Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for November 30, 2018

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of November 30, 2018
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, JoEllen McBride, and Ale Aloisi (guest ed.)

This week's issues:

1. The Maria Mitchell Women in Science Symposium - Summary of Discussions

2. STARtorialist 2018 Holiday Gift Guide

3. Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics Summer School

4. ‘Enough Is Enough’: Science, Too, Has a Problem With Harassment

5. Podcast: Is the system stacked against women in science?

6. Racist hackers tried to ruin their chances in a NASA competition

7. Podcast: Women in physics, women in Africa

8. A Teacher in 1876 Handcrafted This Quilt to Help Teach Astronomy to Her Class

9. Female scientist slams ‘sexist’ question at airport security

10. The Need For More Women In STEM Roles Goes Beyond Simple Diversity

11. Scientists share MIT ‘disobedience’ award for #MeToo advocacy

12. Ed Department investigates claims against women's programs

13. Can a major AI conference shed its reputation for hosting sexist behaviour?

14. Job Opportunities

15. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

16. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

17. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

1. The Maria Mitchell Women in Science Symposium - Summary of Discussions
From: Nancy Morrison, Nicolle Zellner, and Jessica Mink via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The first Maria Mitchell Women in Science Symposium, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Maria Mitchell's birth, was held October 5-6, 2018 at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. It was organized by the Maria Mitchell Association of Nantucket, MA, and sponsored by many organizations including the AAS. Nancy Morrison, Nicolle Zellner, and Jessica Mink, members of the CSWA, attended and participated in the discussions. Speakers included Dr. Meg Urry (Yale), Dava Sobel (author), Dr. Jill Tarter (Emeritus, SETI), and Dr. Kate Kirby (APS). Panelists included astronomy profesor Dr. Colette Salyk (Vassar), Dr. Shirley Malcolm (AAAS), professors in environmental studies, biology, math, and other science fields, and other science professionals.

3. Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics Summer School
From: Sera Markoff [s.b.markoff_at_uva.nl]

July 15-26, 2019 University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics” is a two week long, international summer school intended to build and strengthen essential skills in physics and computation for a career in theoretical astrophysics. The summer school prioritizes a supportive, collaborative, and diverse learning environment.

The target groups for this school are graduate students pursuing a degree in astrophysics, with a BSc degree in physics or astrophysics (note that we will consider well-motivated exceptions on a case-by-case basis, such as early-stage postdocs wishing to change research area). One of our primary goals is to encourage young researchers who have an interest in pursuing theory, but have had only limited experience or access to resources, to make the leap. Attendees of the school will learn and employ a variety of computational methods, so a basic comfort level with linux and coding/scripting is expected.

For deadlines and a list of lecturers check out the website

https://collectiveastronomy.github.io/advancingtheoastro

4. ‘Enough Is Enough’: Science, Too, Has a Problem With Harassment
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Amy Harmon

"It is 2018, and the director of the National Science Foundation, France Córdova, is tired of learning that male scientists whose research she supports with public funds have sexually harassed their female students, staff and colleagues.

At 71, she still remembers an unwanted sexual remark from a graduate-school professor she had sought out for advice on her astrophysics research. And over the last few years, she has listened to stories — so many stories — shared by younger scientists at conferences for geologists and astronomers."

5. Podcast: Is the system stacked against women in science?
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Natasha Hurley-Walker

“Balancing a scientific career with having a family isn’t easy. For early and mid-career women, just when they need to impress colleagues with research results, many will be deciding whether to take a break for parenthood. For some there’s the paradox of the encouragement some institutions provide for women, ensuring committees are gender balanced. Some women find the burden of being on multiple committees eats into their research time, in a way most men don’t have to endure. Natasha Hurley-Walker reports.”

Hear the full podcast at

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/is-the-system-stacked-against-women-in-science/10548210

6. Racist hackers tried to ruin their chances in a NASA competition
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Three 17-year-old high school students at Banneker High School in Washington, D. C. were the only all-black, female team to make it as finalists in a prestigious NASA high school competition. .. "But during the online voting portion of the competition, users on 4chan — an anonymous Internet forum where users are known to push hoaxes and spew racist and homophobic comments — tried to ensure the students wouldn’t win. They hacked the voting system, erasing votes, and told others not to support the teens because of the color of their skin."

Read more about what transpired and inspired at

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racist-hackers-tried-to-ruin-their-chances-in-a-nasa-competition-six-months-later-theyre-undeterred/2018/11/22/08754010-e8f5-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.e1de5ff93b3a

7. Podcast: Women in physics, women in Africa
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Nature Careers Podcast

"Alexandra Olaya-Castro describes experiences she faced earlier in her career and how she now draws on them to support female colleagues as professor of physics at University College London.

And astrophysicist Mirjana Pović, winner of Nature Research’s inaugural Inspiring Science Award, one of two prizes developed in partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies, describes her efforts to encourage African women and girls to pursue science careers, a role she juggles alongside her own research at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute in Addis Ababa and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain."

Hear the full podcast at

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07412-y

8. A Teacher in 1876 Handcrafted This Quilt to Help Teach Astronomy to Her Class
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

This teacher and astronomer is 1876 had a 'crafty' way of teaching her students about the solar system. Check out this beautiful hand-sewn quilt held at the Smithsonian.

9. Female scientist slams ‘sexist’ question at airport security
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Amber Roberts, an AI programmer and astrophysicist, tweeted about a microaggression she experienced at airport security. It has been retweeted over 28,000 times.

10. The Need For More Women In STEM Roles Goes Beyond Simple Diversity
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]

By Bianca Barratt

"The UK is on target to employ 1M women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles by 2020, according to new research from WISE, the UK STEM gender equality campaign group.

...

This push goes beyond the need for simple gender parity. It is not just a case of making the STEM workforce fair – we need more women in STEM roles to make scientific innovations useful and, more importantly, safe. After all, how relevant can innovations really be if they do not even take into consideration the needs of half the population?"

11. Scientists share MIT ‘disobedience’ award for #MeToo advocacy
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Meredith Wadman

"The Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge today honored two women who have played leading roles in advancing the #MeToo movement within science by awarding them … its edgy, $250,000 “Disobedience Award.”

BethAnn McLaughlin, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, will share the prize with biologist Sherry Marts and #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke. The Disobedience Award, now in its second year, is funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to honor people or groups “who engage in ethical, nonviolent acts of disobedience in service of society.”

12. Ed Department investigates claims against women's programs
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Kursat Pekgoz, a graduate student in English literature, argues that "campus resource groups for women and women's studies programs amount to discrimination against men ... [and] has filed federal complaints against several universities with the backing of the National Coalition for Men, an American men's rights organization. ... The Education Department is taking the complaints seriously."

13. Can a major AI conference shed its reputation for hosting sexist behaviour?
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]

By Holly Else

“Hordes of artificial-intelligence researchers will descend on the Canadian city of Montreal this week for one of the field’s hottest tickets: the Neural Information Processing Systems conference.

But although attendees at this annual event will hear talks on cutting-edge ideas in computer science, another issue will also be front and centre: whether the conference can provide a welcoming environment for women as the field of artificial intelligence (AI) grapples with a culture of harassment and discrimination.”

14. Job Opportunities
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their
organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:
https://cswa.aas.org/diversity.html#howtoincrease

-Assistant Professor Tenure-Track: Louisiana State University
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/38f52605
-Postdoctoral Fellows in data-intensive research at DIRAC (University of Washington, Seattle)
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/51b29369
-Assistant Professor in Astronomy- Stellar Systems, University of Florida
https://apply.interfolio.com/55767
-Assistant Professor in Astronomy- Star Formation, University of Florida
https://apply.interfolio.com/55777
-Software Engineer developing software for Gemini Observatory users, Hilo, Hawaii
https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/JobBoard/803c161b-49fa-4118-99d2-50475cd61d5d/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=37da063a-91b2-4dc4-915a-5b71f28b7ff3
-Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California Los Angeles
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/c012b971
-STScI Circumgalactic and Interstellar Medium Postdoctoral Researcher #25100
https://stsci.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/46735
-Tenure-track faculty position at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/b44ce1cf
-Tenure-track Faculty Position in Observational Astronomy, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/7b28e094
-Tenure Track position in Astronomy, Campion College, University of Regina
http://campioncollege.ca/about-us/employment-opportunities/tenure-track-position-in-astronomy

15. 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.

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.

16. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.

Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)

To unsubscribe by email:

Send email to aaswlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have UNsubscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.

To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:

https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist

You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en

Google Groups Subscribe Help:

http://support.google.com/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46606

17. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.