Jenna Sumey is a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Through her research, Jenna engineers biomaterials that mimic human tissue stiffness with the goal of studying how cells interact with their surroundings, which has implications in diseases like lung fibrosis.
Jenna serves on the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Board. Previously in the role of recruitment chair, she organized and planned recruitment weekend visits for prospective graduate students with the intent of recruit students who may be good fit for the culture and research landscape of the department. Currently, she serves as the secretary, and is responsible for taking meeting minutes and keeping the board updated on meeting agendas, as well as distributing meeting and event information to the greater chemical engineering graduate student body. She also provides support to executive board members by helping them run specific events.
Jenna is one of two PhD Plus Liaisons from Department of Chemical Engineering in 2020-2021. Alongside her fellow PhD+ Liaisons, Jenna will collaborate with institutional and departmental teams on the broader goals of the AAU PhD Education initiative; namely, to make the full range of PhD career pathways visible, valued and viable for all students. Through her participation in PhD Plus Liaison Program for AAU PhD Education initiative, she is excited to contribute to PhD+, a program she has benefitted from. Jenna is grateful for this unique program at UVA, and it's gamut of seminar and workshop offerings. She participated in several PhD+ events and skills series since the beginning of her PhD training, and has really enjoyed them. To highlight a few, she attended the data literacy skills series, where she was first exposed to the R statistical programming language, and now frequently uses it for her research. She also participated in PhD+ discussions on mental health and career development of graduate students. When she found out that her department was participating in AAU PhD Education Initiative, and PhD+ was leveraging the liaisons program for student leadership on this initiative, she jumped at the opportunity to give back.
ABOUT THE LIAISON PROGRAM
As a professional development experience for advanced graduate students, PhD Plus Liaison program affords the opportunity to collaborate with department leaders and PhD Plus administrators to identify ways in which field-specific training and education can be enhanced through the implementation of programs, practices, and activities broadly related to professional development.
In 2020-2021, eight liaisons will provide student leadership on the University's AAU PhD Education initiative and represent the four participating departments: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, English and Religious Studies.