Issue of August 06, 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.]
From item 5Credit: Prajval Shastri
This week's issues:
1. Crosspost: I Changed Astronomy Forever. He Won the Nobel Prize for It
2. Meet Dr. Moiya McTier, astronomer, storyteller, and author
3. Lost Women of Science Launches Podcast Series in the Fall
4. Quiet solar storm named after International Women’s Day
5. We must include more women in physics — it would help the whole of humanity
6. Reforming the undergrad major curriculum as a way to break down barriers in STEM
7. New APS DEI award for early career scientists
8. Can anonymous faculty searches boost diversity?
9. Meet Evelyn Boyd Granville, the mathematician who mass produced computers and shot Apollo into space
10. Invitation to participate in NASEM study on DEI in space missions
12. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to 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. Crosspost: I Changed Astronomy Forever. He Won the Nobel Prize for It
From: Bryne Hadnott via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
For this week, be sure to check out this incredible documentary, "The Silent Pulse of the Universe," created by Ben Proudfoot for the New York Times on Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell. We've highlighted Dr. Bell before in an earlier crosspost, but she absolutely deserves another (several hundred).
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2021/08/crosspost-i-changed-astronomy-forever.html
Back to top.2. Meet Dr. Moiya McTier, astronomer, storyteller, and author
From: Tiffany Wolbrecht via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator based in NYC. She's written a science fiction novel, given hundreds of talks about science around the world, helped design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science, and is currently working on a popular science book about the history of the Milky Way galaxy for Grand Central Publishing. Moiya's favorite way to combine her unique set of expertise is to build fictional worlds based on facts and science, which she does through workshops, classes, and her podcast Exolore.
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2021/08/meet-dr-moiya-mctier-astronomer.html
Back to top.3. Lost Women of Science Launches Podcast Series in the Fall
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
The new Lost Women of Science Initiative, PRX, and Scientific American are launching a podcast series in fall 2021 highlight the contributions of female scientists whose accomplishments are not well known, hosted by journalist Katie Hafner.
Read more at
Back to top.4. Quiet solar storm named after International Women’s Day
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By Skoltech
"Scientists from Hvar Observatory (Croatia), the University of Graz (Austria), and Skoltech (Russia) along with their colleagues from the U.S., Belgium, and China have investigated a peculiar solar storm that happened on the International Women’s Day 2019. The all-female research team unraveled how a double structure erupted from the Sun, resulting in a plethora of phenomena observed across the electromagnetic spectrum, eventually merging into a single structure that sped toward the Earth."
Read more at
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=57861
Back to top.5. We must include more women in physics — it would help the whole of humanity
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
Cathy Foley, Prajval Shastri, and Sarah Maddison discuss the seventh conference of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics on the roles and prospects of women in physics, the current barriers around the world, and highlight nations where progress is being made.
Read more at
Back to top.6. Reforming the undergrad major curriculum as a way to break down barriers in STEM
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By Beth McMurtrie
"Getting undergraduates through college in four years has long been a challenge, particularly for universities that enroll an economically diverse student body. Students from lower-income communities might struggle with inadequate academic preparation, limited finances, or the difficulties of being a first-generation student trying to figure out how to “do” college. Many programs have sprung up over the past decade or so to provide support through learning communities, enhanced advising, co-curricular activities, and financial aid.
But one area has remained largely untouched: the major. Student-success efforts often leave degree requirements out of the equation, in large part because those are considered the faculty’s purview, both sacrosanct and unknowable to anyone outside their discipline.
The way majors are designed, though, can throw up a lot of barriers that advocates for students say are completely unnecessary. Now, a new push involving dozens of colleges is attempting to untangle curricular complexity and encourage more professors to think about their role in retaining and graduating students."
Read more at
https://www.chronicle.com/article/is-your-degree-program-too-complicated
Back to top.7. New APS DEI award for early career scientists
From: Alison Coil [acoil_at_ucsd.edu]
The American Physical Society has a new award for early career scientists to recognize contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Note that the award is open to FECS (Forum for Early Career Scientists) APS members.
For information and to nominate an individual see
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScu8yY5FsY9FNvmKglc0G1Wy4_0RWgxOMb-3JFtmoqMEKiDeQ/viewform
Back to top.8. Can anonymous faculty searches boost diversity?
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
Katie Langin discusses the Yale biophysics and biochemistry department's experiences with fully anonymized faculty applications, its successes, and lessons learned going forward.
Read more at
https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2021/08/can-anonymous-faculty-searches-boost-diversity
Back to top.9. Meet Evelyn Boyd Granville, the mathematician who mass produced computers and shot Apollo into space
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By Brittany Kenyon-Flatt
"In 1949, the newly minted Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville became only the second Black woman to earn a PhD in mathematics, but she didn’t realize her achievement until her sister pointed it out to her.
After completing her PhD, Granville worked on a litany of landmark mathematical and astronomical projects. She worked on the first mass-produced computer in the world at IBM; on Project Vanguard, which aimed to launch the first artificial satellite into orbit; Project Mercury, which intended to send the first humans into space; and Project Apollo, which attempted to land the first humans on the moon."
Read more at
https://massivesci.com/articles/evelyn-boyd-granville-ibm-project-vanguard-mercury-apollo
Back to top.10. Invitation to participate in NASEM study on DEI in space missions
From: Heather Sawyer [Sawyer-Heather_at_norc.org]
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has contracted with NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC) to implement an important research study to understand the factors that impede or facilitate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the proposed leadership for competed space missions at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The results of this study will inform practical recommendations for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA and its partners to reduce impediments to applicants and thereby enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the competitive pool of proposed leaders.
We are looking for potential key informants, who have served as Principal Investigator (PI) on at least one proposal for a competed space mission from 2010 to the present, who would be willing to participate in a discussion around the processes for preparing and submitting a mission proposal to NASA, and elements of the mission proposal process that may present barriers or are facilitators for achieving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We are interested in speaking to an array of individuals, who can provide diverse perspectives based on their race/ethnicity, gender identity, career stage, success of applications to NASA, and other factors.
Participation in this study will comprise a 45–60-minute virtual discussion with an interviewer from NORC. Your participation in the study will NOT be made known to NASA or NASEM, and NO staff outside of the NORC Study Team will know your identity or be involved in the discussion itself. All interview responses will be kept confidential and stored separately from your contact information, and NORC will not share your contact information or interview responses with anyone outside our study team.
If you are interested in participating in the study, please complete this short Study Eligibility Survey by August 20, 2021:
https://norc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dnCQsdxJUtl5W4u
Back to top.11. 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
- Head of Instrumentation, Lowell Observatory https://www.lowell.edu/careers
- Gamma-ray Research Instrumentation Scientist, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/d9f97c2e
- Gravitational Wave Research Scientist, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/026f4fda
Back to top.12. 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.13. 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.14. Access to Past Issues
https://aas.org/comms/cswa/AASWOMEN
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
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