February 2023 Spotlight: Katherine Lee
Katherine Lee, Head of Scientific Planning and Operations, Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit, Pfizer, has been involved in the NESACS Board of Publications (BOP) since 2016. Since 2020, Katherine has served as the chair of BOP.
In this Member Volunteer Spotlight, learn more how Katherine became involved in volunteering as part of BOP, opportunities for mentorship, and advice to others interested in volunteering with BOP.
How did you become involved in this volunteer opportunity / position (including details regarding application / interview process if applicable)?
I was invited to attend meetings of the NESACS BOP when I served as Chair of NESACS in 2015, and since then I have never left! My interest in the mission of the BOP goes back to 2009, when I became the Chair of the Host Local Section Committee for the Fall 2010 ACS Meeting and Exposition in Boston. Members of our committee contributed articles to the Nucleus and at the ACS Meeting, we handed out copies of The Nucleus. I appreciated the community within the BOP and the wonderful contributions of Vivian Walworth, Mary Mahaney, James Phillips, Mike Filosa, and many others in communicating the activities of our local section.
For this volunteer opportunity / position did you have a mentor and/or do you serve as a mentor to others participants in this program?
When I joined the BOP in 2016, I benefited from mentorship from many BOP members. I observed how Vivian Walworth adeptly chaired BOP meetings, often hosting them at her home and sending us home with fresh duck eggs. Mike Filosa, the Editor of The Nucleus, taught me about the history of NESACS and The Nucleus, and exemplified how dedicated a volunteer could be to our Section. Jim Phillips taught me to appreciate community, as we would catch up about our families in addition to BOP business at our meetings. Did I mention snacks? In this era, before the COVID pandemic, we always met in person, and we took turns bringing an array of snacks, which could vary, as long as they included chocolate covered almonds.
In the BOP, we work together to brainstorm on how to support NESACS communications, be it in print, on the website, in emails, or on social media. We enjoy can-do culture in the BOP, thanks to current members Brian D’Amico, Mike Filosa, Jennifer Maclachlan, Ajay Purohit, Brittany Rauzan, Craig Sergeant, and Anna Singer.
What has been the most rewarding / exciting component of this volunteer opportunity / position?
I am thrilled with our recent refresh of the NESACS website (www.nesacs.org) and the redesign of The Nucleus. I have long been interested in personal branding and how NESACS presents itself to members and the broader chemistry community. Our new website is the result of a sustained effort by BOP members, including Craig Sergeant, in collaboration with a design firm Atomik, who we identified in a competitive process, thanks to Leanne Minall. We did a major overhaul of the website and switched to a different platform and site architecture to better support member engagement, usability, searchability, and site security. The design elements and site architecture were built with NESACS members’ user experience in mind. We worked with committee chairs to update the information shared on the website. The new website was unveiled on December 21, 2021.
Similarly, we worked with Atomik to redesign The Nucleus. Many of the elements of each issue reflect the traditional layout of The Nucleus. The refreshed design offers improved legibility, bolder use of color, and a more contemporary feel while respecting the rich history of The Nucleus, now in Volume 101. Please visit the NESACS website to peruse the current as well as back issues of the Nucleus: https://www.nesacs.org/the-nucleus/
What advice would you give to other individuals considering this volunteer opportunity / position?
The BOP is all about our volunteers. We are a group of people who enjoy working with each other on the communications of NESACS and engaging our NESACS members. Craig Sergeant, Editor of The Nucleus and NESACS Webmaster, and Brittany Rauzan and Mike Filosa, Associate Editors of The Nucleus, welcome your submissions of announcements, event write ups and other articles; photographs; and so on, as well as contributions to proofreading of The Nucleus. Jennifer Maclachlan is our social media owner for NESACS. Ajay Purohit, as Advertising Manager and former Chair of the BOP, and Brian D’Amico, Chair of the NESACS Membership Committee, bring helpful perspectives. Anna Singer, Administrative Coordinator of NESACS, offers her insights as a communications point person for our Section.
My advice for anyone who is interested in volunteer opportunities in the BOP is to consider how you would like to contribute to the mission of the BOP: To communicate effectively with NESACS members and the chemistry community through the NESACS website and our publications such as The Nucleus. To support the growth of the NESACS membership base via such communications and increase engagement and participation of our members in NESACS activities.
We in the BOP would love to hear from you.More broadly, NESACS has an array of volunteer opportunities, and we welcome you. I recommend that if you are interested in volunteering, to attend a NESACS Board Meeting to meet people and get an idea of the activities of the various committees. The NESACS website is a terrific resource in that we describe the mission, membership, and more of various committees. Not sure which committee is for you? Please reach out to any NESACS Board Member: I often meet with people to help match them to volunteer opportunities in
