2025

Nov 7: Tour of National Cathedral, 12:30 pm

Dec 4: Holiday Party, 6-9 pm, home of Lynn Dillon

2026

Jan 15: Mixology, home of Jane Riddle

Feb 6: ARCS Loves You Member Coffee

Feb 26: Senior Members/Past Presidents Tea, home of Julie Hohl

Mar 8: Winter Membership Meeting, Riverbend Country Club, Great Falls, VA

Mar 18: Visit at University of Virginia

Mar 25: Visit at Johns Hopkins University

Apr 1: Visit at University of Maryland, 10:30 am-3:30 pm

Week of Apr 13: Visit at Georgetown University (TBD)

Apr 23: Visit at George Washington University

May 1: Eagle Award Gala, Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC

May 31: Annual Membership Luncheon Meeting (Location TBD)

Jun 7: Picnic/Barbeque, home of Patty Sparrell

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

What a night! The 2025 Scholar Awards Reception was a great evening of celebration, connection, and inspiration.

Held at the beautiful National Academy of Sciences, the event brought together 141 attendees, including 31 members and 12 potential members—our largest turnout since COVID. Thank you to everyone who invited guests and potential members and helped expand our ARCS community.

The evening began with our scholar poster session, where guests had the opportunity to hear directly from our scholars about their groundbreaking research. It was an honor to hear about the innovative work they are pursuing and the real-world impact of their studies. The highlight of the evening was listening to our keynote speaker and chapter member, Kristen Bloschock. Kristen shared how the ARCS award carried her through long research days—just knowing members were cheering her on made a lasting impact. She delighted the audience with fun photos from her student days and throughout her career. Kristen’s mom, aunt, uncle, husband, colleagues, and mentor joined us to celebrate her achievements, making the evening even more special. 

Many thanks to the SAR Planning Committee for creating such a seamless and beautiful event. Special appreciation to Michelle Francis, Elli Nesbitt, Helen Miller, and Becky Corcoran for managing the information booklet, RSVPs, and logistics. We’re also grateful to our wonderful SAR Ambassadors—Susan Trice, Connie Watts, Charlotte Knight, Becky Corcoran, and Miriam Erickson. We are especially thankful to our SAR sponsors, whose generous donations helped cover the venue expenses and ensured that attending the event remained affordable for all.

A huge thank-you to Yvonne Chen, who is chairing this year’s Nominating Committee. The work of this committee is vital to identifying the next leadership team for the future of our Chapter, and we’re deeply grateful to Yvonne for leading this important process.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to join the Activities Committee at the upcoming ARCS Friends event at the National Cathedral on Nov 7, and we hope to see everyone at our Holiday Party, which will be held at the home of Lynn and John Dillon on Dec 4. Please RSVP soon! The evening will feature catered heavy hors d’oeuvres, and we’re looking forward to a festive evening with friends as we close out another wonderful year together.

~ Julie Hohl and Jane Riddle, ARCS-MWC Co-Presidents

SAR Keynote Speaker and ARCS Alum Kristen Bloschock (center) with co-Presidents Julie Hohl (l) and Jane Riddle (r).

Scholar Lauren Bowling discusses her research with Christine Peterson during the Scholar Poster Session.

ARCS MWC 2025-26 Scholars, l-r: Emily Ariail, Sumner Gubisch, Nikita Sivakumar, Isaac Bilsel, Phoebe Sharp, Kathryn Kingsbury, Olivia Nippe-Jeakins, Darrian Mills, Lauren Bowling, Kieran Barvenik, Rose Gebhardt, Charli Minsavage-Davis, Clara Stahlmann Roeder, Jeremy Hannon, Nicole Crumpler, Alexander Lekan, Katelyn Dial, Harikesh Kailad, Julia Davis, Alexander “Sasha” Frolov, and Nicolas Arnaud.

View all photos from the Scholar Awards Reception here!

Don your festive vestments to celebrate the holiday season with your ARCS friends! We will gather at Lynn and John Dillon’s gracious home on Thurs, Dec 4, from 6 pm to 9 pm. Delicious heavy hors d’oeuvres and tasty libations will be followed by dessert.

After working so hard all year, to do such a noteworthy job promoting STEM education through our terrific scholars, we need to take time to celebrate together in a festive setting with friends. It has always been an evening of great food and laughter.

~ Karen Finkbiner

Email questions to co-VPs for Activities, Mary Jo Ruane and Charlotte Knight, at mwcvpactivities@arcsfoundation.org.

Would you like to be more involved with our chapter? Would you like to have a leadership role? Do you have a special talent you could share? Is there a member you would like to nominate for a bigger role at ARCS MWC? Please reach out to Nominating Committee Chair Yvonne Chen (yvonnechen@yahoo.com) or Nominating Committee Past Chair Mary Jo Ruane (maryjoruane@yahoo.com) to share your ideas and interests. It's not too early to begin thinking of next year!

The 2025-26 Season has started out strong! We are sponsoring 21 scholars, and the SAR turnout was fantastic! Thank you to all the members who sponsored the event; the scholar fund is already growing! 

As you know, research funding is unstable this year, and our five partner universities need our support more than ever. In addition to identifying new corporate and foundation sponsors, we will be testing two new fundraising approaches:

1. Want to sponsor a scholar, but aren’t comfortable funding the person alone? We are offering a new program which is common in many of the other ARCS chapters – the “Shared Scholar Sponsorship” program. Two or more members can pool their donations and sponsor an Undergrad Scholar ($5,000) or a Grad Scholar ($15,000). This provides members with the opportunity to get to know the sponsored scholars personally and receive special recognition. Smaller scholar fund donations are still welcome and appreciated. Jane Riddle and Julie Hohl have already pledged to jointly sponsor a scholar. Thank you, ladies, for leading the way! Want to learn more about the “Shared Scholar Sponsorship” program? Contact Patty Sparrell, VP Development (ptsparrell@gmail.com).  

2. Want to become an ARCS Ambassador and spread the word? The Development Council would like to present you with the opportunity to share your passion for the ARCS Scholars with your friends and colleagues and invite them to support the ARCS MWC Scholar Fund. The Development Council has created digital and paper “form letters” which we are asking all members to forward to three or more family friends and colleagues as part of the End of the Year campaign. This is a great way to share your enthusiasm for ARCS in a quick and easy fashion. Just think, with our current membership we could spread the word to more than 200 people! Stay tuned for more details coming mid-November.

Doris Pierson joined ARCS MWC in 2010 and was sponsored by Sally Burns. We thank Doris for her many contributions to the chapter—especially her fundraising expertise—and applaud her continued commitment to ARCS MWC over the past 15 years!

Doris said that she learned about the chapter when she and her husband, Karl, attended an ARCS MWC holiday party at Sally’s invitation. Doris found everyone very interesting, congenial, extremely talented, and focused on the organization’s mission. She was also intrigued that women in California had been spurred to found the organization after Sputnik traveled around the world! Doris was glad that she could meld her gifts with those of other chapter members to support the high-achieving ARCS MWC Scholars. 

She particularly enjoyed the camaraderie of the ARCS MWC Development Committee meetings and their success in reaching high fundraising goals. Doris was extremely inspired by two committee members: Lynn Dillon and Bev Herrington, saying that it is wonderful to meet goals and advance the ARCS mission while having fun. She added that any success she has had in fundraising was because of Bev and Lynn paving the way!

When asked what she would say to other ARCS MWC members, especially newer ones, Doris said it is important to join a committee to learn more about the organization and its goals. She added that such opportunities also allow each member to learn about her own mix of gifts while listening and learning from fellow members, allowing all to work at their peak and to best meld talents and treasure to advance the ARCS mission.  

We mourn the recent passing of long-serving members Angie Delaney and Paula McNichols, and fondly remember them and their many contributions to ARCS.

Long-serving ARCS member and donors Paula and Mac McNichols.

Long-serving members at a recent ARCS meeting (l-r): Betty Polutchko, Karen Finkbiner, Karen Meyers, Angie Delaney, and Beth Parker.

Katelyn Dial – Joan Jordano Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology

Georgetown University

Research: My research investigates how psychedelics work at a specific brain receptor called the serotonin 2A receptor to rapidly reverse the symptoms of depression. I focus on how activating this receptor changes structures called perineuronal nets, which normally restrict the brain’s ability to adapt and heal. By studying how psychedelics remodel these structures, my work aims to uncover new ways to make the brain more flexible and resilient, leading to faster and more lasting treatments for depression.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, yet current treatments are slow, unreliable, and often ineffective. My research aims to uncover how psychedelics promote rapid changes in brain flexibility by targeting specific molecular structures that control plasticity. By identifying new biological mechanisms that enable resilience against depression, my work could accelerate the development of faster, longer-lasting treatments offering hope to millions of individuals who do not respond to traditional therapies and reducing the global burden of mental illness.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

An ARCS award would provide critical funding to expand my research beyond traditional behavioral and biochemical approaches by enabling a highly innovative imaging component. With ARCS support, I could directly visualize how psychedelics remodel brain structures linked to depression in living animals, providing dynamic, cellular-level evidence that would significantly deepen the impact of my dissertation. This level of insight is otherwise unattainable due to the high costs of specialized mouse models, surgical procedures, and advanced imaging technology, making external funding essential to realizing the full potential of this project.

Career objectives: My career objective is to become an independent scientist who advances our understanding of how brain plasticity mechanisms can be harnessed to treat mood disorders. I aim to lead research that not only develops faster, more durable therapies for depression, but also helps integrate science-based psychedelic treatments into mainstream psychiatric care. Beyond the laboratory, I am committed to using my platform as a researcher to advocate for evidence-driven mental health policy reform, ensuring that scientific breakthroughs translate into real-world improvements in healthcare access and outcomes.

Phoebe Sharp – MWC Chapter Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Computer Science & Physics

George Washington University

Research: A handful of the protons and neutrons inside the nuclei of all atoms are found to be coupled together in pairs, a phenomenon called Short Range Correlations (SRCs). These pairs need to be studied with several different techniques to see if our understanding is self-consistent or biased by the conditions of any single technique. SRCs are fascinating to study because they can help us understand the building blocks of our universe from the atoms that compose all of us, to the material inside neutron stars light years away.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

Understanding SRCs contributes greatly to our understanding of the forces between protons and neutrons, knowledge which carries a wide variety of applications. Understanding these forces is a key goal of the field of nuclear structure, and will help underpin nuclear technology of the future. These forces also play a role in the evolution of stars and other astrophysical objects, helping to give us a better understanding of our place in the cosmos. More immediately, the technical challenge of these experiments drives the development of new technology in magnets, semi-conductors, and high-performance computing. The research also trains the next generation of scientific work force that will advance technological progress across many fields.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

First, I live in Newport News in order to work on-site at Jefferson Lab and collaborate with scientists there. However, this greatly limits the face-to-face time I get with my advisor. An ARCS award would permit more frequent travel to DC this year, as I work to converge my analysis. Second, ARCS funding would give me the opportunity to travel to more conferences, present my work, and network at a time when I’m about to enter the job market. The timing of these meetings will likely allow me to present my thesis results to the wider nuclear physics community beyond that of Jefferson Lab. When I’m using this award to support my travel, my research group can support additional students to travel, creating more space for students and their research in our group.

Career objectives: Alongside my decade-long education in physics, I have learned about the importance of community. My community for doing homework, the broader community for graduate students in physics, my external physics community, my family, and many more, are how I’ve been able to make it in physics this long. My goal for my career is to use these community building experiences to strengthen the public’s trust, capability, and confidence in science, and I’m exploring what this can look like in different settings. 

Submit articles, pictures, pdfs, and website links by the 25th of each month for publication the following month to Helen Miller at mwcnewsletter@arcsfoundation.org. 

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