500 Women Scientists Co-Founder Jane Zelikova Visits Meredith

Meredith College hosted a screening of the award-winning film The End of Snow with the film producer, Dr. Jane Zelikova, on April 3 at 7 p.m. in Jones Auditorium. The film highlighted Zelikova’s journey into the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado to investigate how climate change has impacted these remote habitats.  Watch the film’s trailer

On April 4 at 7 p.m. in Jones Auditorium, Zelikova gave her presentation titled “Living at the Intersection of Climate Change Science, Feminism, and Advocacy”.  Prior to the convocation, there was a reception with hors d’oeuvers in the SMB Atrium.

Zelikova started her life in Eastern Ukraine, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union, and fled to the U.S. as a refugee with her family when she was a teenager.  She received her B.S. from the University of Georgia and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado.  She has recently been a Fellow at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., and is a research scientist at the University of Wyoming. She loves to get her hands dirty and makes a lot of holes in the ground to study carbon in diverse habitats from the wet tropical forests to the snow caps of mountains.  In her spare time, she is the co-founder of 500 Women Scientists (now with more than 19,000 members in 100 countries) with the mission to “make science more open, inclusive, and accessible”.

Jane met with Meredith students, faculty, and staff from 11:45 to 1:15 p.m. in the Belk Dining Hall on Tuesday, April 3 and at the pre-convocation reception from 5 to 6 p.m. in the SMB atrium on April 4.

The film and convocation were free and open to the public. For Meredith students, the events qualified as an academic/cultural event.

Zelikova’s two day visit was supported by the Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Sustainability Program and the Department of History, Political Science, and International Studies.

Please contact Erin Lindquist (a proud mentor of Jane’s) with any questions you may have at erinlind@meredith.edu.