GoMRI Student Webinar: Women in Science

As part of its ongoing student webinar series, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative and its Consortium for Resilient Gulf Communities present: Women in Science and.

Webinar Topic

This webinar highlights two female researchers and provides an opportunity for discussion around women working in science and issues related to gender equity in the field. Panelists discuss their individual career trajectories, as well as provide perspectives on being a woman working in scientific research.

Featured Speakers

Amy Lesen, PhD.

Dr. Amy Lesen is a Research Associate Professor at the Tulane University Bywater Institute. Dr. Lesen's work focuses on the relationship between ecological processes and human social dynamics in coastal cities and coastal communities and how those systems are influenced by climate and environmental change; her current projects are primarily situated in New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana. Dr. Lesen's research program spans multiple academic disciplines including the sociological aspects of biophysical science practice, scientific public engagement, science communication, participatory research, and interdisciplinarity. Dr. Lesen's past research addresses marine fisheries biology and management, as well as marine microbial ecology and food web dynamics focusing on both benthic and planktonic marine protists.

Dr. Lesen began teaching for DRLA in Spring of 2018.

Shanthi Nataraj

Shanthi Nataraj is an economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She serves as associate director of the RAND Arroyo Center's Personnel, Training, and Health Program. Her research interests include economic development, labor markets, and environmental and resource economics.

In the area of economic development, she is currently co-leading two studies examining informal labor markets in Bangladesh. Her research also includes a study on fostering technological innovation and planning for the Guangzhou Development District in China; the calculation of Gross Regional Product for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; ongoing analyses of the effects of India's trade liberalization, industrial licensing, and foreign direct investment (FDI) reforms on the productivity and growth of manufacturing firms; an examination of policies to encourage regional development in Indonesia; and an analysis of the impacts of labor regulations on employment in low-income countries.