department colloquium entitled, "Guiding Atoms on a Chip," at 4pm in DRL A2.
  • October 26 - Research Showcase at 5pm in DRL 2N36. Some of our WISP members discussed the physics research they are involved in to allow WISP members to hear about different areas of physics. First in the semester's Seminar Series.
  • October 31 - Halloween Movie Night at 6pm in DRL 4E9 -- 9 people were in attendance. Organized by Kiran and Nina.
  • November 16 - WISP SEMINAR SERIES - At 5pm, in DRL 2N36, Angelica De Oliveira-Costa spoke to WISP about her work in Cosmic Microwave Background and other cool things about being a researcher in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology. There were 7 people in attendance.
  • November 29 - WISP Colloquium -
  • Reshmi Mukherjee, of Barnard/Columbia, presented the physics department colloquium entitled "High Energy Gamma Ray Astrophysics in the GeV Domain and Beyond" at 4pm, DRL A2. Informal meeting with Reshmi Mukherjee before colloquium at 2pm, DRL 2N36.
  • December 6 - WISP SEMINAR SERIES - the last of the semester! Josh Gruber presented experimental results involving the consequences of placing a long polymer chain into solution. These high resolution measurements of the mean force between two colloidal particles in dilute polymer solutions provide the first direct evidence in support of theoretical models which include the effects of polymer chain anisotropy on forces in solution. 5pm, DRL 4E19.
  • Tuesday, December 12 - WISP END-OF-SEMESTER SOCIAL - 4:30pm, Undergraduate Lounge - 15 people were in attendance. Organized by Kelle.

Spring 2000

Fall 1999

  • Thursday, July 15 - Farewell Party for departing WISP members. Drop by Walters Deck and/or the Faculty Lounge between 3 and 5pm to wish them well!
  • September 2 - Meeting to setup mentoring program.
  • Tuesday, September 14 - Indroductory Meeting for anybody interested to come hear what WISP is all about. Mentees will met their mentors and we spent quality time socializing and eating! About 30 people attended.
  • Wednesday, September 15 - Cherry Murray gave the first WISP sponsored colloquium at 4pm in DRL A2. WISP had an informal meeting from 1:30 to 2:30 in the faculty lounge to chat with Dr. Murray. (3 people)
  • Thursday, September 23 - WISP Seminar Series - Tim Guild and David Koerner. 5pm in DRL 2N36. (10 people)
  • Monday, September 27 - Organizational Meeting.
  • Wednesday, September 29 - Meg Urry gave a WISP sponsored colloquium at 4pm in DRL A2. She gave the best talk on women in astronomy there is at 1pm in DRL 2N36. It was followed by an informal discussion. 7 people attended.
  • Thursday, October 7 - WISP Seminar Series - Jeff Klein: "Understanding through dating: a marriage of sciences." 6pm in 2N36. About 12 people attended.
  • Saturday, October 9 - Trip to The Magic of Flight and the Fels Planetarium.
    Transportation and admission were covered. We met in DRL lobby at 1:20. All of the activities were optional and SEPTA tokens or rides were provided for people when they decided to leave. Organized by Ariel and Taryn. (11 people attended)
  • Tuesday, October 26 - AWIS meeting in the Quad. The Sensory World of Infants: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. The talk will be given by Dr. Julie A. Mennella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. 2 WISP members attended.
  • Tuesday, October 26 - Women in Leadership Series presents: JUDY WICKS, Owner of White Dog and Founder of Businesses for Social Responsiblity.
  • Tuesday, November 2 - Women in Leadership Series presents: WENDY KOPP, Founder of Teach for America.
  • Monday, November 8 - Organizational Meeting
  • Wednesday, November 10 - Met Dr Marla Feller, a neuroscientist from National Institue of Health (NIH) at 9:00am in room 2C2 along with other members of Physics 280 (Biological Physics). She informally discussed how her career has evolved in this interdisciplinary field.
  • Friday, November 12 - MoViE NiGhT in DRL. FEATURE PRESENTATION: "Contact", starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. Presented by Nina and Marya. 6 people attended.
  • Saturday, November 13 - WISP Members presented several physics demonstrations to local Girls Scout troops. The Technology Day was organized by the Society of Women Engineers.
  • Tuesday, November 16, 6:30 pm - WISP Seminar Series - Jonathon Fisher and Ariel Michelman: "A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer for millimeter to far-infrared wavelengths." (Intro by Prof. Mark Devlin). 16 people attended!
  • Wednesday, November 17 - Women in Leadership Series presents: SUSAN DIETZ, Professional Theater Producer and Director.
  • Monday, November 22, 5 pm - WISP Seminar Series - Liz Caffrey: "Climate Change: A Look at the Big Picture" 14 people attended--9 of which were women!
  • December 7 - Organizational Meeting. 12:30 in DRL 3N6. Bring your lunch and we'll provide goodies. 4 in attendence.
  • December 13 - End of semester social. Join us for Indian food and mingling with physics majors, graduate students, and faculty! See ya in the Undergraduate Lounge (2N42?) at 5:30. Brought to us by Liz and Susan.

Spring 1999 Semester

  • Jan. 21; Social to introduce Mentees and Mentors and kick of Spring semester.
  • Feb. 18, The Life of a Researcher - An overview of physics subfields presented by grad students or undergrads working astrophysics, high energy, condensed matter, biophysics, and geophysics. Each presenter discussed her personal motivations, and what the life of a researcher is like in that sub-fields as well as their experiences as undergrad researchers.
  • Weds. March 3 - Informal Lecture by Prof. Charlie Johnson and Joe Lynch on "Making and measuring single molecule electrical circuits". This was the first in a series of lectures by physics and astronomy faculty, post-docs, grad students and undergrads, sponsored by WISP. These lectures will be held about every three weeks and are open to anyone who is interested, but will be particularly aimed at undergrads who are interested in or majoring in physics, and will be geared to that level. Topics will be based on current research, but will also serve as an introduction to that particular topic.
  • Fri. March 19 - Trip to Flower and Cook Off-Campus Observatory in Malvern The observatory has two telescopes and plenty of open spaces outside for naked eye stargazing and for using binoculars. Seven people attended and it was GREAT! We observed the Orion Nebula, the Whirlpool galaxy, and more. Click here to see a photo of M51 galaxy taken by WISP members that evening.
  • Thurs. April 8, 5pm at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (formerly PCPS). "Using Cesium Atomic Clock to Explore the Universe," a Sigma-Xi lecture by Norman Ramsey - a Nobel Laureate in Physics.
  • Fri. April 9, 5pm. Beverly Wong spoke about her experiences after recently getting a B.A. in Physics from Penn. Beverly now works at MIT Lincoln Labs and talked abut her experiences finding post-bac employment.
  • Wednesday April 14, 3pm. Tour of Arjun Yodh's lab. The lab's main research interests include complex fluids, laser spectroscopy of biological samples, biomedical applications of NIR imaging, and non-linear optical spectroscopy.
  • Thurs. April 22nd. WISP mixer on Walter's Deck DRL. Wisp members, mentees, current physics majors, and faculty are enjoyed free Indian food, drink and fun to wrap up the semester. This was a great opportunity to meet faculty and other students in a relaxed setting and ask about classes, research opportunities, and anything else. A great end to a great semester!

Fall 1998

  • Established WISP mentoring program, consisting of 15 mentors and 70 mentees
  • Sept. 14; Ice Cream Social to introduce Mentees and Mentors and kick off Fall semester
  • Oct. 7; Meeting with Physics Dept. Colloquium Speaker Andrea Liu from UCLA
  • Established "Decompressions Sessions" - WISP members meet every Friday in the early evening to unwind at a local coffee house (every Friday since Oct. 16)
  • Oct 26; WISP members attend the Meeting AWIS - Philadelphia at UPenn. Dr. Wendy Ashmore, UPenn Anthropology Dept presents "Archaeologies of the ancient MAYA at Xunantunich, Belize"
  • Oct 28; WISP members attend Women in Leadership Series - speaker is Helen Davies
  • Nov 4; WISP members attend Gloria Stienem's speech on Behalf of Connasiance
  • Nov 10; WISP members attend Women in Leadership Series - speaker is Judge Majorie O. Rendell
  • Nov 14; WISP members attend American Association of Women Symposium for young women at the Academy of Natural Sciences; assist as facilitators and recorders
  • Nov 22; WISP members and mentees go to Flower and Cook Observatory off-campus station.
  • Dec 2; WISP members attend the AWIS-Philadelphia meeting at the University of the Science in Philadelphia. Jessica DeGroot, Founder/Executive Director of the non-profit Third Path Institute, an organization dedicated to educating people on the successful integration of work, family, and other priorities in life spoke on "The 21st Century Family:Thinking Outside the box".