Issue of February 08, 2019
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, JoEllen McBride, and Ale Aloisi (guest ed.)
[It’s Black History Month! This issue features some resources for including astronomers and physicists of color in your lectures and talks. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. AAS Public Policy Office Post-Shutdown Town Hall Updates
2. Cross-post: The Woman Who Sees Space First
3. AAWIP Lists African American Women with PhDs Who Identify as Physicists
4. NSBP Black History Month Physics Profiles
5. Gladys West's work on GPS 'would impact the world'
6. Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover named after DNA pioneer
7. This is how science can fix its glaring gender inequality problem
9. Grad Students in STEM Talk Lab Culture Issues at Union-Led Discussion
10. The History of Women in Sci-Fi Isn’t What You Think
12. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
14. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. AAS Public Policy Office Post-Shutdown Updates
From: AAS Public Policy Office [public.policy_at_aas.org]
The AAS Public Policy Office would like to alert you of several announcements, updates, and upcoming virtual town halls as part of federal agencies’ work to resume operations after the recent federal shutdown:
- The Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics (Astro2020) science white paper deadline is now 11 March 2019.
- The AAS 233 NASA Astrophysics Division Town Hall has been rescheduled as a webinar for 12:00 pm ET on Tuesday, 12 February. Register to receive the webinar link.
- The AAS 233 NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Division Town Hall has been rescheduled as a webinar for 12:00 pm ET on Friday, 15 February. Register to receive the webinar link.
See more updates at
Back to top.2. Cross-post: The Woman Who Sees Space First
From: Cristina Thomas via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
A recent Medium article by Shannon Stirone profiles Candice Hansen-Koharcheck. Candice has been been working with ground-breaking images from a series of iconic spacecraft for over 40 years. “To me, these places have gone from being points of light in the sky to being real places,” Hansen-Koharcheck says.
Read more at:
https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2019/02/cross-post-woman-who-sees-space-first.html
Back to top.3. AAWIP Lists African American Women with PhDs Who Identify as Physicists
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
During Black History Month (and every month) we should take the time to reflect on the physicists and astronomers we feature in our lectures and talks. The African American Women in Physics keeps a running list of African American women who are also physicists.
See the list and visit their website at
http://aawip.com/aawip-members
Back to top.4. NSBP Black History Month Physics Profiles
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
For Black History Month the National Society of Black Physicists is continuing their tradition of honoring a black physicist every day of February.
See the current honorees at
https://nsbp.org/nsbp-news/bhm-physics-profiles/2019-honorees
See past honorees at
https://nsbp.org/nsbp-news/bhm-physics-profiles
Back to top.5. Gladys West's work on GPS 'would impact the world'
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]
““GPS has changed the lives of everyone forever,” James said. “There is not a segment of this global society—military, auto industry, cell phone industry, social media, parents, NASA, etc.—that does not utilize the Global Positioning System.”
The revelation that her 87-year-old sorority sister was one of the “Hidden Figures” behind GPS motivated James to share it with the world.
“I think her story is amazing,” James added.”
Read more at
Back to top.6. Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover named after DNA pioneer
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
"The UK-assembled rover that will be sent to Mars in 2020 will bear the name of DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin."
Read more at
Back to top.7. This is how science can fix its glaring gender inequality problem
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
“The fix isn't just about bringing more women – and minorities – to the scientific workforce to increase diversity, she [Holly Witteman] says, it's also crucial to bring them to a system that is built to give them the same opportunities as men.
Including more people who have been historically underrepresented in certain fields – in this case, women and minorities in science – without then investing in mentoring and supporting them, will only backfire, she continues.”
Read more at
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-lancet-special-issue-women-in-science
Back to top.8. Keynote Speaker added to NASEM Symposium Highlighting Evidence-Based Interventions to Address the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
“We're excited to announce that the keynote address will be given by Congresswoman Donna Shalala, the former President of the University of Miami and Secretary of Health and Human Services, currently representing Florida's 27th district! Congresswoman Shalala chaired the 2007 report Beyond Bias and Barriers and will shed light on the impact of those recommendations over the last ten years.”
Register for the symposium at
Back to top.9. Grad Students in STEM Talk Lab Culture Issues at Union-Led Discussion
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
At Harvard: "Graduate students in STEM departments shared stories about sexual harassment in the lab, issues with advisers, and unsafe working conditions at a discussion hosted by the graduate student union Wednesday night."
Read more at
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/2/7/power-in-the-lab
Back to top.10. The History of Women in Sci-Fi Isn’t What You Think
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
Women were 15% of writers and 40-50% of readers of the science fiction genre before the feminist wave of the 60s and 70s.
Read more at
https://www.wired.com/2019/02/geeks-guide-history-women-sci-fi
Back to top.11. 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/diversity.html#howtoincrease
-Full-time Tenure Track Physics/Astronomy Position at American River College https://jobs.losrios.edu/postings/10839
Back to top.12. 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.
Back to top.13. 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:
https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist
You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en
Google Groups Subscribe Help:
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Back to top.14. Access to Past Issues
https://cswa.aas.org/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
Back to top.