{"id":311633,"date":"2026-10-22T06:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T06:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/311633\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T06:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T06:22:13","slug":"students-share-scientific-interests-build-confidence-at-wisdom-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/311633\/","title":{"rendered":"Students share scientific interests, build confidence at WISDOM conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CENTER VALLEY, Pa. \u2014 For Persephone Harshberger, presenting at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.womenin.science\/women-in-stem\/\" data-entity-type=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WISDOM<\/a> conference was an opportunity to share a passion for bats and wildlife conservation. For Katelynn Fuentes, it was a chance to explore the brain\u2019s capacity for change while challenging herself to become a more confident speaker.<\/p>\n<p>The two Penn State Lehigh Valley students brought their scientific interests to an event that connected learning, communication and career exploration through WISDOM, short for Women in Science Demonstrating Outstanding Merits. The conference was held at Lehigh University on Oct. 8.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit supports women pursuing careers beyond academia through networking, mentoring and access to opportunities in industry and commercial science. For Harshberger and Fuentes, participating offered a way to explore their interests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics while sharing what they had learned with others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was drawn to the unique reverse networking format of the event, but more importantly, the idea of sharing what I\u2019ve gathered about a topic in science that really interested me with others who share a passion for STEM,\u201d Fuentes said.<\/p>\n<p>Fuentes\u2019 presentation, \u201cThe Power of Neuroplasticity,\u201d explored how the brain adapts and what that adaptability can mean for recovery from injury and changes in behavioral patterns.<\/p>\n<p>Neuroscience appealed to Fuentes, she explained, because it brings together biology, psychology, technology and mathematics. She said she hopes to eventually pursue research examining how the brain processes information and responds to internal and external influences.<\/p>\n<p>Presenting also offered an opportunity for personal growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m usually very introverted so I think it\u2019s important to push myself to do things that seem a little daunting, such as presenting in front of others, because it allows me to share what I like learning about while building confidence in myself and the topic,\u201d Fuentes said.<\/p>\n<p>She credited Penn State\u2019s academic environment and access to resources, including the University Libraries, with helping her explore scientific questions and strengthen her presentation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, the academic environment is really motivating, with so many opportunities for research and projects in different areas of STEM,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Harshberger learned about the conference through advertising at Penn State Lehigh Valley and said she welcomed the opportunity to become more involved in STEM. Her presentation focused on bats, their ecological importance and issues affecting their well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CENTER VALLEY, Pa. \u2014 For Persephone Harshberger, presenting at the WISDOM conference was an opportunity to share a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-311633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}