Only two years into her graduate degree in developmental biology at the U, Andy Sposato has not only become a stellar researcher but a champion for underrepresented groups in STEM. She and fellow grad student Dylan Klure founded the LGBTQ+ STEM Interest Group at the U, which is an organization of LGBTQ+ students and faculty dedicated to professional development and community advancement for LGBTQ+ individuals pursuing careers in STEM.
Sposato has been a force for not only the LGBTQ+ community but for greater diversity initiatives as well. Sposato also founded the Representation and Communications Committee in the School of Biological Sciences, which seeks to improve the representation of individuals from diverse cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds at the graduate level.
Sposato recognizes the opportunities she’s been given. “I come from a place of privilege,” she said, but she wants to make the most of the platform she has. “Right now I have a seat at the table.” Sposato recognizes just how critically important diversity in STEM is — “It can feel like there is no one else like you, doing the same things as you,” he said. With diversity comes a diverse set of ideas and thinking.
“For me, it’s important that while I’m here, I want to get more voices around the table,” she said.
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