Our Mission
The mission of the Seattle Area Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) is to create a broad, interdisciplinary, welcoming environment to advance the careers of women in science and technology, and promote the participation of Girls in the sciences.
Our Vision
We envision a world where Seattle Women of all ages are actively supported in STEM hobbies, studies, and careers. We believe that the entire Seattle community will benefit when women are positively represented, compensated, and recognized for their achievements in all STEM pursuits.
2025-2026 Seattle AWIS Board Members
Contact Us
President Tracy E. Popowics, PhD president@seattleawis.org
Vice President Laura Szkolar Sienkewicz, PhD, PMP, RAC vicepresident@seattleawis.org
Secretary OPEN (contact president@ for more info)
Treasurer Reitha Weeks, PhD treasurer@seattleawis.org
Events/Programs Charlotte Mesecar, MBA, BS Chemistry, PMP events@seattleawis.org
Group Mentoring Olivia Lens, PhD mentoring@seattleawis.org
Membership Miriam L. R. Meister, PhD membership@seattleawis.org
Schorlarship Fran Solomon, PhD, Rian de Laat scholarship@seattleawis.org
Awards & Banquet OPEN (contact president@ for more info)
Publicity Dharni Shah, MS webmaster@seattleawis.org
Website Ijeoma (IJ) Kalu, MSc webmaster@seattleawis.org
Girls in Engineering Math & Science (GEMS) Sulagna Bharat, Ria Purohit, Jiang Shang, Claire Watts, PhD gems@seattleawis.org
Our History
Seattle AWIS was founded in 1985, through graduate students and post-doctoral researchers at the University of Washington (UW). Early days for Seattle AWIS focused on UW graduate students, postdocs, and faculty in the biological and health sciences with chapter meetings held at UW South Campus Center