Friday, January 13, 2017

AASWomen Newsletter for January 13, 2017

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of January 13, 2017
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Christina Thomas, and Maria Patterson

This week's issues:

1. Thinking About Boycotts
2. Meet your CSWA: Nicolle Zellner    
3. 2017 Annie Jump Cannon Award       
4. First women to chair the SSB 
5. House Approves Bipartisan Bills to Promote Women in Science
6. Materials for Teachers and Students: Teaching Guides on Women and Minorities 
7. Month by Month, 2016 Cemented Science’s Sexual Harassment Problem
8. What one semester reveals about Native American students’ struggle to succeed in college 
9. Job Opportunities  
10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

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1. Thinking About Boycotts
From: Jessica Mink via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Both the American Astronomical Society and Women in Astronomy IV are scheduled to meet in Texas this June.  Austin, where the meetings will occur, touts itself as LGBT friendly on its Visitor Center web site: “You don't have to look for rainbow flags or limit yourself to one small part of Austin if you're interested in experiencing everything that the city's large and diverse LGBT community has to offer. Unlike many places, which have only one or two areas known as 'gay districts,' Austin's LGBT residents are truly everywhere. And proud of it!”

But dangers lurk in the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

Read more at


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2.  Meet your CSWA: Nicolle Zellner 
From: Christina Richey via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Nicolle Zellner is an associate professor of physics at Albion College in Albion, MI, where she teaches introductory and advanced astronomy and physics courses. Her research interests focus on understanding the impact history of the Earth-Moon system and how those impacts affected the conditions for life on Earth. Dr. Zellner studies lunar impact glasses to interpret the bombardment history of the Moon (and Earth), and a second project focuses on understanding how the chemistry of simple molecules is affected by impacts.

Read more at


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3. 2017 Annie Jump Cannon Award 
From: Edna DeVore [edevore_at_seti.org]

The 2017 Annie Jump Cannon Award for outstanding research and promise for the future by a postdoctoral woman scientist goes to Rebekah Dawson (Pennsylvania State University) for her work modeling the dynamical interactions of exoplanets in multiplanet systems. Her studies help explain exoplanets’ mutual orbital inclinations and eccentricities as well as their migration toward and away from each other and their host star. She has also written influential papers on the global properties of exoplanet systems, which inform us about their formation histories.

See the full list of recipients at


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4. First women to chair the SSB
From: Matthew Greenhouse [matthew.a.greenhouse_at_nasa.gov]

Dr. Fiona A. Harrison (CalTech) will lead the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She is the first women to hold this position. Dr.Harrison is principal investigator for NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, and she studies high-energy events and objects, such as gamma-ray bursts, black holes, and supernovae.  

Read more at


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5. House Approves Bipartisan Bills to Promote Women in Science 
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

The House passed two bipartisan bills aimed at increasing the number of women in STEM fields. “Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act” (H.R. 255) “authorizes the National Science Foundation to use its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world”, while the “INSPIRE Women Act” (H.R. 321) “authorizes the NASA Administrator to encourage women and girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to pursue careers that will further advance America’s space science and exploration efforts”. 

Read more at


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6. Materials for Teachers and Students: Teaching Guides on Women and Minorities
From: Gregory Good [ggood_at_aip.org] via Rick Fienberg [ick.fienberg_at_aas.org]

There are now 51 lesson plans, including roughly 30 that address history of astronomy and astronomers (with a little allowance for physicists and for NASA). One goal of these lessons is to document women or minority scientists in history who could inspire young women and young minority students. The “teaching guides meet national educational standards, can fit into social and natural science courses, and are available for free.”

Find out more at


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7. Month by Month, 2016 Cemented Science’s Sexual Harassment Problem
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]

“This year yielded a lot of front-page stories about celebrity professors breaking bad, but it is also the year scientific societies and policy-influencers decided to try to do something about it. And if the momentum holds, 2017 could be the year they do more than try, as they transform new initiatives, brainstorming sessions, reports, and promises into action and cultural change.”

Read more and see a timeline of events at


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8. What one semester reveals about Native American students’ struggle to succeed in college    
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu]

[A subscription is required to view this article. –eds.]

Six months ago, Ms. Bear Medicine and Ms. Yellow Owl were seniors at Browning High School in Montana and "eager to escape the watchful eyes of their moms and aunties [and] ready to trade the tedium of rural life for the excitement of the city. Now, they’re freshmen at a large public college, learning to navigate a campus that is just four hours from home but feels like a different world. Here, just 3 percent of students are Native, and the culture centers on individual success, rewarding those who distinguish themselves academically or otherwise. It’s a sharp contrast to the tight-knit reservation, where a commitment to the community is the top priority."

Read more at


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9. Job Opportunities

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

- Post-doctoral position in orbital dynamics (Planetary Defense), University  of Washington
        http://jobregister.aas.org/job_view?JobID=57663

- Assistant Professor in Experimental Astrophysics at the University of Florida
   http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/job/500829/assistant-professor-in-experimental-astrophysics 

- Postdoctoral associate positions in ALPS, LIGO and LISA, University of Florida
        http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/job/500913/post-doctoral-associate 

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10. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_aas.org 

All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address. 

When submitting a job posting for inclusion in the newsletter, please include a one-line description and a link to the full job posting. 

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

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11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email: 

Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like. 

Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list) 

To unsubscribe by email: 

Send email to aaswlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have UNsubscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like. 

To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings: 


You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en  

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12. Access to Past Issues

  
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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