Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for January 3, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of January 03, 2020
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and Alessandra Aloisi

This week's issues:

1. CSWA Activities at the AAS Meeting (2020)
From: Katie Eckert via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

By Nicolle Zellner, Pat Knezek, and JoEllen McBride

Aloha! We are all very excited to see our colleagues at the 235th AAS meeting in beautiful Hawaii! Many of the CSWA members will be in attendance and the Committee will be hosting several activities during the week as well as supporting others.

2. Happy Birthday, CSWA!
From: Nicolle Zellner via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

2019 marked the 40th year of the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and we invite you to celebrate with us! Join us at our Meet and Greet at the AAS meeting on Tuesday, January 7 from 6 to 7 pm in Room 306 AB. Light refreshments will be served.

Highlights and accomplishments of the past 40 years will be shared and you'll get a chance to meet current members. Additionally, we'll have opportunities for you to sign-up to write a guest blog; subscribe to AASWomen, our weekly electronic newsletter; tell us what CSWA should be doing in the next 40 years; and share your CSWA memories.

We look forward to seeing you at the celebration! A list of other CSWA activities at the AAS meeting can be found here.

3. A Lack of Women in Amateur Astronomy in the US
From: Katie Eckert via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

By Rachel Freed

I have been an amateur astronomer for 19 years and a member of five different astronomy clubs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in California during this time. I also get to work in the arena of public astronomy and do a lot of education and outreach. For these almost 20 years I’ve been hearing the amateur astronomers say amongst themselves “we need to diversify, we need younger people, we need people of color.” And for 19 years it hasn’t changed much from what I am seeing. While there has definitely been an increase in women in professional astronomy, it’s still nothing close to 50-50 and over the last four or five years, there has been a lot of news about sexual harassment in the field. While I don’t know if this is a significant part of the problem in the world of amateur astronomy, there are certainly many subtle and not-so-subtle issues that contribute to this lack of diversity.

4. Space Astronomy Summer Program - 2020
From: Nodella Jordan [jnodella_at_stsci.edu]

Each summer, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) brings about a dozen highly motivated college students to Baltimore, Maryland, for the Space Astronomy Summer Program to work individually with STScI researchers and staff on projects that include data reduction and interpretation, software development, software engineering, instrument calibration and support, scientific writing, and public out\ reach. STScI is a premier astronomical research institution, and our scientific staff of astronomers, scientists, analysts, and engineers is at the forefront of some of the most exciting astronomy going on today, from the study of our own solar system and the structure of the Milky Way to the composition of nearby galaxies and dark energy.

Apply to link: https://stsci.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/52957

5. US astronaut sets record for longest spaceflight by a woman
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By the Associated Press

"A U.S. astronaut set a record Saturday for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission.

Christina Koch, a 40-year-old electrical engineer from Livingston, Montana, arrived at the International Space Station on March 14. She broke the record set by former space station commander Peggy Whitson in 2016-2017."

6. This drone will fly on one of Saturn’s moons. Here’s the woman leading the mission
From Matthew Greenhouse [matt.greenhouse_at_icloud.com]

By Jamie Leventhal

"A billion miles sounds impossibly far, but in planetary terms, "You can get there," said Elizabeth Turtle.

In Turtle's lifetime, she's seen human technology reach Uranus and Neptune, quick flybys that completely transformed our understanding of the solar system.

That's why she is leading the hunt for rocks on Titan — one of Saturn's moons that, surprisingly, could tell us a lot about Earth's early days."

7. Bringing New Voices into the Sciences
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By New Voices in Sciences, Engineering & Medicine initial cohort

"Panelists representing federal agencies noted that diversity benefits individuals, teams and corporations by providing strengths that may be lacking in more homogenous groups. Representatives from the government sector highlighted that basic scientific research at federal agencies hinges on a diversity of ideas and the representation of individuals from all sectors of society asking novel, timely and socially relevant questions.

For example, an increase in the number of women in the field of cardiology has led to better outcomes for women with heart disease—because women understand that women express symptoms differently. This thinking can and should be extrapolated to other aspects of diversity, with implications for multiple medical conditions and surgical interventions."

8. How one astronomer hears the Universe
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Elizabeth Gibney

"Astronomy is inextricably associated with spectacular images and visualizations of the cosmos. But Wanda Diaz Merced says that by neglecting senses other than sight, astronomers are missing out on discoveries.

For 15 years, Diaz Merced, an astronomer at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Office for Astronomy Outreach in Mitaka, Japan, has pioneered a technique called sonification. The approach converts aspects of data, such as the brightness or frequency of electromagnetic radiation, into audible elements including pitch, volume and rhythm. It could help astronomers to avoid methodological biases that come with interpreting data only visually, argues Diaz Merced, who lost her sight in her twenties."

9. Unprofessional peer reviews disproportionately harm underrepresented groups in STEM
From: JoEllen McBride [ joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Nyssa J. Silbiger and Amber D. Stubler

"In an anonymous survey of international participants in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, we investigated the pervasiveness and author perceptions of long-term implications of receiving of unprofessional comments. Specifically, we assessed authors’ perceptions of scientific aptitude, productivity, and career trajectory after receiving an unprofessional peer review.

Results We show that survey respondents across four intersecting categories of gender and race/ethnicity received unprofessional peer review comments equally. However, traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM fields were most likely to perceive negative impacts on scientific aptitude, productivity, and career advancement after receiving an unprofessional peer review.

Discussion Studies show that a negative perception of aptitude leads to lowered self-confidence, short-term disruptions in success and productivity and delays in career advancement. Therefore, our results indicate that unprofessional reviews likely have and will continue to perpetuate the gap in STEM fields for traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences."

Read the full study at

https://peerj.com/articles/8247

10. I Don’t Care That Miss America Is a Scientist!
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Shannon Palus

"Thursday night, Camille Schrier, a pharmacy doctorate candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University, won this year’s edition of the nearly-century-old Miss America contest. For the competition’s talent portion, she reprised the skill she used to secure her Miss Virginia title over the summer: She “ditched the glittery outfit for a lab-coat, goggles, and rubber gloves,” as Inside Edition explained, and dropped potassium iodide into colorful beakers of hydrogen peroxide, creating a reaction that produces streams of foam. The headlines announcing the win exalted the fact that a scientist won Miss America, and I watched some of my science writer friends get genuinely excited. Me? I do not see this as a breakthrough."

11. Meet Annie Jump Cannon, who cataloged and ranked over 300,000 stars by their hotness
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com[]

“In the house where I was born, there stood on the white marble mantel, a candelabra representing a gilded tree. At the base two children are about to waken a sleeping huntsman. Five outspreading branches support the candles, which are surrounded by glass prismatic pendants. I remember no earlier plaything than these prisms which were easily detachable. To hold one in my hands, to catch a sunbeam, and watch the brilliant prismatic colors dance over the wall was a delight to my youthful eyes. Even now I hold one of these pendants in my hands, and note that it is embossed with stars. Stars and prisms! How prophetic was this baby amusement of the profession which was destined to fill my life.” — Annie Jump Cannon

12. Not surprisingly, science still has a huge racism and sexism problem
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Vanessa Vieites

"Stereotypes about others’ gender and race can influence the way we perceive and judge them. Such biases have been shown to affect employers’ hiring decisions, even when evaluating “fake” but identical resumes. A 2019 study examines how intersecting stereotypes about gender and race influence professors’ perceptions of fictitious post-doctoral candidates applying for positions in different STEM departments at universities."

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_lists.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.

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14. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

Send an email to aaswomen_at_lists.aas.org. A list moderator will add your email to the list. They will reply to your message to confirm that they have added you.

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

Go to https://lists.aas.org/postorius/lists/aaswlist.lists.aas.org and enter the email address you wish to subscribe in the 'Your email address' field. You will receive an email from 'aaswlist-confirm' that you must reply to. There may be a delay between entering your email and receiving the confirmation message. Check your Spam or Junk mail folders for the message if you have not received it after 2 hours.

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

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Go to https://lists.aas.org/accounts/signup to create an account with the online portal. After confirming your account you can see the lists you are subscribed to and update your settings.

15. Access to Past Issues

https://aas.org/comms/cswa/AASWOMEN

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

Women In Astronomy

Friday, January 3, 2020

AASWomen Newsletter for January 3, 2020

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