Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for March 03, 2017

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 03, 2017
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, and Maria Patterson

This week's issues:

1. Meet the CSWA: Chair Pat Knezek
From: Christina Richey via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Dr. Patricia (Pat) Knezek joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) in March 2013, and served as the Deputy Division Director of the Division of Astronomical Sciences in the Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) for three years. She then became a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Assistant Director of MPS and just completed a year assignment to the Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering. Prior to joining the NSF she had been with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) as a staff scientist since 2001. While there she worked primarily with WIYN Consortium, Inc. (WIYN), a partnership of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and NOAO that runs two optical telescopes on Kitt Peak Mountain outside of Tucson, Arizona. She served as WIYN's Instrumentation Project Manager (2001-2005), Deputy Director (2005-2010), and then Director (2010-2013). She has also held positions at the Space Telescope Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the University of Michigan. She obtained her bachelor's degree in astronomy from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, in 1985, and her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1993.

2. Too Ethical to Get Ahead?
From: Lisa Lewis [llewis_at_albion.edu] and Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

"A new paper based on interviews with more than 100 physicists in the U.S. and Britain suggests that ethics may be holding women back in science....More specifically, “Both men and women physicists that we spoke with frame male physicists as having a masculine way of approaching science ethics, characterized by assertively engaging in scientific competition.” In contrast, “female physicists, they argue, adopt a more feminine science ethics approach, characterized by being more cautious with data and conclusions drawn from data.” ... And while discussions about scientific ethics often center on research ethics, such as plagiarism or other kinds individual misconduct, the paper proposes that the ethics of competition and community should be part of the story, too. "

3. Black History Month: The Complicated Power of More Women Scientists’ Faces
From: Maria Patterson [mtpatter_at_uw.edu]

"The photos are gorgeous. They’re uplifting. The images bring women we have not heard of before to life, shifting our own image of 'science', too. The stream of women scientists’ faces is one of the great things about Black History Month, and it flows on in Women’s History Month.

For this month, I planned to hunt out a bunch of copyright-free photos of African-American women scientists, and add them to their Wikipedia pages. Pictures are one of the main drivers for whose stories get told and shared. So expanding the pool of women we can 'see' matters. And I found some great ones...But there are problems, too. Some of the same forces responsible for stacking the odds against African-American women thriving and achieving in science are in play all over again when it comes to who we see now."

4. The 17th-Century Lady Astronomer Who Took Measure of the Stars
From: Maria Patterson [mtpatter_at_uw.edu]

In a Smithsonian Magazine article this week, Leila McNeill reflects on the unique scientific contributions of Maria Cunitz, educated in the 1600s primarily by her father.

"Astronomer Maria Cunitz might not be such an anomaly, were other women given the same educational opportunities."

5. Trump Signs into Law Two Esty-Authored Bills to Promote Women in Science
From: Maria Patterson [mtpatter_at_uw.edu]

"President Donald Trump [Tuesday] signed into law two pieces of legislation authored jointly by Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA).

The two measures, the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act (H.R. 255) and the Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act (H.R. 321), had passed the House and the Senate by unanimous consent, with support from both parties. The new laws will help women launch careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields where they are underrepresented and will encourage women to start their own STEM-focused small businesses."

Read the full press release from Congresswoman Esty at

https://esty.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/president-trump-signs-law-two-esty-authored-bills-promote-women-science

6. LEGO will honor women of NASA in newest set
From: Maria Patterson [mtpatter_at_uw.edu]

The fan designed LEGO ideas "Women of NASA" set will include figurines of Margaret Hamilton, Katherine Johnson, Sally Ride, Nancy Grace Roman, and Mae Jemison.

Women In Astronomy

Friday, March 3, 2017

AASWomen Newsletter for March 03, 2017

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