Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Join the Women in Astronomy Blog Team!

The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) is seeking volunteers from the community to join the Women in Astronomy blog team as writers and editors, to produce and share content that is relevant to women-identifying astronomers. Previous writing experience is not necessary. Team members will be responsible for producing an original blog post or cross-posting relevant articles once a month. They will work with the Blogger-in-Chief to brainstorm ideas, coordinate posts, and follow-up with projects that are in the works.

A time commitment of at least one year is desired. If you are interested, please fill out the form below. Members of the CSWA and the Women in Astronomy blogging team will contact you with the next steps.

https://forms.gle/t7oqEKnvsiijAime7

If you are interested in writing a one-time blog post, please send a short pitch (<300) words to wia-blog_at_lists.aas.org.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Cross-post: Affecting Change in the Local and Global Astronomical Communities

By the Women in Astronomy Forum at STScI

Several members of the WIAF at a
virtual meeting in November 2020.
The Women in Astronomy Forum is a self-organized group of women scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute who have research time as a contractual agreement. We welcome cis-women, trans-women and non-binary people who feel comfortable in a space centered on the experiences of women. Our goals are to provide support and mentoring to others in the group, and to advocate for more inclusive and equitable practices both within the institute and more broadly in the astronomical community. In this article, we introduce ourselves and some of our recent initiatives, including: concrete recommendations to improve diversity in conferences, and specific guidelines for improving diversity on committees and activities coordinated by STScI, analysis of long-term trends in the astronomical work force, and unconscious bias in astronomy. We hope that other institutions can use these guidelines and recommendations to improve their own practices. We also hope that our experience can help others to form similar groups, and we offer some advice and resources through our website.

Read more at


Find useful resources at

Friday, December 18, 2020

AASWomen Newsletter for December 18, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of December 18, 2020
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Jeremy Bailey, and Alessandra Aloisi

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

This week's issues:

1. Career Profile: Astronomer to STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist 
2. Diversity Officer at STScI  
3. Astrotech Summer School 2021
4. Calendar of Women Scientists Who Made Nuclear Astrophysics 
5. ‘I’ve had to fight to be taken seriously’: Women With Ph.Ds Respond To Dr. Jill Biden Column
6. Better Letters: Equitable Practices for Writing, Reading, and Soliciting Letters of Recommendation 
7. Nature's 10 people who helped shape science in 2020 
8. Meet 5 Black researchers fighting for diversity and equity in science
9. The life-changing and long-lasting influence of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
10. Job Opportunities
11. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
13. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Career Profile: Astronomer to STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist

 The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy is compiling interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.

Below is our interview with Regina Barber DeGraaff. Regina is a Mexican-Taiwanese-American, pop-culture-obsessed, astrophysicist, who teaches physics, astronomy, and science communication at WWU. Regina completed her PhD in physics at Washington State University in 2011, studying distant extragalactic globular clusters using the Hubble Space Telescope. Over five years ago Regina co-created and began to host the radio show (KMRE) & WWU podcast Spark Science. This talk show strives to humanize the scientist and make Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) accessible. She also created the position of the STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist at WWU devoted to the retention and support of underrepresented students and faculty in STEM. Through all her efforts, Regina’s goal is to break apart the scientist stereotype so that anyone can see themselves in science.

To access our previous Career Profiles, please go to http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/search/label/career%20profiles

Friday, December 11, 2020

AASWomen Newsletter for December 11, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of December 11, 2020
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. The Changing Face of the Nobel Prize

2. Department of Education investigating single-sex scholarships dedicated to encouraging women in science

3. STEM superstars call for more gender and cultural diversity

4. Hawaiian Women in STEM

5. Meet the Artemis Team

6. The New Face of an Old Nobel

7. Australia gets a national guide to help assess effectiveness of STEM initiatives

8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

10. 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.

Thursday, December 10, 2020

The Changing Face of the Nobel Prize

By Vanessa McCaffrey

In college, I told everyone that my goal in life was to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Particle Physics, in fact. Which was odd, because I was a chemistry major and had only taken the introductory physics required for my major. But no mind, winning the Nobel Prize was the ultimate goal in science and its glamour and prestige had captured my imagination. As I continued along in my education—earning my BS in chemistry, a PhD in physical organic and polymer chemistry, and now teaching at a Liberal Arts College—it became clear that my talents would not land me on the stage in Stockholm on any December 10th, but the allure of the Nobel Prize is still there. I teach a class on the Nobel Prize in the Sciences and help initiate a new generation of citizens into the stories, controversies, and science that make up this illustrious award.

Friday, December 4, 2020

AASWomen Newsletter for December 4, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell being painted by Stephen Shankland (from Item #4; credit: Chris Scott)
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of December 4, 2020
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. Cross-post: Extend the Tenure Clock to Save Careers of Rising Academic Women

2. What NASA missions can teach us about teamwork

3. I’m a Black Female Scientist. On My First Day of Work, a Colleague Threatened to Call the Cops on Me.

4. 'It'll upset a few fellows': Royal Society adds Jocelyn Bell Burnell portrait

5. Perceptions of stereotypes applied to women who publicly communicate their STEM work

6. Helen Magill White -- the first woman to earn a PhD in the United States

7. 2021 AAAS Fellows Recognized for Advancing Science

8. 2021 L’Oréal USA For Women In Science Fellowship Program

9. Top Eight Physic Scholarships

10. Job Opportunities

11. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

13. 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.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Cross-post: Extend the Tenure Clock to Save Careers of Rising Academic Women

By Karen Bjorkman

The halls of higher education already had a leaky pipeline for women in science and academia, but the coronavirus pandemic has taken an ax to the problem and busted it wide open.

Working moms across the country have reached a breaking point – a shocking 617,000 women quit the workforce in September alone.

In colleges and universities, as in other workplaces, we are on the cusp of what has been called a female recession after professional careers and parental duties merged during COVID-19 lockdowns and homeschooling.

Women are falling behind on research – derailing critical progress on achieving tenure and promotion within the seven-year deadline – especially in three main research areas: health and medicine, physical sciences and engineering, and social science and economics.

Before the damage to diversity is beyond repair, institutions must act immediately to provide flexibility for rising academic women who are facing career-ending setbacks.

At The University of Toledo, we are offering a one-year tenure clock extension to all junior faculty no matter what year they are in their tenure process. It’s the right thing to do. While not specifically aimed at women, we know that women are largely experiencing the brunt of childcare and caregiving for aging parents.

Read the rest of the article at

https://diverseeducation.com/article/197733/

Friday, November 27, 2020

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

STARtorialist 2020 Holiday Gift Buying Guide

By Emily Rice, Debbie Kovalsky, & Kelle Cruz

Hello from STARtorialist HQ! We are over the moon to have finally launched our online shop this year and are proud to continue supporting fellow small businesses and independent designers, especially during the holiday season. For this year’s gift guide, we are sharing some of our favorite STARtorial products, the majority of which are designed and/or produced by small businesses, many of them women- and/or minority-owned (read more here). Some of them are even designed by scientists (including fellow astronomers), handcrafted, and/or one of a kind! 

We hope this gift guide gives you ideas for your loved ones, seasonal tokens of appreciation, and fun swaps, or even treats for yourself to close out an extra-challenging year. Fair warning that as a small just-opened shop our inventory is limited and many items may sell out, so shop early or send a Gift Card in case that perfect gift is still waiting to be discovered. You can even create a Wishlist directly in the shop (look for the orange buttons on each product page), and share it with family and friends with just a couple clicks. Sign up for the newsletter for a special preview of our Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday sale!

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Take the Impact of Parenthood on Career Progression in STEMM Survey

Woman with short brown hair holding a megaphone
Image via mothersinscience.com/survey
There is still time to take the Impact of Parenthood on Career Progression in STEMM survey. This is a broad survey that aims to learn more about how parenthood affects career progression in STEMM and identify obstacles faced by people with children. This survey is open to everyone "working or studying in any professional sector of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or Medicine (STEMM), at any career stage." They are especially interested in the responses of fathers. The survey closes Monday, November 30, 2020.

Take the survey at

https://wustl.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bELY3H9su9sNEQB


Learn more about the partners behind the survey at

Washington University in St. Louis
Parent in Science
500 Women Scientists
Femmes & Sciences
International Network of Women in Engineering and Sciences (INWES)

Friday, November 13, 2020

Thursday, November 12, 2020

A Strategic Plan for the 2020s

By Pat Knezek (former Chair, CSWA) and Nicolle Zellner (current Chair, CSWA) 

During 2018 the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) collected information via community surveys and forums about what our communities considered to be areas of key importance beyond scientific research that the AAS, its divisions, and its relevant committees (including the CSWA itself) should focus on as we move into the 2020s. In a 2019 post, we stated that the goal would be to use this information to (1) develop one or more white papers* that would be submitted to the Decadal Survey as a part of the call for papers on the state of the profession and (2) develop a new strategic plan for the CSWA for the 2020s. 

We are thrilled to tell you that both goals have been accomplished!

In a series of weekly meetings for almost a year, a sub-group+ of the CSWA worked together to evaluate the community input related to four focus areas (Harassment and Bullying; Creating Inclusive Environments; Professional Development, Hiring, and Retention; and Professional Ethics) and identified objectives in each of them. A draft of the resulting Strategic Plan was approved by the entire CSWA, and we then sought input from the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA), the Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA), the Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD), the DPS Professional Culture & Climate Subcommittee (PCCS), the AAS Committee on Employment, the AAS Education Committee, and the AAS President, Executive Officer, and Board. 

All of the input was seriously considered, 
and the Strategic Plan reflects the input received by all who responded.

Several of the Focus Areas now have active projects, including finalizing and submitting for publication a summary of the results of our 2019 survey; a proposed evaluation of hiring and retention practices at major institutions; and an evaluation of the dual-anonymous publication review process. Importantly, more intentional communications and collaborations among the AAS diversity committees (CSWA, CSMA, SGMA, and WGAD) are being established. Equally important is that the Strategic Plan is a living document that will be reviewed at least annually and updated as necessary.

You will be hearing more about these projects soon, and the CSWA will be seeking volunteers from the community to participate in any that interest them. We look forward to moving forward with these and other projects to come as we now work to implement the Plan!

"Bringing Astronomy Within Reach". Image by Feelsinara,



--

+ Members of the CSWA who primarily worked on drafting this plan are Jessica Mink, Greg Rudnick, Regina Jorgenson, Maria Patterson, James Tuttle Keane, Tiffany Stone-Wolbrecht, Stella Kafka, Nicolle Zellner, and Pat Knezek.



Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Meet Your CSWA: Sukanya Chakrabarti

Sukanya got her Ph.d. from UC Berkeley, held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and UC Berkeley, and is currently faculty at RIT.  She works broadly on a number of areas from galactic dynamics to time-domain astronomy.





Monday, October 19, 2020

Crosspost: Survey: Impact of Parenthood on Career Progression in STEMM

A baby wearing a yellow hat being held by a woman
Click to read a recent post by Mothers in Science about the effects of COVID on working mothers

By Ryan Watkins via Women in Planetary Science Blog

Motherhood is a determinant factor driving women away from their career track, yet few interventions or policies address the career obstacles faced by mothers, such as motherhood discrimination, a chronic lack of affordable childcare, and unequal sharing of childcare and housework. Our team at Mothers in Science is leading an international research project aimed at understanding how parenthood affects the career advancement of people working or studying in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) fields.

Read more about the project and participate in the survey at

https://womeninplanetaryscience.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/survey-impact-of-parenthood-on-career-progression-in-stemm/

Friday, October 16, 2020

AASWomen Newsletter for October 16, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of October 16, 2020
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Jeremy Bailey, and Alessandra Aloisi

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

This week's issues:

1. When The Two-Body With Children Problem Turns Into The Divorced-With-Children Many-Body Problem 
Illustration of Kepler-47, a many-body system.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

2. Final Frontier? The Evolution of Planetary Science Missions  
3. Survey on effects of COVID-10 on work-life boundaries for women in STEM 
4. 2020 University of Michigan Virtual Graduate Fair
5. Why Is It So Hard to Fire a Tenured Sexual Predator? 
6. That advice to women to ‘lean in’, be more confident… it doesn’t help, and data show it  
7. Upcoming Planetary Science Research Positions at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
8. Job Opportunities
9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

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1. When The Two-Body With Children Problem Turns Into The Divorced-With-Children Many-Body Problem
From: Jeremy Bailin via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Much has been written about navigating the two-body problem in academia. Any field where it is typical to assume that people will be able to move across countries and continents every 2-3 years until their mid-30s is an impediment to long term relationships. …

Sometimes relationships don't work out—so it is also important to talk about that. In particular, what happens when pairs of astronomers have children and are then expected to move for their careers, while no longer being in a relationship with the other parent? I certainly don't have definitive answers to this question, but I do have personal experience which I will share as an example of how it can work.

Read more at


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Final Frontier? The Evolution of Planetary Science Missions
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

By Katherine Broendel

The latest episode of “Third Pod from the Sun” features an interview with Fran Bagenal, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder. Bagenal provides an overarching view of different planetary missions and describes how the research and findings of each have built upon the innovations and discoveries that came before.  

In this episode, Bagenal also discusses the importance of education that engages students and the need to support the different pathways people take to pursue science.

Read the transcript and listen to the podcast at


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Survey on effects of COVID-10 on work-life boundaries for women in STEM
From: Curt Dodds [dodds_at_hawaii.edu]

Dr. Ellen Ernst Kossek, Professor of Management at Purdue University, is reaching out to individual women faculty members across the U.S. to report their work-life experiences to help inform a commissioned report for the National Academies of Sciences Committee, "Investigating the Potential Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine", to be published Spring 2021. The report will focus on work-life boundaries, domestic labor, and careers of women faculty affected by COVID-19 – with a special focus on those working in STEMM (Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine).  Responses are requested by October 18, 2020. For questions, please contact Dr. Ellen  Ernst Kossek at ekossek_at_purdue.edu.

Fill out the survey at  


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. 2020 University of Michigan Virtual Graduate Fair
From: Jean McKee [jarbaugh_at_umich.edu]

Rackham Graduate School is hosting its first-ever virtual graduate fair on Monday, October 26, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. (EST). Representatives from the Astronomy PhD program will be on hand to answer questions about the program and the graduate school search and application process. If you are in the earlier stages of your undergraduate studies, Rackham staff will be available to talk about summer research opportunities at Michigan and help you explore your academic interests. In partnership with our graduate faculty and programs, Rackham is committed to advancing excellence in graduate education by cultivating a vibrant and diverse student community to impact the public good through the scholarship and discoveries of our students and degree recipients. 

Register at 


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5. Why Is It So Hard to Fire a Tenured Sexual Predator? 
From: Jessica Mink [jmink_at_cfa.harvard.edu]

This article from the October 15 issue of "Academe Today" from "The Chronicle of Higher Education" enumerates the obstacles to getting sexual predation out of academia.

[Sign-in is required to read the article. –eds.]

Read more at


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.  That advice to women to ‘lean in’, be more confident… it doesn’t help, and data show it
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]

Labor economist Leonora Risse reports on whether or not the advice to women to “lean in” and show confidence in the workplace really works.

Read more at


Read the journal article at


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Upcoming Planetary Science Research Positions at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center  
From: Heidi Haviland [heidi.haviland_at_nasa.gov]

The Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, plans to offer multiple positions seeking scientists to conduct research and develop applications to solve challenging Planetary Science problems. Outstanding candidates have the potential to be selected for federal employment, joining more than 30 other federal employees, academic staff, and contractors supporting Planetary Science efforts within the Branch, a subset of the Science Research and Projects Division, and the Science and Technology Office at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Research Space Scientist positions will be offered for researchers in planetary science, with expertise in remote sensing of planets, moons, and asteroids, and the development of instrumentation for planetary science investigations. The selected candidates will add substantive capability synergistic with the current staff and the goals of NASA’s Artemis program and MSFC's strategy to integrate human space flight and science robotic capabilities in the Artemis era. The candidates will have an opportunity to lead the development of research proposals for new activities, execute funded projects, and share their accomplishments through conference participation and appropriate peer-reviewed literature.

The positions are expected to be announced in autumn 2020 under the category of Research Space Scientist and at the GS-13 grade level. Successful candidates will have had experience applying advanced tools, techniques, and/or data analysis/mining/machine learning techniques to datasets collected with remote sensing measurement techniques. Candidates should have made regular contributions to a research team with some guidance and direction, developed new analysis techniques to solve challenging problems, made contributions to peer-reviewed proposals in response to technical solicitations, and have contributed to peer-reviewed publications as part of a demonstrated publication record.

The formal announcement of the opportunity and related requirements will be posted in the near future at USAJobs (www.usajobs.gov) and can be found by searching with keyword NASA and location of Huntsville, Alabama. Applications are only accepted through the USAJobs portal, and United States citizenship is required to be eligible for these civil service positions. Candidates are encouraged to create a USAJobs profile well in advance to populate their resume and may also subscribe to USAJobs alerts received via email. Informal inquiries can be directed to Dr. David McKenzie, david.e.mckenzie_at_nasa.gov, 256-961-7896.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. 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 
  
- Professor, Astrophysical Sciences AND Head of Theory, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab 

- Assistant Professor Of Theoretical Quantum Physics, Cal State University – Long Beach

- Postdoctoral Scholar, The Center for Energy Research (CER), San Diego, CA

- Postdoctoral Position, MAVEN’s Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph Team, Boulder, CO

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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_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 by email:

Send an email to aaswomen_at_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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Access to Past Issues


Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

When The Two-Body With Children Problem Turns Into The Divorced-With-Children Many-Body Problem

Artist's concept that illustrates Kepler-47, the first transiting circumbinary system. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
Much has been written about navigating the two-body problem in academia. Any field where it is typical to assume that people will be able to move across countries and continents every 2-3 years until their mid-30s is an impediment to long term relationships. This is compounded by the fact that many astronomers have relationships with other academics, who are commonly other astronomers, and so navigating two people who need to do that can become very difficult.

Sometimes relationships don't work out—so it is also important to talk about that. In particular, what happens when pairs of astronomers have children and are then expected to move for their careers, while no longer being in a relationship with the other parent? I certainly don't have definitive answers to this question, but I do have personal experience which I will share as an example of how it can work.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Meet Your CSWA, Gregory Rudnick

Gregory Rudnick grew up in Chicago. He started studying physics at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and graduated in 1996, after which he moved to the University of Arizona for the Ph.D. program in Astronomy. Half-way through his time there he moved to MPIA in Heidelberg, Germany to follow his adviser. After seven years of postdocs at MPA and NOAO, Tucson he started as a faculty member at the University of Kansas in 2008. He is currently a professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the KU Physics and Astronomy Department.

Greg is an observer who studies the evolution of galaxies using observatories on the ground and in space. He is especially interested in environmental effects on galaxy evolution. When not doing that, he runs an outreach program at a local high school, and he loves cooking, hiking, biking and being with his family.

Friday, September 11, 2020