McNair Scholar Sylvia Kennerly Attended the Society for Glycobiology (SFG) 2023 Annual Meeting on Big Island, Hawaii with Mentor Dr. Ashley. Running from November 5-8, the 50th anniversary of this SFG event brought together “leading glycobiologists from around the world to discuss fundamental mechanisms by which glycans and glycan-binding proteins regulate cell and organismal physiology and pathophysiology”. Sylvia presented her poster “The Sugary Side of Notch: How overexpression of Fringe impacts osteoclastogenesis“.
Sylvia remarks she met a lot of professors in person that she’d been corresponding with over the summer, including the latest president for CCRC/SFG, a leading Biology organizational body. Sylvia excitedly talked about getting to meet Dr. Haltiwanger, who “started doing what I’m doing 20 years ago!!!”.
When asked what she’d like to pass on to other scholars and students, she talked about appropriately representing yourself and your research. She noted outside the fanfare, being able to speak about her research to others was impressive to the professors and herself- ‘I think I was the only undergrad presenting”. This helped Sylvia to “change my elevator pitch, to start by ‘I’m an undergrad researching_____'” to make sure the conversation was placed in the correct context and open appropriate conversations and networking opportunities.
