L’Oréal USA has selected five recipients for the 2015 For Women in Science Fellowship, which recognizes female scientists with $60,000 grants to advance their postdoctoral research. Since its inception in the U.S. 12 years ago, the L’Oréal For Women in Science program has awarded 60 postdoctoral women scientists nearly $3 million in grants.
This year’s five fellows work across a broad range of research in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. They include Sarah Ballard, a postdoctoral fellow in exoplanetary astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Julie Meyer, a postdoctoral scientist in marine microbiology at the University of Florida; Sarah Richardson, a postdoctoral fellow in synthetic biology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Joint BioEnergy Institute and at the University of California, Berkeley; Claire Robertson, a postdoctoral scientist in cancer bioengineering at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Ming Yi, a postdoctoral scientist in condensed matter physics at the University of California, Berkeley.
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“As shown by this year’s For Women in Science fellows, the contributions of women in STEM are exceptional, yet too often go unnoticed,” stated Frédéric Rozé, president and chief executive officer of L’Oréal USA. “L’Oréal’s pioneering legacy of innovation is built upon our scientific workforce — which is made up of more than 70 percent women — and we are proud to recognize the achievements of these fellows through our ongoing support of women in science.”
The fellows will be honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, which will also be attended by elected officials, policymakers, leaders in STEM and representatives from across the scientific community. Earlier in the week they will participate in a mentoring session with female middle and high school students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington’s Richard England Clubhouse in Washington, D.C., and tour L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation labs in Clark, N.J.
In addition to partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, L’Oréal also is working with the LearnServe Fellows Program and several high schools to sponsor 30 local young women interested in a career in the STEM fields to attend the awards ceremony.