Scripps College/Joint Science Department, March 8, 2011
Women in Science dinner and lecture, Malott Commons.

Wow!  I have already received a few emails about how amazing you were last night and thanking me for inviting you….thank you for doing the talk and for being so inspiring to all of us!   Mary Hatcher-Skeers March 9, 2011

It was an absolutely amazing talk. I got to know about things I thought were ancient history but it is surprising how equality has still not reached all phases of life. Thank you for the wonderful talk. I am looking forward to reading your book in its entirety :)

--Afshin Khan, March 8, 2011


I really loved last night, Laura, for many reasons...you had a nice way of talking about yourself without self-aggrandizing, a rare thing in a scientist, in my experience, and the personal points you made were of general interest too, gracefully, humorously done.  I also thought the audience was wonderful, and a real testimony to your draw, the impact you’ve had here.  I’d be very happy to have that as a capstone to my career in this place.  Anyhow, the whole thing left me with a good feeling.

--Gayle Greene, March 10, 2011


I just wanted to say that I went to your reading and loved it alot. I have never been a science person but I look forward to reading your book.

--Jayci Spivey, reporter for TSL, March 10, 2011

Emory Univ/Oxford College, Feb 10, 2011
Lyceum Lecture

Dr. Hoopes,
I am the Oxford College student who spoke to you after your presentation. I was intrigued by your success as a female genetic researcher and your decision to pursue a degree in creative writing. I also enjoyed our conversation about medical/science writers. I would like you to send me a reading list of medical literature.

Thank you,
Joy B. Martin   


Hi Laura,
I just wanted to send you a quick message thanking you once again for visiting us here at Oxford.  I’ve had a chance to talk to several students about their thoughts on your talk and have heard many good things.  Specifically, students mentioned that your experiences helped them to realize how recently blatant discrimination against women was commonplace – which made those experiences much more real to them.  They also mentioned that they realized that they really need to pre-think their choices related to family and career, so they can purposefully make the best decisions for them.  And they also mentioned how talking with you really helped them realize how much they have no idea of all the experiences someone has had just by looking at them.  And these are just a couple of the ways that your talk helped broaden their perspectives, so thank you again so much!

--Amanda Pendleton