ECSU Dean to Receive STEM Achievement Award from Connecticut Science Center

The Connecticut Science Center has named Carmen Cid, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Eastern Connecticut State University, recipient of its 2020 STEM Achievement Award.  The Science Center will honor Cid and her accomplishments, and recognize additional stand-outs in the STEM fields, at its virtual “Green Gala: Love Science” event on Oct. 3.

The Connecticut Science Center celebrates the achievements of professionals, groups, advocates, businesses, and leaders who “share our mission to inspire lifelong learning through interactive and innovative experiences that explore our changing world through science.”

“This award recognizes you as a leader in your field, and as someone who advocates for the sciences and inspires engagement in STEM fields by bringing your work to new audiences,” wrote Matt Fleury, president and CEO of the Connecticut Science Center in a letter to Cid.  “The mission of the Connecticut Science Center is to inspire lifelong learning through innovative experiences that explore our changing world through science and to open science to a more diverse audience, engaging people from all social and cultural backgrounds,” Fleury wrote. “Thank you for your efforts to further STEM education, and in shaping the young minds and innovative leaders of today and tomorrow.”

Cid was selected from amidst a field of candidates for the award who have contributed to advancing interest and accomplishment in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The nominees included Leticia Colon, Founder & CEO, Energy Efficiencies Solutions; Clare Neseralla, STEM Coach, CREC Discovery Academy; Kathleen Rowland, Materials & Process Engineer, Sikorsky Aircraft, A Lockheed Martin Company;  Maranda Wong, MPE Commercial Engines CIPT Deputy, Pratt & Whitney; and Rachel O’Neill, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology / Genetics and Genomics, UConn.

Additional awards to be presented are the 2020 STEM Achievement Organization Award, from among nominees Cognizant U.S. Foundation, The Hartford, and University of Saint Joseph, and the 2020 Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award.  That award will go to Jacquelynn Garofano, Margaret Ingels Engineering Development Program Manager, Raytheon Technologies. As a first-generation college student, Jackie Garofano knows the challenges that one must overcome. She is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and was a 2018 Future is NOW awardee by the CT Women’s Education and Legal Fund for her work to advance women and girls in the STEM field. Her passion is being the catalyst that will help set others on a STEM path, igniting their love of STEM and education.

With strong alumni connections to Southern Connecticut State University and UCONN, she seeks out opportunities to share her journey and encourage women because “see her, be her” is real and women in engineering need to be both seen and heard, the Science Center profile of Garofano highlights. She has participated in panel sessions, science fairs, and outreach events and even serves as a community leader for United Way & Women United. To Garofano these are platforms to advocate for women and girls in STEM. She strives to be someone young students, especially those in under-served communities, can look to and encourage with “you can do anything you set your mind to!”

The other outstanding nominees for the Women in Science Leadership Award included Emily Bartz, S-70i Staff Project Engineer, Sikorsky Aircraft; Stephanie Bealing, Founder & President, Replacement Lens Express; Michelle Bellinger, Teacher, Academy of Aerospace and Engineering; Katherine Coyner, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, UConn Musculoskeletal Institute, UConn Health; Nicole Feeney, Director of Assistive Technology Service, the NEAT Center at Oak Hill; and Elif Kongar, Chair, Department of Technology Management and Mechanical Engineering, University of Bridgeport

Throughout her career, Cid has worked to improve opportunities for women and minorities in STEM.  In 2017, she was elected a fellow by the Ecological Society of America (ESA), which represents more than 9,000 ecologists, for her leadership and contributions enhancing ecology education outreach to diverse audiences; recruitment and retention of women and minorities in ecology; and applying ecological principles to improve undergraduate liberal arts education.  Nationally, Cid helped to develop the 2018 ESA-endorsed undergraduate ecology education curricular framework, which elevates all aspects of the human dimension, along with innovative data science methods, in the research and teaching of ecology.

Cid has been involved in bilingual environmental education projects highlighting local forest and wetland sites, and is now working on connecting well-known local historical facts to the environmental data of local parks, to tell their meaningful environmental stories for science education outreach programs.

In September, Cid and the Science Center will produce a short video in Spanish at the Keney Park Urban Agriculture Education site in Hartford on the wonders and educational value of local park environmental programs. The video will also discuss ecology and encourage people of color to become more engaged and educated in the environmental fields.  Tropical Storm Isaias did significant damage to the Wethersfield Broad Street Green, a historical treasure of great importance in the Revolutionary War and New England history. After the storm, Cid examined the area and believes it offers an excellent view of the connection between the environment and the history of this important community gathering place.

“It is very connected to the reason for the award and the mission of the Connecticut Science Center,” said Cid, a resident of Wethersfield. “Today, it serves as a major gathering place for recreation, inspiration and access to local fresh produce. The Great Elm, the largest elm tree recorded in America, was planted nearby in 1750 and survived 200 years at the site.”