Melissa McDaniels is Associate Executive Director & Scientist at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER, www.cimerproject.org) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been a co-investigator on numerous scientific workforce development projects since 2014, including the NIH-supported National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN, https://nrmnet.net/) and the American Physical Society’s NSF INCLUDES Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) project, focusing on addressing issues of equity in graduate education in the physical sciences. In addition to UW-Madison, She has over 25 years of experience supporting equity-centered organizational change, graduate student and faculty development, and mentorship ecosystem enhancement. Dr. McDaniels has held full-time positions at Michigan State University, Northeastern University, and National Geographic Society. She holds degrees from Michigan State University (Ph.D.), Boston College (M.A.), and University of Michigan (B.A.).