AAS Committee on the Status of Women
April 5, 2019
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride
This week's issues:
1. Cross-post: Guide to Organizing Inclusive Scientific Meetings
2. Town Hall Webinar: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics
3. Deadline Extended: NASA Planetary Science Summer Seminar
4. 10 Unusual Tips For How To Advance Women In STEM, National Academy Of Sciences
5. NASEM Report: Preventing Sexual Harassment
6. Mixed messages about women’s representation in science—and a missing piece of the picture
7. 32 Women Who’ve Changed Life As We Know It
8. The Failure of NASA’s Spacewalk SNAFU? How Predictable it Was
9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
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1. Cross-post: Guide to Organizing Inclusive Scientific Meetings
From: Cristina Thomas via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
This thoughtful and thorough meeting guide from 500 Women Scientists addresses a number of issues to consider when planning a meeting. It includes discussion of guiding principles and planning goals for organizers.
Read more and find a link to the guide at
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2. Town Hall Webinar: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics
From: NASEM Astronomy and Astrophysics [astro2020_at_nas.edu]
How should we determine the key priorities for the field of astronomy and astrophysics for the coming decade? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine invite you to attend a town hall webinar on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 from 2-3pm ET as part of the recently launched Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics. During the webinar, co-chairs Fiona Harrison and Rob Kennicutt will discuss the plans for the study and ways you can share your thoughts with the committee. Their talk will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Learn more and find webinar registration instructions at
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3. Deadline Extended: NASA Planetary Science Summer Seminar
From: Leslie Lowes [leslie.l.lowes_at_jpl.nasa.gov]
The deadline for applications for the 2019 NASA Planetary Science Summer Seminar has been extended to April 8, 2019.
The 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar is a 12-week long career development experience from May 20 – August 9, 2019, with an onsite culminating week August 5-9, 2019 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Applications from science and engineering post-docs, recent PhDs, doctoral students, junior faculty, and engineering students within 6-9 months of completion of their master’s degree but not planning to pursue a PhD degree, and junior faculty are now being accepted.
Find more information and application details at
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4. 10 Unusual Tips For How To Advance Women In STEM, National Academy Of Sciences
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
At the recent National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) “Symposium Highlighting Evidence-Based Interventions for Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine”, Donna Shalala and Tom Grudin offered tips on how to “fix the system”.
Read more at
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5. NASEM Report: Preventing Sexual Harassment
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
“Together We Can Do Better”. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a convocation of experts in academia, Title IX issues, diversity and related fields to strategize and discuss ways to mitigate sexual harassment, which adversely impacts on women’s careers at colleges and universities.
Download the Proceedings at
[This is a free download, but registration may be required. --eds.]
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6. Mixed messages about women’s representation in science—and a missing piece of the picture
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
By Beryl Lieff Benderly
“Elaine Weyuker earned her master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s, in an academic building that lacked a women’s bathroom …Now a member of the National Academy of Engineering …, she has seen little improvement in her field’s dismal representation of women since her student days, she told the attendees at a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine symposium about women’s underrepresentation in science last month. Throughout her career, she has had no or few female colleagues.”
Read more at
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7. 32 Women Who’ve Changed Life As We Know It
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
To celebrate 32 years of Women’s History Month, author Jill Kiedaisch provides her list of women who have “changed life as we know it”. Several scientists are on the list, ncluding a few astronomers and physicists!
Read more at
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8. The Failure of NASA’s Spacewalk SNAFU? How Predictable it Was
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
By Emily Dreyfuss
“I was not surprised,” said Saralyn Mark, a senior medical advisor to NASA for 18 year. But she was upset. “The good news is that no one died. No accident occurred, so it's the right moment to highlight that the science behind it is unacceptable.”
By the science, Mark really means the lack of science, or the failure to translate science into real-world solutions. … One fighter jet pilot told Mark about how her flight suit was built for men to urinate easily, but not women. On long sorties, she’s had to dehydrate herself. Female surgeons have told Mark how they’ve had to redesign medical tools to fit their hands. “It sends a very profound message,” Mark says.
Read more at
Read why another reporter is “frustrated that we can’t safely equip two women astronauts at the same time” at
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9. 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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10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
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11. Access to Past Issues
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
