Dr. Adina Paytan is both a role model and a mentor. Female grad students look to her as an example of living a balanced life, complete with family and parenting in addition to her work as a research scientist. She is an ideal person for them to come to with any question, whether it relates to their research or their personal lives.

She is also a female professor who takes mentoring seriously. And by making time to be a mentor, she is sending a message about priorities. Students see that, even for someone as busy as Adina, mentoring is important. In addition, Adina was a past co-chair of the Association for Women in Science, a 40-year-old organization that pairs volunteer mentors with grad students.

Azadeh Tabazadeh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Stanford University Adina is an exemplary role model for female scientists

Susan Bernhard, Ph.D., Past Co-Chair, Association for Women in Science Adina is also a role model for the importance of mentoring

Association for Women in Science Susan Bernhard talks about how this organization pairs volunteer mentors with grad students, and Adina talks about what women bring to science

Jenny Saltzman, Ph.D., Director of Outreach Education, School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University Learning to be a good mentor can be surprising