As we celebrate four years of Women of Fisheries, some of the Social Media Committee Members took the opportunity to share why this group is special to them:
The first major conference I attended as a fisheries student was the American Fisheries Society conference 2018 in Atlantic City. I was alone, had only partial funding from my university, and was presenting a poster of some basic growth work I did on white perch, so no one stopped to talk to me. Overall, I had a bad impression of AFS as a group: mostly old men dressed in fish-themed Hawaiian shirts, and desperate students in formal wear trying to impress them. At the time, I was questioning if fisheries was the right career path for me after so many failed graduate school applications and no luck finding mentors. The absolute highlight from this meeting was seeing Jesse Trushenski raised to president and getting to meet her at a fisheries career roundtable for students. Her passion for fisheries was infectious and made rethink AFS since someone like her was president. After the meeting, she mentioned the Women of Fisheries group on twitter, and I followed instantly. Over the past 4 years, I’ve discovered that all the board and committee members are amazing, hard-working women in fisheries, so now I have plenty of role models to look up to!
Alex Norelli
I have been lucky throughout my career to have women to look up to, starting with my internship during undergrad. I had four great women to learn from, and they inspired me to keep pursuing this field. I’ve also dealt with misogyny and bullying over the last ~15 years, but I have pushed through and grown from each situation because this is where my heart and soul belong. While both the positive and negative experiences have shaped me into the biologist I am today, I am always looking for ways to make this field less daunting for others.
I joined Women of Fisheries in August of 2018 but didn’t get heavily involved until 2021. I really wanted to help other early-career scientists find their footing, offer support to those dealing with issues in our field, and learn from others how to forge my own career path. Being in this group has helped me gain the confidence to return to school for my PhD, stand up for myself in professional situations, and helped me make network connections easily. I have met a lot of great ladies in the last four years and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this amazing community!
Heather Moncrief-Cox
When I was an undergrad and as a graduate student there were usually only a couple other women in my courses, and all but one of my professors were male. Most of the jobs I have had until my current job, I have been the first woman to be in that position. I was lucky to have a few female colleagues, and friends, that we were able to lean on and learn from and with each other. When I came across the Women of Fisheries group, it looked like a group I wanted to be involved in. Maybe I could use my experiences to be a resource for upcoming cohorts of female fisheries professionals that I wish I had had when I was earlier in my career.”
Lynn Mattes
I joined Women of Fisheries initially to network and make professional connections with other women in the field, but I have realized over time that this community is so much more. As an early career professional, the personal connections that I have felt through this fierce group of women have encouraged me to continue on this career path, when at times I was unsure of myself. There’s beauty in being able to celebrate each other’s triumphs and share the weight through difficult times – we are stronger because of the Women of Fisheries bond.
Maggie Coffey
Happy four years and hats off to the women who founded this group and brought us all together!