Students, faculty, alumni and staff gathered at Dalhousie to celebrate International Women’s Day with an inspiring conversation featuring alumni leaders working across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Now in its ninth year, the annual panel brings together members of the Dal community to hear first-hand from women navigating careers in STEM fields. This year’s event took place in the Goldberg Computer Science Building and featured alumni representing the Faculties of Agriculture, Computer Science, Engineering and Science.
The panel included Allana Loder (BSc Agr’01, MSc’07), a genomic liaison technical officer with the Public Health Agency of Canada; Kim‑Frederique Viens (BCS’22), a digital accessibility analyst with Shared Services Canada at Accessibility, Accommodations and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT); Elisabet Astatkie (BEng’25), a product analyst at Nova Scotia Power; and Hilary Moors‑Murphy (PhD’12), a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The discussion was moderated by science students Erika Peck and Wateen Sadek, who also shared their own experiences pursuing studies and careers in STEM.
Discussing women in STEM.
Panelists reflected on their personal experiences, including their time at Dalhousie students and the careers they are working in today. They discussed what first sparked their interest in their fields, the challenges they navigated along the way, and offered advice for the next generation of women in STEM.
Moments when it clicked
Loder spoke about the importance of building professional relationships. “In agriculture, everyone knew everybody. It wasn’t until I was in grad school that I really learned how to network,” she said. “I took that skill forward in my career and it’s how I advanced.”
In agriculture, everyone knew everybody. It wasn’t until I was in grad school that I really learned how to network.
For Astatkie, opportunities outside the classroom were transformative.
“Growing up I was very involved in my local community, particularly within the African Nova Scotian community,” she said. “As a student at Dal, I joined many societies, including Go Eng Girl and the Imhotep's Legacy Academy. Those experiences shaped me. I grew much more outside the classroom than within it.”
Attendees asked questions to panelists during a Q&A segment of the event.
Moors-Murphy shared that her career studying whales began with a formative research experience at Dalhousie.
“I had the opportunity to work in Dr. Hal Whitehead’s lab and to study whales,” she said. “That really cemented it for me.”
Viens described how a chance programming course changed her academic direction.
“I was studying psychology when I took a programming class,” she said. “Looking at code, everything suddenly started to make sense. That’s how I found my calling.”
Emerging opportunities
Panelists also spoke about emerging opportunities in STEM fields. Viens highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence.
“Artificial intelligence is something we need to embrace, not avoid,” she said.
Loder pointed to the increasing demand for expertise in computational biology, while Moors-Murphy noted that remote sensing is becoming a rapidly expanding area in research.
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Mistakes allow you to learn and grow.
The evening concluded with questions from audience members, with much of the discussion centring on mentorship and the importance of building supportive professional networks.
Loder left students with a final piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to try new things. Mistakes allow you to learn and grow. Go and follow your dreams.”
Dr. Chuck Macdonald (far left), dean in the Faculty of Science, and Dr. John Newhook (far right), dean in the Faculty of Engineering, with panelists and moderators.