Women In Astronomy: April 2023

Friday, April 28, 2023

AASWOMEN Newsletter for April 28, 2023

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of April 28, 2023
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]

This week's issues:

1. Nominations Open Soon for 2024 AAS Prizes
2. NASA To Expand Cutting-Edge Science At Emerging Research Institutions
3. What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
4. Margaret Hamilton
5. Unsupportive workplaces forcing women out of STEM careers
6. Job Opportunities
7. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
9. Access to Past Issues

An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.

1. Nominations Open Soon for 2024 AAS Prizes

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

It’s that time again -- the kickoff of the next round of AAS prizes!

2. NASA To Expand Cutting-Edge Science At Emerging Research Institutions

From: Padi Boyd and Nicolle Zellner via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

"NASA has announced two new funding programs to support, enhance, and enable cutting-edge science at emerging research institutions. These institutions include primarily undergraduate institutions, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, such as historically black colleges and universities, hispanic serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities. Combined, these institutions enroll ~75% of undergraduate students across the United States."

3. What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure

From: Michael D. Barton [darwinsbulldog_at_gmail.com]

by Matthew Cobb & Nathaniel Comfort

"Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player."

4. Margaret Hamilton

From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

Margaret Elaine Hamilton (born Heafield on August 17, 1936) is an American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner. She was director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo program. She later founded two software companies—Higher Order Software in 1976 and Hamilton Technologies in 1986, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Hamilton has published more than 130 papers, proceedings, and reports, about sixty projects, and six major programs. She invented the term "software engineering", stating "I began to use the term ‘software engineering’ to distinguish it from hardware and other kinds of engineering, yet treat each type of engineering as part of the overall systems engineering process."

On November 22, 2016, Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from president Barack Obama for her work leading to the development of on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo Moon missions.

5. Unsupportive workplaces forcing women out of STEM careers

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

by University of South Australia

"Women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math are still fighting an uphill battle in Australian workplaces, despite a spike in girls studying STEM subjects in schools and universities."

6. 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#howtoincrease

- The Maria Mitchell Association seeks applications for two 1-year long Research Fellow positions.
https://www.mariamitchell.org/post-baccalaureate-research-fellowship

7. 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.

8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

To Subscribe, go to https://aas.simplelists.com, and in the "Subscribe" area, add in your name, email address, select "The AASWomen Weekly Newsletter", and click subscribe. You will be sent an email with a link to click to confirm subscription.

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

Go to https://aas.simplelists.com, in the "My account and unsubscriptions", type your email address. You will receive an email with a link to access your account, from there you can click the unsubscribe link for this mailing list.

9. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

NASA To Expand Cutting-Edge Science At Emerging Research Institutions

By Padi Boyd

NASA has announced two new funding programs to support, enhance, and enable cutting-edge science at emerging research institutions. These institutions include primarily undergraduate institutions, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, such as historically black colleges and universities, hispanic serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities. Combined, these institutions enroll ~75% of undergraduate students across the United States.

The new SMD Bridge Seed Funding (BPSF) solicits proposals to provide support for faculty investigators and their students at the kinds of institutions above to carry out NASA-relevant research. Through the BPSF program, NASA aims to boost research capacity across a broader range of institutions, and to forge enduring collaborations.

NASA's Research Initiation Awards aim to enable investigators at emerging research institutions to initiate activities to provide catalyzing funding support for a competitive, sustainable, and productive research program. It will also make it possible for undergraduate students affiliated with the successful teams to perform cutting-edge research.

In total across both programs, NASA expects to award up to $6 million per year.

A joint informational webinar about these funding opportunities will be on May 24 at 1-2:30 p.m. ET via Zoom. Those who register will receive a Zoom calendar invitation that will get updated with connection information.

Text and due dates for the Bridge Program Seed Funding call can be found here

Text and due dates for the Research Initiation Awards can be found here.

Friday, April 21, 2023

AASWOMEN Newsletter for April 21, 2023

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of April 21, 2023
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]

This week's issues:

1. Requesting Input for Study on Caregiving
2. Where are the Muslim girls and women in STEM?
3. Women in Physics Canada Conference (WIPC), July 4-7, 2023
4. Journey to the stars: the personal stories of women in astronomy
5. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
6. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
7. Access to Past Issues

An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.

1. Requesting Input for Study on Caregiving

From: Jeff Gillis-Davis via https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a committee on Policies and Practices for Supporting Family Caregivers Working in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

2. Where are the Muslim girls and women in STEM?

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Rashina Hoda, Associate Professor, Department of Software Systems and Cybersecurity, and Deputy Director of the HumaniSE Lab, Faculty of IT

'"You can’t be what you can’t see” is the motto of Science and Technology Australia’s Superstars of STEM program. When I was first selected as one of 60 women to join its 2021-22 cohort, little did I know this phrase would become my “North Star"

3. Women in Physics Canada Conference (WIPC), July 4-7, 2023

From: Sarah Johnson [sjohnson_at_sfu.ca]

The 2023 Women in Physics Canada Conference will be held in Winnipeg on July 4-7. The keynote speaker is Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Note that the abstract submission and travel support request deadlines have been extended to May 1, which is also the childcare support request deadline.

Read more at

https://sci.umanitoba.ca/wipc2023/

4. Journey to the stars: the personal stories of women in astronomy

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

by Karel Green for physicsworld

Karel Green reviews The Sky Is For Everyone: Women Astronomers In Their Own Words edited by Virginia Trimble and David A Weintraub.

"As recently as the 1970s, the field of astronomy was so dominated by men that telescope facilities didn’t even have women’s toilets. Ann Merchant Boesgaard – who spent much of her research career studying the stars from telescopes on Hawaii after completing her PhD in 1966 – had to campaign for this basic amenity to be installed, as well as women’s dormitories for when they had to do overnight data collection.

Now an award-winning astronomer at the University of Hawaii, Boesgaard is one of 37 women who have shared their research journey in The Sky Is For Everyone: Women Astronomers in Their Own Words."

5. 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.

6. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

7. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Requesting Input for Study on Caregiving

By Jeff Gillis-Davs, Washington University

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a committee on Policies and Practices for Supporting Family Caregivers Working in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Two of the goals of this committee are:

Summarize the published research on the challenges faced by scientists, engineers, and medical professionals who are family caregivers (i.e., parents and those with eldercare responsibilities, or both), including research on the impact of COVID-19 these individuals;
Document institutional and governmental efforts to support caregivers and the positive and negative impacts of such efforts (if known), including any unintended consequences of well-intentioned policies and practices;

We seek your input (basically white papers, but we're calling them dear colleague letters) on our study examining policies and programs to support the retention, re-entry, and advancement of students and professionals working in academic science, engineering, and medicine with caregiving responsibilities (e.g., these responsibilities include caregiving for kids, spouses, significant others, dependent adults, parents, etc.).

To share information, please submit a description and any related publications

by June 1, 2023, using this link.

Although the primary focus of the study is women caregivers in science, engineering, and medicine, people of all genders, including men, face obstacles as caregivers. Therefore, the study scope will include caregivers of all genders but emphasize women. The study will also take an intersectional approach and place particular emphasis on the experiences of the most marginalized groups in science, engineering, and medicine, such as women of color, who remain particularly underrepresented in these fields.

For questions, please contact j.gillis-davis_at_wustl.edu.

Friday, April 14, 2023

AASWomen Newsletter for April 14, 2023

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of April 14, 2023
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]

This week's issues:

Elizabeth Roemer (lowell.edu)

1. RFI Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Procurements and Federal Financial Assistance
2. Announcing .Astronomy 12 in NYC, Oct 2-5, 2023
3. Since the late 19th century, adventurous female ‘eclipse chasers’ have contributed to science in Australia
4. Who was Elizabeth Roemer?
5. Flipping the Script to Support Wider Engagement with Physics
6. The future of scientific societies
7. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. 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.

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1. RFI Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Procurements and Federal Financial Assistance
From: Hannah Jang-Condell [hannah.jang-condell_at_nasa.gov]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from the public on the barriers and challenges that prevent members of underserved communities (as defined in Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, and Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) from participating in NASA's procurements, grants, and cooperative agreements. With this RFI, NASA is seeking for the public to provide specific feedback on the procurement, grant, and cooperative agreement regulations, policies, practices, and processes that deter entities from pursuing opportunities for NASA procurements, grants, and cooperative agreements. NASA will review inputs received and may use this information to evaluate, implement, modify, expand, and streamline procurements, grants, cooperative agreements, regulations, policies, practices, and processes to remove systemic inequitable barriers and challenges facing members of underserved communities.

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2. Announcing .Astronomy 12 in NYC, Oct 2-5, 2023
From: Kelle Cruz [kellecruz_at_gmail.com]

We are thrilled to announce that .Astronomy 12 will take place from Tuesday October 3 to Thursday October 5 at the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York, NY. There will also be an optional Day 0 tutorial day on Monday, October 2 and an optional continued hacking day on Friday, October 6.

.Astronomy is not a traditional conference. .Astronomy is a gathering of around 100 astronomy enthusiasts, passionate about how the web and technology can transform our science. It's an opportunity to both expand your toolset for research, communication and collaboration and to broaden your view on an astronomy career. One hallmark of .Astronomy is a full-day hack day.

The event will be mostly in person, but we will plan to live broadcast and record the plenary talks. We will be using Slack as our primary discussion forum where folks who cannot make it in person can also participate.

To learn more, visit

https://www.dotastronomy.com/twelve

If you are interested in attending, please fill out the interest form no later than May 31 at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSff5ZsX0z1LiNdN8K6Fy9tP1Nd6yOS8o61ydDgUZD0aVIl0fA/viewform

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3. Since the late 19th century, adventurous female ‘eclipse chasers’ have contributed to science in Australia
From: Jeremy Bailin {jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Toner Stevenson

Accounts of well-known historic discoveries in astronomy might leave the impression this work was only undertaken by men. But in the late 19th and early 20th century, women in Australia already participated in astronomy as female “computers” and amateur astronomers. They were deeply involved in scientific expeditions to view total solar eclipses, but it was not easy.

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4. Who was Elizabeth Roemer?
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

A recent article by Zdenek Sekanina describes the extensive astrometric observations of the double comet Wirtanen (C/1956 F1) made by Elizabeth Roemer of the US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, which have never been published.

Read the article at

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.02872.pdf

Learn more about Elizabeth Roemer at

https://lowell.edu/2022/09/16/who-was-elizabeth-roemer/

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5. Flipping the Script to Support Wider Engagement with Physics
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Discussing the profiles of physicists from minoritized groups with high school students keeps students from such groups engaged in physics beyond school.

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6. The future of scientific societies
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

By Jennifer Sills

[The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which publishes the journal Science] turns 175 years old this year. AAAS’s mission is to advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. To celebrate this milestone and explore AAAS’s anniversary theme of “igniting progress for the next 175,” we asked young scientists, “How have scientific societies affected your career, and how can societies best support scientists in the future?”

Read a selection of the responses at

https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/library/item/07_april_2023/4093208/

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7. 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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

Friday, April 7, 2023

AASWomen Newsletter for April 7, 2023

Artemis Crew

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of April 7, 2023
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]

This week's issues:

1. NASA unveils Artemis 11 crew
2. Equity for women in science: the role of gatekeepers
3. The science meritocracy myth devalues women
4. First a Bridge Program Graduate, Now a NASA Astrophysicist
5. Astroparticle Physicist Wins 2023 Valley Prize for Work on Dark Matter
6. Glorious Women of Astronomy
7. Women in Science: Astronomical Instrumentation
8. Multimessenger astronomy inclusive training
9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues

An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.

1. NASA unveils Artemis 11 crew

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By: A.L. Lee, UPI & Simon Drunker, UPI

NASA unveils Artemis II crew including first woman, person of color to orbit moon. NASA officials Monday revealed the four names that will make up a team astronauts from the United States and Canada that will journey around the moon next year as part of the first crewed flight of the Artemis mission.

The four include a woman and a person of color, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency confirmed during the joint announcement at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

2. Equity for women in science: the role of gatekeepers

From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By: Jocalyn Clark, Lancet

A new book by Cassidy Sugimoto and Vincent Larivière, Equity for Women in Science: Dismantling Systemic Barriers to Advancement, is aptly timed given concerns about the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic damaged women's productivity, visibility, and recognition within the research–publishing ecosystem. Equality within systems of knowledge production is not only right, as this book shows, denying such equality is also harmful.

3. The science meritocracy myth devalues women

From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

By: Fernanda Staniscuaski, Science magazine

"As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we shouldn’t overlook the women who contribute so much to science and yet continue to be devalued, ignored, and discouraged from pursuing an academic career. Women researchers are cited less often than men and are substantially less likely than men to be credited with authorship within research teams. A variety of factors contribute to gender disparity in science, including harassment, conscious and unconscious gender bias, and motherhood. One often-overlooked obstacle is the myth of meritocracy, a set of assumptions that obscures the challenges faced by women and other underrepresented groups."

5. Astroparticle Physicist Wins 2023 Valley Prize for Work on Dark Matter

From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

By: Liz Boatman

"As a child in Tunisia, Lina Necib PhD ’17 watched the 1997 film “Contact” and decided to become an astrophysicist. Now at MIT, she studies dark matter’s shadowy clues."

6. Glorious Women of Astronomy

By: LIGO-India

The LIGO-India project will be built by by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA, along with several national and international research and academic institutions. The project is being led by four institutions.

7. Women in Science: Astronomical Instrumentation

From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

By: Frontiers - Astronomy and Space Science

"We are delighted to present the 2022 Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences “Women in Science: Astronomical Instrumentation” article collection. At present, according to UNESCO less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women. Long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are discouraging girls and women away from science-related fields, and STEM research in particular. Science and gender equality are, however, essential to ensure sustainable development as highlighted by UNESCO. In order to change traditional mindsets, gender equality must be promoted, stereotypes defeated, and girls and women should be encouraged to pursue STEM careers."

8. Multimessenger astronomy inclusive training

From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

By: Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Steve Taylor, Aaron Stemo, Olivia Greene, Lauren Campbell

The EMIT program (Establishing Multimessenger astronomy Inclusive Training) is working to train the next generation of leaders in multimessenger astronomy. Our vision is to create a collaborative and vibrant scientific community that values equity and promotes excellence along many axes. We aim to seed multimessenger astronomy with a critical mass of leaders who will spread inclusive values and achieve better science.

We are launching our inaugural summer school this year for anyone, from undergrad to senior faculty, who would like to learn about multimessenger astronomy and is keen to develop a more inclusive mindset. There are more details included at the top of the following google registration form (including a draft syllabus).

https://forms.gle/DZhUPL1tHo7PVKJY9

The prospective summer school dates are July 17th to July 28th, 2023. If you are interested, please complete this form no later than May 1st. If you have any questions, please email emit.vanderbilt@gmail.com.

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_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.

10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

11. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.