Nebraska Women in STEM talked to University of Nebraska Kearney’s Dr. Surabhi Chandra about her unexpected path to leadership in academia.
In June, University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK) professor Dr. Surabhi Chandra was promoted to the position of co-chair of the Department of Biology. Seven months in, she is learning lessons and adapting to the new leadership role. Her role as co-chair is to focus on student and class schedule responsibilities.
The other department co-chair is Dr. Letitia Reichart. Chandra says she and Reichart are learning how to balance the research work they love with their new responsibilities. For Chandra, her research focuses on the advancement of breast cancer with diabetes. While her new role gives her less time to work in the lab with students, it is important to Chandra and Reichart to keep their research going to attract more grants and create more lab opportunities for students.
“I really like working with the students. It’s such a pleasure to see them progress from when they start in my classes to when they graduate and see how much knowledge they have gained through the process.”