The Zonta Club of Chelsea and North Shore hosted the annual Amelia Earhart Dinner on January 15th at the Hilton Garden Inn, Boston, in collaboration with the Zonta Club of Malden. The event honors the spirit of pilot Amelia Earhart, who had been a Zonta member, and recognizes young women recently awarded Amelia Earhart fellowships to pursue Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences.
Zonta International awards thirty $10,000 fellowships annually. Three of these awardees, all Ph.D. candidates at MIT, were honored at Zonta’s dinner: Myrella Cabral of Brazil, studying Aerospace Engineering; Palak Patel of the US, studying Mechanical Engineering, and Fatima Zaidouni of Morocco, studying Physics. Each spoke about her area of study contributing to global aerospace projects.
Dr. Irene Porro, Director of the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning at Framingham State University was keynote speaker. Dr. Porro highlighted the importance of making science learning relatable and experiential across the ages, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of women’s participation in global advances in science and space exploration.
Mary Knight, Secretary of Zonta District I presented each fellow with, “wings,” a pin symbolizing empowerment, academic excellence and the legacy of Amelia Earhart. Janice Tatarka, President of the Zonta Club of Chelsea and North Shore presented recipients with flowers.