AISES Full-Circle Mentorship Celebrates National Mentor Month

January is National Mentor Month, and AISES is excited to celebrate a mentorship pair from the Full-Circle Mentorship group. The mentor, Kathie McAlpine, MD, MPH, MS, an expert consultant with NASA, and the mentee, Joanna Cooley, a Neuroscience student, and A.T. Anderson scholar, met through the Full-Circle Mentorship group and dove headfirst into a successful mentorship journey.

Kathie McAlpine, MD, MPH , MS

Throughout her life, Kathie has been mentored by different people and profoundly values the unique opportunity to mentor. When asked what drives her to be a mentor and invest in Joanna, Kathie answered, “It’s the responsibility of those of us that have had opportunities and life lessons to hand that knowledge down to the next generation. Because if we don’t, who will? And I tell all the students that I mentor that it’s expected of them to hand back the information and knowledge that they receive to the next generation; that is their responsibility”. Through their time in the mentorship group, Kathie has been able to assist Joanna in acquiring a prestigious academic fellowship by writing Joanna a letter of recommendation. Through her hard work and the support of Kathie, Joanna has been accepted into the Undergraduate Readying for Burgeoning Research for American Indian Neuroscientists fellowship in Arizona.

Joanna Cooley, Neuroscience Student & A.T. Anderson Scholar

As stated as critical to Kathie and the students she mentors, Joanna is looking forward to investing in a mentee herself. Joanna noted that “Being away from her tribe’s elders and community is extremely difficult, so having Kathie be an elder from which she can seek advice and encouragement is of great value. I hope to be that kind of support for others that need it.”

With support from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Full-Circle Mentorship program matches young Indigenous STEM students with rising professionals as mentees with other long-term professionals as mentors based on their field of study, location, and tribal affiliation. The goal of the mentorship program is to continue the tradition of passing down knowledge from the professionals that have had opportunities to the students and young professionals that have not had the experience or support. Each mentor pairing is asked to meet once a month to talk about life, academics, professional opportunities, etc. The current Full-Circle Mentorship cohort has over 140 active participants.

Applications to participate are closed and will open again for the next cohort at the end of April 2022.

Contact AISES Program Officer Taylor Kingsbery at tkingsbery@aises.org for more information.

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