Women In Astronomy: AASWOMEN Newsletter for November 13, 2015

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of November 13, 2015
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Meredith Hughes, Elysse Voyer, & Heather Flewelling

This week's issues:

1. The Discovery Program Series: Psyche (PI: Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Arizona State University, Managed by JPL)
From: Christina Richey via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

[This post is part of a series discussing the recent NASA Discovery Program mission selections for further refinement. From the 27 proposals submitted in November of 2014, NASA has selected 5 missions for further refinement in the next year. Part 1 of the series focused on the overview of the Discovery refinement selections and an interview with the Lead Program Scientist for the Discovery Program, Dr. Michael New. Part II will focus on the Psyche Mission (PI: Linda Elkins-Tanton, Arizona State University, Managed by JPL).]

How did the Earth's core and the cores of the other terrestrial planets come to be? We cannot observe them directly, but there is one place in the solar system where we can find answers: The metal asteroid Psyche. Every world explored so far has a surface of ice, rock, or gas. Orbiting in the outer main belt at 3 AU, Psyche is large (240 x 185 x 145 km), dense (as high as 7,000 kg/m^3), and made almost entirely of Fe-Ni metal.

2. Astronomer to Defense R&D Technical Staff
From: Stuart Vogel via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.

Below is our interview with Lisa Wei, an astronomer turned defense industry R&D Technical Staff. She likes the challenges of exciting new projects, the work environment, and the ability to leave work behind evenings and weekends. If you have questions, suggestions, advice to share, etc. about this career path, please leave a comment below.

3. On the Longest Hiking Trails, a Woman Finds Equal Footing
From: Kelley Hess [hess_at_astro.rug.nl]

by Jennifer Pharr Davis

I found this article to be very inspiring, about a woman who just set the self-supported speed record for covering the Appalachian Trail in 46 days - faster than any man or woman in history.

Read the article here

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/sports/on-the-longest-hiking-trails-a-woman-finds-equal-footing.html

4. Science and sexism: In the eye of the Twitterstorm
From: Johanna Teske [jteske_at_carnegiescience.edu]

by Lauren Morello

"Although it is not yet clear whether the social-media conversation about sexism in science will help to create lasting change, some scientists think that it may provide a sense of solidarity for women across disciplines."

5. There's an awful cost to getting a PhD that no one talks about'
From: Elysse Voyer [elysse.voyer_at_gmail.com]

by Jennifer Walker

One night during the third year of my PhD program, I sat on my bed with a packet of tranquilizers and a bottle of vodka. I popped a few pills in my mouth and swigged out of the bottle, feeling them burn down my throat. Moments later, I realized I was making a terrible mistake. I stopped, trembling as I realized what I'd nearly done.

I called a friend and met her in a bar exactly halfway between my house and hers. That night changed things for both of us. She met the love of her life - the bartender, who she later married. And I decided I wanted to live. The morning after, I found a therapist and considered quitting my PhD.

6. Argentina Has More Women in Science-But It Hasn't Fixed Sexism
From: Elysse Voyer [elysse.voyer_at_gmail.com]

by Sarah Zhang

By the numbers, Argentina looks like the most female-friendly place in the world for astronomers. A full 39 percent of professional astronomers there are women, which, yes, passes for remarkable when the number hovers in the teens or below in most of the rest of the world.

So what's going on in Argentina, a country which female scientists there describe as still having "'machismo' in the air"? I first began asking this question to astronomers-Argentinian and otherwise-after news broke that renowned UC Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy had been sexually harassing female students for decades. The scandal shined a spotlight on the dismal number of women in astronomy in the US. Explaining the differences between countries could, I hoped, point out policies that might be able to root out sexism.

7. Job Opportunities

For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here: http://www.aas.org/cswa/diversity.html#howtoincrease

- Postdoctoral researcher in Extragalactic Astronomy, UC Riverside
http://jobregister.aas.org/node/52292

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Women In Astronomy

Friday, November 13, 2015

AASWOMEN Newsletter for November 13, 2015

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