When Rosa Galvez entered the field of environmental engineering, girls and women weren’t always encouraged to consider STEM professions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Galvez is now an Independent senator for Quebec and a leading expert on the effects of pollution on human health. She will join York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton on Monday, Oct. 28, for an Armchair Discussion on Women in STEM.
Galvez and Lenton will be speaking with Lassonde School of Engineering students in a conversation about gender inequality and the barriers that women face in the field of STEM. Galvez will share her lived experiences, including how her leadership style has been shaped by being a woman in engineering, an immigrant from Peru, and a woman of colour. She has advised international government bodies on the protection of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, and studied the catastrophic oil spill at Lac-Mégantic.
The event moderator is Jane Goodyer, dean of Lassonde and an advocate of the advancement of women in engineering. Goodyer created a national humanitarian engineering outreach program for 10- to 14-year-old girls. Her experiences as a woman engineer are also featured in the e-book Rising to the Top: Global Women Engineering Leaders Share Their Journeys to Professional Success, released earlier this month.
The Armchair Discussion on Women in STEM will begin at 2 p.m. and continue until 3:10 p.m., including audience questions. The event will take place in The Eatery in the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence at York University’s Keele Campus. Members of the public are required to RSVP for this event.