Throughout March for Women’s History Month, the University of Kentucky is spotlighting Women Making History. These women are leading their fields of research, crossing traditional academic boundaries and impacting Kentucky’s most pressing challenges including opioid use disorder treatment, aging and Alzheimer’s, water and air filtration, environmental impacts on health and suicide prevention. 

They are mentoring the next generation of women scientists and scholars, curating stories and creating artworks illuminating who we are. Their work and voices shape the University of Kentucky. 

The “Women Making History” series kicks off with this episode of Behind the Blue. Isabel Escobar, Ph.D., professor of chemical and materials engineering in the UK College of Engineering and National Governing Board Chair of the Association for Women in Science, leads a discussion with her female chemical engineering team. Together they work on some of the toughest environmental challenges in water and air filtration. Escobar, Abelline Fionah, UK Ph.D. student, and Laura Brady, a UK senior, share what it’s like to be a woman in STEM, the reality of balancing work and family, and advice for choosing the right mentor.

Look for “Women Making History” stories in UKNOW on “Wildcat Wednesday” and every day on UK Research social media (@ResearchKY on Twitter and Facebook) throughout the month of March.