Calling all library and information science students, early career librarians, and anyone else who is interested in library work! Please join us for this virtual event to hear from science librarians about their work, and how and why they became science librarians.

The Penn Libraries’ STEM Libraries are pleased to partner once again with the Drexel University Library and Archives Student Association (DULASA) to host the Fifth Annual Spotlight on STEM Librarianship.

We are absolutely elated to be hosting this event for five years in a row! The goal of this event is to bring current and prospective library and information science (LIS) students together to learn more about the dynamic field of STEM librarianship, with a focus on both physical and health sciences libraries, to encourage LIS students to consider a career in science libraries.

Register here!

This year, the DULASA board has recruited a panel of speakers specializing in several aspects of STEM librarianship, including engineering, computer science, pharmaceuticals, and other health sciences. Several of them are located in the local Philadelphia area. We at the Penn Libraries are proud to follow the stellar career paths of these talented and highly skilled librarians who have an incredible wealth of skills and experience.

Current DULASA President and MLIS student at Drexel, Ashley Moore, will serve as our moderator for the evening, providing each panelist with the opportunity to answer questions about their education and career. There will be time at the end for audience members to ask the panelists questions as well.

The panelists are as follows:

Jennifer R. Martin is a Librarian in the University of Arizona Health Sciences Library and a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science in the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy in Tucson, Arizona. She joined the library faculty in 2007, gained her dual appointment in the College of Pharmacy in 2011, and was promoted to Librarian in 2020. As an embedded librarian, her primary role is to support the research and scholarship of faculty, students and staff through consultation, collaboration, and library instruction. She works with faculty to provide integrated library instruction in both the PharmD and graduate curricula and provides expert biomedical literature, patent and intellectual property searching services. Jennifer also provides research support for faculty and collaborates on the scholarship of teaching and learning. In addition, she has contributed to multiple systematic reviews and works with individuals who are considering conducting a systematic review or meta-analysis.

Jennifer served as the Chair (2019-2020) of the Library and Information Sciences Section (LIS) of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). She was also a fellow (2018-2019) of the Association of Research Libraries’ Career and Leadership Development Program (LCDP), which prepares librarians for leadership roles.  Jennifer’s research interests include the study of information literacy skills, for which she was a recipient of the New Investigator Award from the AACP (2010). Her research interests also include the scholarship of teaching and learning, information-seeking behavior, embedded librarianship, and assessing the impact of library and drug information instruction for pharmacy students.

Stephen Hall: Stephen is the Computer Science & Engineering Librarian at UPenn. He liaises with Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and acts as a subject specialist for computer science. His work includes research and end-user support in Python, LaTeX, and Overleaf.

Before coming to Penn, Stephen served as Director of the Coit Museum of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at the University of Arizona. In this role, he developed a brand-new, multimillion-dollar museum space filled with engaging, interactive exhibits. Prior to this, he served as an Archivist at the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive, where he curated a world-class collection of historical video games.

Stephen holds an MA in Library and Information Science, a BAS in Applied Computing, and a BA in Art History. His first book, A Spoonful of Sugar: The Story of the Upjohn Pharmacy in Disneyland, will be published in 2023.

Hannah Rutledge: Hannah is the Director of the Biotech Commons at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Originally from a small town in south Arkansas, she holds a PhD in Information Science and an MLIS from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and a BA in Anthropology from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Hannah’s career includes 15 years of experience in leadership across hospital, corporate, and academic library environments. She joined Penn in June 2020, coming from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, where she was Head of Clinical Informationist Services at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library. In 2016, her dissertation was identified as one of ten “most notable” by the American Library Association. She is an active member of the Medical Library Association, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation.

Outside of Penn Libraries, Hannah is partnering with her mentor from Millsaps College and renown Maya archaeologist, Dr. George Bey, to build a research library at the Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico. Some of her ongoing research interests include bold library leadership; the history and future of libraries; the history and social impact of medicine; information and emotion; cultural heritage informatics; and diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, justice, and anti-racism in all areas of life.