I am a trained scientist, coach, and Principal Facilitator with the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), where I lead workshops on effective mentorship across the country.
My career journey has been anything but linear, with several stops and starts along the way. I reinvented myself several times and had to learn how to navigate new places and pick up skills, often without formal training. I relied on mentors and coaches to help me grow and to make sense of the lessons I was learning and those relationships were invaluable. At this stage of my career I am ready to give back and I am motivated to help others in the same ways through promoting effective mentorship and through coaching.
As a coach I work with people to achieve their goals and create action in areas of their life where they feel frustrated or stagnant. I work with people on issues around career development, mentorship concerns, leadership development, or other areas of life satisfaction. My style is friendly. collaborative, and rooted in the idea that we all have the capacity to face difficulties life hands us. Coaching is about helping people understand themselves better so they can unlock the stores of energy, creativity and motivation they carry inside themselves, which in turn allows them to successfully navigate life with more meaning and purpose.
As a mentorship expert, I promote the idea that mentorship is a skill that can be learned and, when approached intentionally, can be a powerful influence that benefits both parties involved in the relationship. Since 2016 I have been training mentors and mentees on effective mentorship strategies using the curriculum developed by the National Research Mentoring Network and the Center for Improvement in Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). I am passionate about supporting these relationships and other supervisor/employee type relationships as they are often fraught with power dynamics and communication challenges that get in the way of the potential for learning and development.
To work with me, reach out via my contact page or connect with me over email at anna@annaboconnell.com.
To read more about my publications and articles and interviews that include me, see below.
Publications and Talks
Challenges Facing Diverse Teams. Harrell, JR and O’Connell, AB. 2019. In Branchaw, J.L., Butz, A.R.m and Smith, A. (Ed.), Entering Research, 2nd Edition, (pp 129-136) Macmillan Learning Press.
Biomedical Graduate Admissions talk at NINDS R25 Diversity Workshop
An evidence-based evaluation of transferrable skills and job satisfaction for science PhDs. Sinche and Layton et. al., Sep 20, 2017, Plos ONE. 12(9)
Predictors of Student Productivity in Biomedical Graduate School Applications. Joshua D. Hall, Anna B. O’Connell, and Jeannette G. Cook. Jan 11, 2017, Plos ONE. 12(1)
Articles and News
Stop reacting and start supervising with intention. Anna B. O’Connell. November 21, 2019. Published on Supervising PhDs
How Mindfulness Helps Grad Students. Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed. November 15, 2019. (interviewed by author)
Grad students: give yourself the gift of well-being this year. You deserve it. Anna B. O’Connell, December 7, 2018. Published on LinkedIn.
How to handle grad school doubts. Maggie Kuo, Science Careers, Jan. 23, 2017: (interviewed by author)