How Well-Being and Community Connections Generate Organizational Success 

Date: Monday, November 4, 2024

Time: Noon - 1 pm PT

Join us on Zoom

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The U.S. Surgeon General described our society’s “epidemic of loneliness and isolation,” and how many of us feel less connected despite our deep desire to feel a sense of belonging. Guest speaker Dr. Christine Porath will discuss how important thriving communities are to our well-being and the success of organizations, and what steps we can take to create them. The rise of technology and modern workplace practices have led people to feel more isolated, even as we remain constantly contactable. And as our human interactions have decreased, so too have our happiness levels, resulting in a mental health crisis and less productive organizations. Dr. Porath will share ways to unite and strengthen our communities, with a focus on strategies to empower and uplift ourselves and others and build greater resilience.

Bio: Christine Porath is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. She’s the author of Mastering Community: How Coming Together Moves People from Surviving to Thriving, and Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior. Christine is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and has written articles for New York Times, Wall Street Journal, McKinsey Quarterly, and Washington Post. She frequently delivers talks and has taught in various Executive programs at Harvard, Georgetown, and USC. Prior to her position at UNC, she was a faculty member at Georgetown, and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Christine’s work has been featured worldwide in over 1500 television, radio and print outlets. It has appeared on 20/20, Today, FoxNews, CNN, BBC, NBC, msnbc, CBS, ABC, and NPR. It has also been included in Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, NY Times, The Washington Post, and L.A. Times.

Building Resiliency: Brain Health and Nutrition

Date: Thursday, September 5, 2024

Time: 10 - 11 am PT

Zoom link: streaming.lbl.gov 

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Mental health expert Kimberley Wilson is the first speaker in our Resiliency and Respect series. Wilson will discuss how food and lifestyle can profoundly affect our brain health, mood, and behavior. She’ll focus on the relationship between nutrition and our ability to deal effectively with stress. She’ll offer practical advice on how to build a resilient, healthy brain, and even protect against such diseases as depression and dementia.

Bio: Kimberley Wilson is a Chartered Psychologist, with a master’s degree in nutrition. She’s the author of How to Build a Healthy Brain (2020) and Unprocessed: How the Food We Eat is Fuelling Our Mental Health Crisis (2023). Wilson has a private practice in central London. A former Governor of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Mental Health Trust, Kimberley led the therapy service at HMP & YOI Holloway, which at the time was Europe’s largest women’s prison.

Kimberley believes the way we think about mental health – as separate from physical health – is flawed. Her philosophy of Whole Body Mental Health is a comprehensive approach to mental health care; integrating evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle factors with psychological therapy with an emphasis on nutrition and the brain.

Passionate about the power of psychology to transform lives, Kimberley is committed to demystifying the theories and putting the information into the hands of the people who need it through social media, podcasts, television appearances, live events, and regular appearances on expert panels.

Nutritious Lunches & Side Dishes “No Cook” Cooking Demonstration

Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 (add it to your calendar)

Time: 12 - 1 pm PT

• Recipes - check out the two recipes shared during the workshop

• Watch the event recording
  
  

Hybrid Event:

•  Building 91, Room 310

• Join us on Zoom: streaming.lbl.gov

In person space is limited and registration is required: Cooking Demonstration Sign Up Form

As a follow up to Kimberley Wilson's talk on nutrition for brain health, this “no cook” cooking demonstration will give you quick, inexpensive, and easy ideas for a nutritious lunch or side course. The demonstration will be run by Kim Guess, RD, the dietician for UC Berkeley's Wellness Program. Samples will be available! Please RSVP to join us for this hybrid event. 

Bio: Kim Guess, RD, Wellness Program Dietitian, joined UC Berkeley Health Services in 2014 and is responsible for nutrition and wellness workshops, behavior change programs, and the Food and Beverage Choices Policy. She received her BS in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise from Virginia Tech and completed her dietetic internship at Cal State Long Beach. In addition to her passion for cooking and sustainability, she enjoys soccer, martial arts, tennis, hiking, and camping. Kim is also a certified self-defense instructor and ALICE instructor.

Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense

Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Time: 11 am - 12 pm PT

Location: Building 50 Auditorium

Watch the recording of the event

Nobel Laureate Saul Perlmutter will join us in person to share perspectives from his latest book, co-authored with a psychologist and a philosopher. “Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense” has been hailed as a “a roadmap for making more effective decisions in an increasingly complex and noisy world.” Director Witherell will then join Saul on stage for an informal discussion of these ideas and how they are relevant to the Lab community.

Bio: Saul Perlmutter is a 2011 Nobel Laureate, sharing the prize in Physics for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe.  He is a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Franklin W. and Karen Weber Dabby Chair, and a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  He is the leader of the international Supernova Cosmology Project, and director of the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, and executive director of the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics. His undergraduate degree was from Harvard and his PhD from UC Berkeley.  In addition to other awards and honors, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Perlmutter has also written popular articles and has appeared in numerous PBS, Discovery Channel, and BBC documentaries.  His interest in teaching  scientific-style critical thinking for scientists and non-scientists alike led to Berkeley courses on Sense and Sensibility and Science and Physics & Music.

How Respect and Trust Build Collaboration and Drive Team Effectiveness

Date: Thursday, October 10, 2024

Time: 12 noon - 1 p.m.

Workplace civility resources from Dr. Porath 

Incivility can fracture a team, splintering members’ sense of psychological safety and hampering team effectiveness. Guest speaker Dr. Christine Porath will discuss how civility and trust can improve performance and enhance team science: by reciprocating respectful actions, we can create a more inclusive climate, and enable greater trust and collaboration. She will discuss the importance of self-awareness and share recommendations and skills for improving communication across differences. Dr. Porath will also provide insights on what we can do to boost our effectiveness in helping to create a thriving laboratory environment grounded in our stewardship values: trust, respect, team science, service, and innovation. 

Dr. Porath will give a second talk on How Well-Being and Community Connections Generate Organizational Success on November 4th. See below for more information. 

Bio: Christine Porath is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. She’s the author of Mastering Community: How Coming Together Moves People from Surviving to Thriving, and Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior. Christine is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and has written articles for New York Times, Wall Street Journal, McKinsey Quarterly, and Washington Post. She frequently delivers talks and has taught in various Executive programs at Harvard, Georgetown, and USC. Prior to her position at UNC, she was a faculty member at Georgetown, and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Christine’s work has been featured worldwide in over 1500 television, radio and print outlets. It has appeared on 20/20, Today, FoxNews, CNN, BBC, NBC, msnbc, CBS, ABC, and NPR. It has also been included in Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, NY Times, The Washington Post, and L.A. Times.

Mentorship, Well-being, and Professional Development in Times of Societal Change and Institutional Disruptions

Host: National Academies Science, Engineering & Medicine, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine

Date: October 28 - 29

Time: 9 am - 2 pm PT/12 noon - 5 pm ET

Online Registration

Join the National Academies Science, Engineering & Medicine, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine for the third and final workshop with the Roundtable on Mentorship, Well-being, and Professional Development!

Critical supports and resources within the STEMM research ecosystem are shifting in reaction to rapid changes in institutional, regional, and national environments. In addition, decisions made by external groups and individuals can have a dramatic and profound influence on the well-being, professional development, and interpersonal and mentoring relationships of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty. Building upon the conversations held during the first two Roundtable workshops, the goal of this third public workshop is to apply a systemic lens to explore the ways in which individuals, departments and offices, and institutions are addressing and navigating these common challenges.