Issue of May 28, 2021
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Alessandra
Aloisi, and Jeremy Bailin
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. Be well! --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. How One Astronomy Department Took on Internal Bias
3. Sciencing Out: Making Science Accessible and Engaging
4. Portrait of a groundbreaking astronomer
5. Invitation to participate in SATCON2
6. Astronomer Geoff Marcy booted from National Academy of Sciences in wake of sexual harassment
7. Asian American scientists in STEM classrooms: increasing inclusion and visibility
8. Looking Beyond the Female Firsts of Science History
10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
An online version of this newsletter will be available at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
1. How One Astronomy Department Took on Internal Bias
From: JoEllen McBride via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
After the Inclusive Astronomy 2 conference in 2019, the Women in Astronomy Blog team reached out to Dr. Alexandra Pope to share her experience introducing a journal club series exploring diversity, equity, and inclusion issues facing astronomers to her department. This article stems from an interview with Dr. Alexandra Pope on Friday, April 9, 2021.
Gender and racial bias in Physics and Astronomy departments have moved to the forefront of meetings, conferences, and discussions that were before exclusive to scientific research. There have been numerous studies over the decades that quantify the effects our internalized biases have on the recruitment and retention of people with underrepresented identities in STEM fields. And many workshops, seminars, and trainings have been given at our institutions and meetings in efforts to raise awareness. But most of these events are voluntary. The people putting them on volunteer their time and energy and the attendees make a conscious choice to attend.
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2021/05/how-one-astronomy-department-took-on.html
Back to top.2. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021) Consensus Study Report
From: Jessica Mink [jmink_at_cfa.harvard.edu]
"The spring of 2020 marked a change in how almost everyone conducted their personal and professional lives, both within science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global scientific conferences and individual laboratories and required people to find space in their homes from which to work. It blurred the boundaries between work and non-work, infusing ambiguity into everyday activities. While adaptations that allowed people to connect became more common, the evidence available at the end of 2020 suggests that the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic endangered the engagement, experience, and retention of women in academic STEMM, and may roll back some of the achievement gains made by women in the academy to date.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic STEMM identifies, names, and documents how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the careers of women in academic STEMM during the initial 9-month period since March 2020 and considers how these disruptions - both positive and negative - might shape future progress for women. This publication builds on the 2020 report Promising Practices for Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine to develop a comprehensive understanding of the nuanced ways these disruptions have manifested. Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic STEMM will inform the academic community as it emerges from the pandemic to mitigate any long-term negative consequences for the continued advancement of women in the academic STEMM workforce and build on the adaptations and opportunities that have emerged."
Read more at
Back to top.3. Sciencing Out: Making Science Accessible and Engaging
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
"This new three-part digital series from NOVA PBS pairs two women science communicators—one historical and one contemporary—to explore how their remarkable work is inspiring future generations of scientists. ...
For centuries, women all around the world have educated the public about science, stirring up interest, curiosity—and even occasionally uprisings. As science communicators, these women have bridged the gap between researchers, mathematicians, and engineers, making information that would be otherwise inaccessible to the public understandable."
Learn more and watch the video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGp_yFfxVCY
Back to top.4. Portrait of a groundbreaking astronomer
From: John Wenzel [jwenzel_at_albion.edu]
By Joanna Behrman
"Jacqueline and Simon Mitton's Vera Rubin: A Life offers a thoughtful and nuanced chronicle of the famed astronomer's life. The Mittons' book is the first full-length biography of Rubin, whose work on the rotational velocity of galaxies went a long way toward establishing the existence of dark matter."
Read more at
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6531/788.abstract
Back to top.5. Invitation to participate in SATCON2
From: Aparna Venkatesan [avenkatesan_at_usfca.edu]
Dear friends and colleagues,
We are writing to invite you to join a broad group of people from around the world working to address the rapidly growing issue of large "constellations" of low-earth orbit satellites (LEOsats), such as SpaceX's Starlink satellites. Building on the SATCON1 meeting last year, there will be a followup (free, virtual) workship - SATCON2 - funded by the National Science Foundation that will take place this July 12-16. SATCON2 will focus on the impacts of LEOsats on mainstream/professional astronomy, as well as on humanity worldwide, and will invite participation from a broad swath of constituencies in dark skies and near-Earth space.
We specifically draw your attention to the Community Engagement Working Group (WG) that we are co-Chairing, and warmly invite your participation. We know it has been a historically challenging year for everyone, especially for some communities, and that your time is precious. We need your voices and perspectives more than ever as we collectively work towards our shared goals for dark skies and a sustainable presence in space. The Community Engagement WG will reach beyond professional astronomy and commercial use to amateur astronomy, dark skies advocacy, K-12 education, fair access to space for minoritized communities, cultural practices, and sky traditions of indigenous tribes. This group will identify key issues impacting these constituencies and lay a foundation for ongoing communication and collaboration to preserve space as a scientific, environmental and cultural resource for humanity.
Over the next few months, the Community Engagement WG and three other working groups (Observations, Algorithms, and Policy) will collaborate synchronously and asynchronously to develop a plan for implementing the recommendations in the SATCON1 report from 2020. We will present draft proposals and host a broader discussion during the July 12–16 workshop. The workshop site is HERE, and will be updated soon with more information and a registration link.
Your participation is very welcome. Here are some options for the next 6 weeks depending on your bandwidth and your work-life commitments.
1. Please join our Working Group (respond directly to one of Aparna or James). We plan to communicate largely by email and Slack, with at most one WG meeting per week by Zoom or teleconference.
2. Post your thoughts and feedback on Slack: A. SATCON2's general Slack Channel: https://app.slack.com/client/T01KP4FUAJF/C01KG4ZNYRL and/or B. the Indigenous Perspectives and Cultural Practices channel: https://join.slack.com/t/satcon2/shared_invite/zt-qk90mjq9-jcwzXfLboyFE4Qw24r_AZw
3. Please attend at least one listening session that we will organize in the coming weeks to listen to your concerns and feedback. Please respond directly to one of Aparna or James.
Please don't hesitate to reach out by email or Slack with any questions - we look forward to partnering together!
Sincerely,
Aparna Venkatesan (University of San Francisco) and James Lowenthal (Smith College), co-chairs of the SATCON2 Community Engagement WG
Back to top.6. Astronomer Geoff Marcy booted from National Academy of Sciences in wake of sexual harassment
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]
By Jocelyn Kaiser
"For the first time, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has expelled a member who had been found guilty of sexual harassment. NAS’s governing council has rescinded the membership of astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, the academy told its members in an email yesterday.
The action is the first since the 158-year-old NAS revised its bylaws 2 years ago to allow members to be expelled for documented misconduct violations. No actions were taken on the policy until fall 2020, when, after reading news accounts, a French scientist filed a complaint against Marcy and three other NAS members who had been investigated for sexual harassment."
Read more at
Back to top.7. Asian American scientists in STEM classrooms: increasing inclusion and visibility
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]
By Kara Norton
"As we continue to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it is important to acknowledge the ongoing role that these communities play in shaping the nation. The annual May celebration recognizes the country’s more than 22 million Asian Americans, and 1.6 million Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander Americans, but the collective celebration can largely be attributed to the dogged efforts of Capitol Hill staffer, Jeanie Jew."
Read more at
Back to top.8. Looking Beyond the Female Firsts of Science History
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]
By Anna Reser, Leila McNeill
"Stamped in relief on the back of the heavy gold medal given to Nobel Prize recipients in the sciences is the image of two women. One, bare-breasted and holding a cornucopia, represents Nature. Pulling back her veil and bearing a torch of knowledge is Science, who reveals Nature and illuminates her secrets. It is an allegory as old as science itself, drawn from even older representation traditions, and it adorns the most prestigious prize in science as a reminder of the high ideals of discovery and truth. But it is an image that obscures more than it illuminates."
Read more at
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/looking-beyond-female-firsts-science-history-180977766
Back to top.9. Job Opportunities
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here: https://aas.org/comms/cswa/resources/Diversity
- College of Arts and Sciences - Assistant Professor - Non-Tenure Track - Physics https://uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/8843
Back to top.10. 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.
Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.
Back to top.11. 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:
Send an email to aaswlist-leave_at_lists.aas.org from the email address you wish to remove from the list. You will receive an email from 'aaswlist-confirm' that you must reply to which will complete the unsubscribe.
Leave AAS Women or change your membership settings through the online portal:
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.
Back to top.12. Access to Past Issues
https://aas.org/comms/cswa/AASWOMEN
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
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