Issue of August 14, 2020
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Jeremy Bailey, and Alessandra Aloisi
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Recap: Virtual CSWA Meet and Greet @ the 236th AAS Meeting
2. Women's in-class participation, performance increase with more female peers, instructors
3. NSF grant changes raise alarm about commitment to basic research
4. Frances Allen, first woman to win Turing Award for contributions to computing, dies at 88
5. Astropy call for funding proposals for inclusion, diversity, and empowerment
6. Virginia T. Norwood: The Mother of Landsat
7. Remembrance of Joan Feynman
9. Beyond Pink Microscopes: How Two Researchers are Changing the Culture of Science
11. Five tips for boosting diversity on campus
12. Senior U.S. lawmaker wants National Academies to scrutinize racism in science
13. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
14. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
1. Recap: Virtual CSWA Meet and Greet @ the 236th AAS Meeting
From: Nicolle Zellner via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
"Drawing on community input from a brief survey, our panel focused on addressing the special challenges our community faces, especially in the era of social distancing and social unrest. Recognizing that women can identify along multiple axes, the CSWA invited representatives from the AAS diversity committee to participate on this panel. Panelists were Dr. Jackie Monkiewicz (Working Group on Accessibility and Disability, WGAD), Dra. Nicole Cabrera Salazar (Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, CSMA), and Dr. Rolf Danner (Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities on Astronomy, SGMA). Dr. Stella Kafka (CSWA) moderated."
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2020/08/recap-virtual-cswa-meet-and-greet-236th.html
Back to top.2. Women's in-class participation, performance increase with more female peers, instructors
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]
A recent study looking at how women perform in undergraduate biology courses found that their participation and performance were better in classes that had female instructors and that had more female students.
Read more at
https://phys.org/news/2020-08-women-in-class-female-peers-instructors.html
Back to top.3. NSF grant changes raise alarm about commitment to basic research
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]
By Giuliana Viglione
"The major US agency tasked with funding basic research, the National Science Foundation (NSF), raised alarm among scientists late last month when it updated the guidance for its prestigious graduate-student fellowships to emphasize research in three areas of applied computational science.
Critics fear that the new focus on artificial intelligence, computationally intensive research and quantum information science — despite the 70-year-old agency’s historical mandate to promote and support all basic scientific research — will decrease money for fundamental science that can struggle to attract funding from other government or industry sources. They also fear that the changes could make it even harder for graduate students from traditionally under-represented groups — including white women and Black and Latinx scientists — to win these grants."
Read more at
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02272-x
Back to top.4. Frances Allen, first woman to win Turing Award for contributions to computing, dies at 88
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
Frances Allen, one of the leading computer scientists of the 20th century, whose seminal work on optimizing compilers was recognized when she became the first woman to win the Turing Award in 2006, died on Aug. 4.
Read more at [note the Washington Post has a soft paywall -- ed.]
Back to top.5. Astropy call for funding proposals for inclusion, diversity, and empowerment
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
The Astropy Project, dedicated to developing a set of common utilities for astronomy in Python, is calling for members of the community to take actions to broaden participation in the project. In order to facilitate this, the project is calling for funding proposals for up to $15,000 for actions that help with inclusion, support, and empowerment of underrepresented or marginalized groups in the Astropy community.
Read more at
https://github.com/astropy/project/blob/master/finance/InclusionDiversityEmpowerment.md
Back to top.6. Virginia T. Norwood: The Mother of Landsat
From: Matthew Greenhouse [matt.greenhouse_at_nasa.gov]
By Laura E.P. Rocchio
"Take out a yardstick. Flip it over to the metric side and measure out 89 centimeters long, 59 centimeters wide and 40 centimeters tall. Imagine an object that size weighing about 105 pounds (48 kg). This should give you a feel for the size of the Multispectral Scanner System that flew on the first Landsat satellite. That’s the compact size of the instrument that initiated repetitive observation of Earth’s landmasses from space—the instrument that has defined much of modern remote sensing.
Now, let’s meet the woman who created it."
Read more at
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/virginia-t-norwood-the-mother-of-landsat
Back to top.7. Remembrance of Joan Feynman
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu] and Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
Joan Feynman, astrophysicist, heliophysicist, and geophysicist, died on July 21. Feynman's groundbreaking work included the discovery of the origin of aurorae, methods to detect solar coronal mass ejections, and work on Earth's magnetosphere. She was the first woman elected as an officer of the American Geophysical Union and received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.
Read more at
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/updates/feynman.cfm
Back to top.8. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine seeking experts for study on equity and inclusion
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
"The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is undertaking a new study that will recommend actions to increase diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility in the leadership of competed space missions proposed to the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). In response to a request from the NASA SMD, this study will examine the current mission proposal system at NASA SMD and identify elements of the system that may present impediments to applicants, limiting the diversity of the competitive pool. As part of its work, the committee will engage with a wide range of experts in the relevant social science and space science communities." Nominations are due 17 August.
Read more at
Back to top.9. Beyond Pink Microscopes: How Two Researchers are Changing the Culture of Science
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Selma Franssen
"Time and time again, studies have shown that diverse teams of scientists come up with more innovative solutions, produce better results, and publish articles that are cited more often. Yet despite these advantages, and big-budget campaigns to push more girls into scientific fields, there is still a shocking lack of gender diversity in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and medicine). In physics, for example, 84 percent of the faculty and 94 percent are white. What needs to be done? According to Dr. Jess Wade, a physics postdoc at Imperial College London, and Dr. Clara Barker, a materials scientist at Oxford University, glossy diversity campaigns won’t work unless the culture of science changes first."
Read more at
https://www.ladyscience.com/ideas/beyond-pink-microscopes-changing-the-culture-of-science
Back to top.10. Conferences failing to protect LGBT+ researchers: Promoting equity, diversity and inclusion at meetings requires more than a code of conduct, analysis finds
From: Jessica Mink [jmink_at_cfa.harvard.edu]
by Smriti Mallapaty
"Ayesha Tulloch was reluctant to go to a conservation-biology conference in Malaysia, where laws discriminate against people of specific sexual orientations. “It came as quite a shock to me that the discipline I felt was the most accepting and tolerant toward the queer community would choose to have a conference in a place that’s really not queer friendly,” says Tulloch, a conservation scientist at the University of Sydney in Australia."
Read more at
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02325-1
Read the original study at
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1255-x
Back to top.11. Five tips for boosting diversity on campus
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]
By Danielle McCullough and Ruth Gotian
"As scientists, we need to ensure that the basic sciences are more welcoming and inclusive. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tipping point at which no one can ignore the growing public outcry for justice and equality, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, which quickly became global. We already know that diverse perspectives increase productivity and creativity. So we must reimagine our spaces, behaviour and processes to promote a sense of belonging.
Institutions can take specific actions now to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment, rather than placing the burden of change on those against whom discrimination is directed. Here are five strategies that can help."
Read more at
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02367-5
Back to top.12. Senior U.S. lawmaker wants National Academies to scrutinize racism in science
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]
By Jeffrey Mervis
"In response to a request from the chairwoman of the science committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is gearing up for an in-depth study of racism in academic research.
Previous NASEM studies have documented the value of diversity to the practice of science, and recommended ways to broaden participation by groups historically underrepresented in science. But the study proposed by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–TX) would break new ground, say researchers who study the topic, by asking the community to examine long-standing beliefs and practices that have marginalized many individuals and skewed decisions on what topics are worthy of support"
Read more at
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.
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Back to top.14. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
Send an email to aaswomen_at_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.
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Back to top.15. Access to Past Issues
https://aas.org/comms/cswa/AASWOMEN
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
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