Issue of March 08, 2019
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride
This week's issues:
1. More Women are Earning Doctorates in Science, Engineering, and Health But There’s Still Work To Do
2. Understanding Dust 30 Years After CCM: (A Symposium in Honor of Geoff Clayton's 65th Birthday)
3. NIH revoked funding from 14 scientists over sexual harassment last year
4. NIH apologizes for its failure to address sexual harassment in science
5. Women are leading Australia's charge in science and space
6. Instagram and science: the Samoan Scientist slashing the 'dumb coconut' stereotype
7. Four Women Who Changed The Field Of Meteorology
8. 500 Women Scientists-Person Place Thing Series
9. Female scientists get smaller first-time grants than men
10. What does a scientist look like? Children are drawing women more than ever before
11. 2 astronauts are scheduled for the first all-female spacewalk in history
12. Job Opportunities
13. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
14. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
15. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. More Women are Earning Doctorates in Science, Engineering, and Health But There’s Still Work To Do
From: Cristina Thomas via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
By Nicolle Zellner and JoEllen McBride
"The National Science Foundation released a report this month with the headline “Number of Women with U.S. Doctorates in Science, Engineering, or Health Employed in the United States More Than Doubles since 1997.” The editors of the AASWOMEN Newsletter decided to take a closer look at the numbers and unpack this title to see where women stand in the science, engineering, or health (SEH) doctorate landscape. The short answer: employed women with PhDs are generally still in the minority."
Read more at
Back to top.2. Understanding Dust 30 Years After CCM: (A Symposium in Honor of Geoff Clayton's 65th Birthday)
From: Michael Wolff [mjwolff_at_spacescience.org]
In honor of the scientific accomplishments of Dr. Geoffrey C. Clayton, who has had a lifetime of influence over the field of dust astrophysics, a scientific symposium will be held on August 4-6, 2019. The symposium will consist of invited and contributed oral and poster talks on current research and future problems in dust astrophysics. Examples of topics include circumstellar and interstellar dust in the Local Group, the evolution of R Coronae Borealis stars, extinction curves, and comparison of theory, simulations, and observations, among others.
For more information, including registration and conference details, please see
Back to top.3. NIH revoked funding from 14 scientists over sexual harassment last year
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
After investigations into more than two dozen cases of sexual harassment, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) replaced 14 principal investigators (PIs), all of whom had received NIH grants. Another 21 NIH-funded PIs were disciplined or fired by their employers, and 14 people were banned from participating in NIH peer-review panels.
Read more at
Back to top.4. NIH apologizes for its failure to address sexual harassment in science
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Lev Facher
"The National Institutes of Health on Thursday apologized for its past failures to recognize and address the culture of sexual harassment that has impacted scientists for generations.
“To all those who have endured these experiences, we are sorry that it has taken so long to acknowledge and address the climate and culture that has caused such harm,” NIH Director Francis Collins said in a statement."
Read more at
Back to top.5. Women are leading Australia's charge in science and space
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
"The Australian Space Agency is led by Megan Clark, and the agency has five executive directors, three of whom are female." This is just one example of how women are filling leadership roles in Australian science and space institutions.
Read more at
Back to top.6. Instagram and science: the Samoan Scientist slashing the 'dumb coconut' stereotype
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
"The Samoan Scientist wants there to be more Samoan scientists." The brainchild of Samoan biologist Amy Maslen-Miller, "the Samoan Scientist" describes Maslen-Miller's expeditions around the tropical islands and vies to "encourage young Pasifika to pursue science. Because science, she says, is not what many young people think it is."
Read more at
Back to top.7. Four Women Who Changed The Field Of Meteorology
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Marshall Shepherd
"In 2017 I wrote about Klara Dan von Neumann, a "hidden figure" of history that played a significant role in pioneering modern weather prediction. Her story, like so many others, are tucked away in obscurity. As with many groups, contributions of women are typically underrepresented in history books or written from very narrow perspectives. Women's History Month is a time to reflect on such pioneers. At the nudging of my colleague Dr. Michelle Hawkins, a rising star within the National Weather Service in her own right, I decided to reflect on other women who made marks in the field of meteorology. These four scientists shatter the ignorant, outdated and insulting notion of the "weather girl.""
Read more at
Back to top.8. 500 Women Scientists-Person Place Thing Series
From: Randy Cohen [alternativerandy_at_gmail.com]
The public radio program Person Place Thing and the advocacy organization 500 Women Scientists present the second in a series of conversations with women scientists early in their careers - on stage, with live music, at KGB Bar in New York City.
The guest is Einat Lev, an associate research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. Dr. Lev investigates magma and lava using numerical models, lab experiments, and field observations, sometimes by drone.
It would be great to see your cohort for this one, Wednesday, April 3, 7:00. Here’s the event page where you can get more information and a ticket.
Read more at
Back to top.9. Female scientists get smaller first-time grants than men
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Lisa Rapaport
"Women in science receive smaller research grants than men even when they have similar qualifications, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers analyzed 53,903 grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health to first-time principal investigators from 2006 to 2017. Men and women were similar on key benchmarks used to assess applicants; regardless of sex, half of them had published at least two research papers a year, had their articles cited at least 15 times in other papers, and published in at least two research areas."
Read more at
Back to top.10. What does a scientist look like? Children are drawing women more than ever before
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
"When asked to draw a scientist, school-age kids in the United States are increasingly sketching women. That’s the main conclusion of a new study that compiled information about 20,860 pictures drawn by students age 5 to 18 over 5 decades."
Read more at
Back to top.11. 2 astronauts are scheduled for the first all-female spacewalk in history
From: Stella Offner [soffner_at_astro.as.utexas.edu]
By Gianluca Mezzofiore
"For the first time in history, an all-female crew will conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station, NASA confirmed to CNN.
As part of Expedition 59, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will carry out the spacewalk on March 29. They'll be supported on the ground by Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol, who will be on the console at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston."
Read more at
Back to top.12. Job Opportunities
Head of Education, Santa Fe Institute - https://santafe.edu/jobs/head-of-education
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here: https://cswa.aas.org/#howtoincrease
Back to top.13. 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.14. 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
Google Groups Subscribe Help:
Back to top.15. Access to Past Issues
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
Back to top.
