The Zonta Club of Kankakee announced two awards earlier this week: the Young Women in Leadership Award and the Women in STEM Award.

The Young Women in Leadership Award went to Reese Bisaillon of Herscher. She receives $1,000 from the Zonta Club for demonstrating leadership skills and effort in civic causes. It also enables her to be considered for the $5,000 Zonta International scholarship.

Bisaillon is a senior at Herscher High School, and she’s enrolled in the early college program at Kankakee Community College. She is the daughter of Darthy and Craig Bisaillon.

Reese is active in leadership roles in her school as well as community service. She is passionate about aviation and wants to become a professional pilot. She will begin attending Southern Illinois University in the fall to study aviation flight and aviation management.

The Women in STEM Award went to Dr. Nicole Vander Schaaf, an associate professor of biology at Olivet Nazarene University. She holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology, and she seeks to use research as a tool to address global health inequities like cervical cancer.

Vander Schaaf has spent the last three summers co-leading mission trips to a remote hospital in Papua New Guinea, inspiring students to use their careers to make the world a better place.

According to a news release, her research there on human papillomavirus testing has saved the lives of women through early detection that can cause cervical cancer and through education of women about this preventable disease.