Graduate students at CEMAS organize committee committed to fostering community

The Ohio State University’s Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS) is a hub for materials characterization for industry and academia, with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise. 

From an outside view, CEMAS is home to world-class microscopy capabilities. From an insider’s perspective, it’s also home to a community of researchers and students working together to be at the forefront of new electron microscopy methods while advancing research initiatives.

With in-person gatherings and events paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEMAS community has been leveraging technology to connect virtually – from introducing a new webinar series to dedicating space in Microsoft Teams for members to interact digitally. 

More recently, graduate students at CEMAS converged to create the CEMAS Graduate Wellness Committee. The committee’s main objective is to cultivate a sense of community through a series of fun activities and events that provide a support system for graduate students and post-doctoral scholars. 

Catrina Wilson, a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, came up with the idea for the committee as a way to organize efforts to maintain enjoyable, collaborative events during the pandemic. The organizing committee has since grown to a team of 10 program ambassadors. 

“When I originally joined the wellness committee, I didn’t know many people from CEMAS outside of my research group,” Sedzro Tamakloe, a graduate fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said. “As a first-year graduate student, I knew a few people through classes I had taken with them, but I didn’t know many others. I thought joining the CEMAS Wellness Committee would be a great way to branch out and develop friendships with others in different research groups at CEMAS. So far, the committee has helped me meet other graduate students and feel more connected to the community at CEMAS.”

As ambassadors of the program, committee members strive to improve the overall work-life balance of graduate students at CEMAS. The student-led committee plans to organize events and other activities focused on building camaraderie. 

The committee started by surveying the graduate student community at CEMAS to gauge interest in the types of events they’d like to have. Since then, the committee has hosted virtual lunch hours, virtual research discussions, and a virtual movie night. 

“What has been helpful for me is having communities that I can go to for support and encouragement,” Tamakloe said. “The CEMAS Wellness Committee encourages me because it’s composed of other graduate students who are also going through these tough times. They are there to listen, support, and help each other.

“To me, being part of the CEMAS community is to be part of a group dedicated to innovation in science,” Tamakloe continued. “At the same time, it’s to be part of a community devoted to working together to make each other better holistically. This program bolsters my experience at Ohio State because I know I have people and resources available to help not only as it relates to science but also through life experiences.”

To learn more about the CEMAS Wellness Committee, reach out via email to cemaswellness@buckeyemail.osu.edu. To review upcoming events, visit cemas.osu.edu/events.

Meet the CEMAS Graduate Wellness Ambassadors
Mehrdad Abbasigharacheh
Núria Baguessalguero
Ashton Egan
Brittany Ford
Alejandro Hinojos
Cheng-Han Li
Patricia Loughney
Alexander Reifsnyder
Sedzro Tamakloe
Catrina Wilson