Panel Discussion & Work Session

Abigail Fraeman is a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She lead the Mars Science Laboratory campaign of Vera Rubin Ridge and is the Deputy Project Scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Dr. Fraeman studies the origin and evolution of terrestrial bodies in the solar system, with a focus on Mars and its moons. She received the NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal and the JPL Voyager award in 2018, and numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards.

Katherine Freese is the Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics at the University of Texas, Austin. From 1991-2019 she was the George E. Uhlenbeck Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan. She served as Director of Nordita, the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Nordic countries in Stockholm from 2014-2106 and is now Guest Professor at Stockholm University. She works on a wide range of topics in theoretical cosmology and astroparticle physics. She has been working to identify the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the universe as well as to build a successful model for the early universe immediately after the Big Bang. She is author of a book The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter, published in June 2014 by Princeton University Press. Prof. Freese is the Chair of the Symposium Organizing Committee and is the recipient of the 2019 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society “for ground-breaking research at the interface of cosmology and particle physics, and her tireless efforts to communicate the excitement of physics to the general public.”

Pearl Sandick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah. Prof. Sandick is a theoretical particle physicist studying physics beyond the Standard Model, including possible explanations for the dark matter in the Universe. She has given a TEDx talk, been interviewed on KCPW’s Cool Science Radio and NPR’s Science Friday, and received a University of Utah Early Career Teaching Award. Prof. Sandick has recently served on the American Physical Society (APS) Committee on the Status of Women in Physics and as the Chair of the National Organizing Committee for the APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiPs). Prof. Sandick will also be giving an invited talk on Tuesday on the subject of Dark Stars.

Kathryne Sparks Woodle is an Education and Diversity Programs Manager at the American Physical Society (APS) in College Park, Maryland. She currently serves as the APS National Mentoring Community project manager while having previously worked on the STEP UP 4 Women, Bridge Program, and PhysTEC projects. In this capacity, Woodle promotes a diverse professional community by supporting groups underrepresented in physics to attain Bachelor’s degrees and PhDs. Prior to coming to APS, Woodle received her PhD in particle astrophysics from Penn State University. Woodle worked on detecting very high-energy emission from gamma-ray bursts with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory.

Elizabeth Nesbitt follows trade and competitiveness issues related to pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. She has been a project leader and/or major author on reports and articles addressing a wide variety of topics ranging from industrial biotechnology to SMEs to prescription drug pricing and has made several presentations on these topics.

Ms. Nesbitt has received numerous professional awards, including the Distinguished Service Award; the Association of Women in International Trade’s (WIIT) Outstanding Member of the Year; and the WIIT Lifetime Achievement Award. She earned a B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. in chemical engineering from Manhattan College. She belongs to several organizations, including ARCS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the New York Academy of Sciences, and WIIT.

Patricia Sparrell retired from ExxonMobil after 33 years of service as the ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Global Manager of Process Engineering and Optimization Technologies. During her career she held a variety of technical, operational and managerial positions in Research & Engi­neering, Marketing & Refining, Supply & Logistics, as well as serving as the President of ExxonMobil Biomedi­cal Sciences, Inc.

She is currently Chair of The Sage Col­leges Board of Trustees, and President of the Washington Metro Chapter of the ARCS Founda­tion (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists). In addition, she is a member of the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board at Northwestern University. She has been an invited speaker at multiple conferences including the ARC Advisory Group Symposium and she presented the Hugh Hulburt Memorial Lecture at Northwestern University. She has received multiple honors and awards including: Tribute to Women and Industry Award and National Association of Professional Women VIP Woman of the Year Circle. Patricia holds multiple patents and has authored multiple papers.

Patricia holds a B.A. Dual Degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from Russell Sage College and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. Patty is married to Duncan Sparrell and the proud mother of three daughters. She can be contacted at: ptsparrell@gmail.com