Page 41 - BEQ Magazine Iss 20 Fall 2021 WebRev09272021

LEAH M. RADER
BOWERS, PH.D.,
is a postdoctoral
fellow at Princeton
University . |
COURTESY PHOTO

of the community that their campus could have so much attention on the number of underrep-
had and so much more. resented scholars we attract as academic insti-
I constantly think about what a shame it is tutions, redirect that focus toward cultivating
that academia is this way. I worked hard to make researchers to be freely all of who they are on
the department at UNC better for all graduate and off campus. The possibility of what could be
students and postdocs as co-president of Allies produced is endless. 
of Minorities and Women in Science and Engi-
neering. Jadedness unfortunately set in after Leah M. Rader Bowers, Ph.D. is a laser spectroscopist, compu-
years of performing unpaid diversity labor, being tational chemist and community organizer. Her pronouns are
told to “just focus on science”, tokenism and she/they. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton
University. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from The College
an onslaught of microaggressions, to the point of Wooster, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Uni-
where I can’t enjoy the amazing research group versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses
I’m currently in. on how individual molecules moving as one can enhance
My message to graduate schools is this: You functionality of a given system. Leah’s identity as a non-binary
cannot force students to hide part of themselves biracial Black femme has driven her desire to make space,
and expect the best results. Instead of focusing safety and success possible for all BIPOC and LGBTQIA+
students of color as they navigate academia.

FALL 2021 41
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