Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2022

Cheers for Volunteers

What has been a highlight from your volunteer experience?

My volunteering for the Committee for Inclusion and Diver- sity sparked a deep interest in the topic of inequality. Thus, I enrolled and successfully completed the Diversity Certificate Program that was offered by the Office of Inclusion, Equi- ty, and Diversity at my home institution (The University of Tennessee Health Science Center). Through this program, I came to the realization that diversity has many dimensions. I learned how to listen and to hear. In the end, I became a bet- ter person, perhaps even a better mother, better wife, better mentor for students, and hopefully, a better member of the society that extends beyond biophysics. Do you have advice for others who might be thinking about volunteering? Yes, absolutely, you should go for it! At the very least, volun- teering looks good on one’s CV. But it also offers tremendous opportunities for networking. You get to know the kitchen, how things are organized, how it works. Once you gain this knowledge, you feel more comfortable in defining your place in a professional world and in society in general. I believe that volunteering is a great opportunity to express yourself. More- over, you do it with a group of people just like you, and you get a sense of support. When not volunteering for BPS, what do you work on? Of course, laboratory and house chores are always there, and the more you do, more is out there to land on your plate. For the soul, I play piano or work around my rose garden. I am also a koi pond and aquarium hobbyist. Last but not least, I am a certified stroke and turn judge with USA Swimming. I really enjoy time at the pool when my kids are swimming. Family trips to swim competitions are the best things that are happening in my life these days.

Anna Bukiya Committee for Inclusion and Diversity (CID)

Anna Bukiya

Is this your first volunteer position for BPS? If not, what other positions have you held? Yes, this is my first volunteer position at BPS, although I also volunteer at other societies where I am a member. I co-chair the Animal Research and Ethics Committee at the Research Society on Alcoholism. I also volunteer for the Competition Committee within the Cardiovascular Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Why do you volunteer? I feel that science is so much more than just benches and experimental notebooks. On a larger scale, I want to be a part of a positive change; I want to take an active role in it. I think that this desire is fueled by my childhood experience of despair and helplessness when my parents took refuge from a military conflict in my birthplace, Republic of Georgia. I saw them suffering, my childhood shattered into pieces. Yet, I could not change anything. Volunteering gives an amazing opportunity to make a difference, to make a change, and to make my voice count.

The Biophysical Society is grateful to its Industry Partners.

For Industry Partner Membership information, contact alevine@biophysics.org. SILVER GOLD

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March 2022

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