Schedule

Click for schedule and abstracts for contributed talks

Plenary Speakers:

The conference will feature two plenary lectures. One plenary lecture will be given by Dr. Cristina Villalobos, a Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and a Rice University CAAM alumnus. Her research interests include optimization, optimal control, and modeling. The other plenary lecture will be given by Dr. Pallavi Dani, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Louisiana State University. Her research research focus is in Geometric Group Theory.

Contributed Talks:

There will be several concurrent sessions of talks contributed by conference participants divided by mathematical subfield. Each session will consist of two-four 20 minute-talks, with a 5 minute question period and a 5 minute break for transitions transitions. Researchers of all career stages and in any mathematical subfield are encouraged to apply to give a talk.

Career Advancement Panel:

This panel of women mathematicians from both industry and academia will provide perspectives and share insights on leadership, transitioning into new sectors and careers, and overcoming obstacles - particularly as women in male-dominated fields. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions. Our panelists will be: Dr. Cassandra McZeal, Computational & Data Sciences Manager at ExxonMobil; Dr. Emily Hendryx, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at The University of Central Oklahoma; Dr. Joanna Papakonstantinou, Mathematics teacher at Episcopal High School; and Dr. Heleni Papastathopoulou, Senior Engineering Associate at ExxonMobil.

Professional Development Workshop:

There will be a professional development workshop where attendees will have the opportunity to practice their interviewing skills and share tips with each other, as well as discuss how imposter syndrome affects their lives and confidence. This event will be led by Wende Gaikema, who is a leadership coach from the Rice Doerr institute. The goal of this workshop is to provide women with actionable skills to use in an interview setting, grow the attendees’ networks with women mathematicians, and to brainstorm ways to combat imposter syndrome together.

Poster Session:

There will be a poster session to feature the research of many of our participants. Attendees of all career stages and in any mathematical subfield are encouraged to apply to present a poster.

Poster session canceled due to COVID-19 protocols

Lunchtime Breakout Sessions:

The conference will feature lunchtime breakout sessions where attendees of all career stages from various institutions will be provided with a set of questions to encourage discussion. The goal of these sessions is to foster open conversations in small groups encompassing attendees of all career stages from various institutions on topics such as work-life balance, sexism in the workplace, and intersectionality in mathematics, and encourage participants to develop solutions to shared challenges and discuss ways to navigate such obstacles.

Breakout sessions canceled due to COVID-19 protocols