In the month of June, some of the members of the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) will be finishing their terms. This includes our Blogger-in-Chief, Cristina Thomas. Cristina served both as Blogger-in-Chief of the Women in Astronomy Blog and on the CSWA since 2016. She's done an amazing job highlighting news from the field that concerns astronomers who identify as women. We wish her all the best on her next endeavors.
Starting this week, I will be taking the reins from Cristina and posting weekly to the Women in Astronomy Blog. My name is JoEllen McBride and I am a CSWA member, avid science communicator, and partial astrophysicist. I communicate science in many ways, from writing blogs and news articles to giving talks to running workshops. I am thrilled to be continuing Cristina's work and taking on some of the new ideas we've discussed.
Among the first things I'd like to do is roll out exit interviews with the CSWA members that are stepping down. Hopefully, this will give our readers a better idea of what we do as a Committee (besides keeping up with the Blog). It's a brilliant idea of Cristina's and I'm excited to take this on! I also plan on bringing back the 'Meet Your CSWA' posts highlighting the remaining and incoming CSWA members. Finally, I am hoping to start a series that highlights the different paths we take on our journey to become astronomers. These diverse stories will highlight the many ways to become an astronomer as well as the various jobs you can do with the skills you learn. For example, I currently work for Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations as a Communications and Stewardship writer and know many astronomers who became data scientists or programmers for online courses and animation studios.
So, if you or someone you know has an interesting career path or you have ideas you want to share with our community that pertain to women in astronomy please reach out to joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com.
