Conexiant
Login
  • The Analytical Scientist
  • The Cannabis Scientist
  • The Medicine Maker
  • The Ophthalmologist
  • The Pathologist
  • The Traditional Scientist
The Analytical Scientist
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Latest
    • News & Research
    • Trends & Challenges
    • Keynote Interviews
    • Opinion & Personal Narratives
    • Product Profiles
    • App Notes

    Featured Topics

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy

    Issues

    • Latest Issue
    • Archive
  • Topics

    Techniques & Tools

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy
    • Microscopy
    • Sensors
    • Data & AI

    • View All Topics

    Applications & Fields

    • Clinical
    • Environmental
    • Food, Beverage & Agriculture
    • Pharma & Biopharma
    • Omics
    • Forensics
  • People & Profiles

    People & Profiles

    • Power List
    • Voices in the Community
    • Sitting Down With
    • Authors & Contributors
  • Business & Education

    Business & Education

    • Innovation
    • Business & Entrepreneurship
    • Career Pathways
  • Events
    • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Multimedia
    • Video
Subscribe
Subscribe

False

The Analytical Scientist / Issues / 2020 / Nov / A Social (Media) Movement for Change
Career Pathways Career Pathways

A Social (Media) Movement for Change

By Lauren Robertson 11/13/2020 1 min read

Share


Co-founder of the Twitter campaign #BlackInChem, Devin is currently completing a PhD in mass spectrometry at Ohio State University. Her research focuses on small molecule analysis, with applications geared towards clinical diagnostics, drug screening, and disease biomarkers. She is also Ohio State Chapter President for the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).


I’m sure everyone has similar experiences in terms of microaggression and feeling slightly isolated. But I want to reiterate the point about everyone having the same opportunities – because I think some people don’t completely grasp what we mean by this. Sometimes it’s as simple as having someone to tell you about the opportunities. I started my undergraduate research late simply because I didn’t know about the choices available. Luckily, my chemistry advisor, Renã Robinson, was amazing and made sure I had all the tools I needed to get to where I am now – even though I was late to the party.

I think something else that people don’t necessarily realize is that as a Black graduate student, not only are you at university to learn – you have to teach too. Universities tend to love showcasing the smart Black kids in any department. And that can lead to Black students being tokenized – they are expected to essentially work as an “inclusion and diversity representative.” But there’s no extra credit or pay for this work – it’s just expected. For someone like me, that’s fine – I’m outgoing and it’s something I’m happy to speak about. But others may not want to play this role – an issue that actually came up in one of the discussions during #BlackInChem week. And it’s absolutely fine if people don’t want to do any of this stuff. The onus should be on other people to educate themselves – please don’t just make it the knee jerk reaction to ask your Black students.


To give some context, there were a lot of campaigns about Black scientists all over summer this year – like #BlackInNeuro and #BlackInGenetics. So I and the other co-founders decided to do something similar for chemistry. Did I think we’d be getting celebrity endorsements like MC Hammer and Michael B Jordan tweeting about it? Absolutely not. I was completely surprised by the scope the campaign reached. But it was just a great way to highlight the amazing Black chemists in these areas, and to also give people a place to network and connect.


The main motivation of all the campaigns was really to increase the visibility of Black scientists and showcase their talents – and to allow them to connect. But we also had a range of events during the week to help develop not only the social side of things, but also the more practical skills. We had an undergraduate 101 session, we had an elevator pitch competition to see how quickly they could present their research, and we networked more generally. I think we were really successful at creating a space where people felt comfortable and could ask any questions.

Social media is a great way of connecting with people across the world. It’s also a fantastic resource for archiving content – the hashtags in themselves make it easy for everyone to follow what’s being posted and it means you don’t miss anything.
 


Each day of the week was based on a subdivision of chemistry; for example, on the Monday it was #BlackInAnalytical. Every day was full of introductions, research pitches and then something a bit more fun for people to tweet about. Monday was a highlight for me, because we got everyone to tweet about their favorite technique. I’m a mass spectrometrist at heart, so for me, it’s obviously MS! We also had these other skills-building events outside of the daily bits as well, and we really tried to get a mix of academia and industry representation.


It was great to see how much people appreciated the campaign and how many people said they’d love it to continue in the future. We’re going to try to continue some of these initiatives, perhaps organizing some lectures and having a monthly meet and greet style event. We’ve also set up a website and are working on uploading profiles to make it easier for people to connect and ultimately recruit Black scientists. People have also been asking about merchandise, so that might be something we look at in the future...


I think the first thing you need to do is to make sure you’re accessible to your students. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your Black students and just ask if they’re okay – much of the time they might be scared to ask for help. Whether on social media or elsewhere, let them know you’re there for them. And get engaged with the different organizations doing diversity and inclusion work.


*Part of our "Holding a Mirror to Analytical Science" cover feature

Newsletters

Receive the latest analytical science news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.

Newsletter Signup Image

About the Author(s)

Lauren Robertson

By the time I finished my degree in Microbiology I had come to one conclusion – I did not want to work in a lab. Instead, I decided to move to the south of Spain to teach English. After two brilliant years, I realized that I missed science, and what I really enjoyed was communicating scientific ideas – whether that be to four-year-olds or mature professionals. On returning to England I landed a role in science writing and found it combined my passions perfectly. Now at Texere, I get to hone these skills every day by writing about the latest research in an exciting, creative way.

More Articles by Lauren Robertson

False

Advertisement

Recommended

False

False

The Analytical Scientist
Subscribe

About

  • About Us
  • Work at Conexiant Europe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 Texere Publishing Limited (trading as Conexiant), with registered number 08113419 whose registered office is at Booths No. 1, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, England, WA16 8GS.