Friday, September 19, 2025

AASWomen Newsletter Sept.19, 2025

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of September 19, 2025
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Sethanne Howard, Ferah Munshi, Stella Kafka, and Ben Keller

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

This week's issues:

1. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
2. A STEM Person
3. Academy Member was Female Trailblazer in Astronomy
4. Astronomer: The Role of Women in Astronomy
5. Women Writers and Astronomy
6. Changing Bio of Vera Rubin
7. Women Astronomers Day
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

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


1. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
From: Nicolle Zellner via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 each year. The month provides space to spotlight the ongoing achievements of those from Hispanic and Latino communities.

Read more at:

https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2025/09/celebrating-hispanic-heritage-month.html

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2. A STEM Person
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Identifying as a ‘STEM person’ makes you more likely to pursue a STEM job – and caregivers may unknowingly shape kids’ self-identity

By Remy Dou

Having a high STEM identity strongly predicts whether a student will choose to pursue a career in STEM. Research shows that if children don’t develop a high STEM identity by eighth grade, they are unlikely to ever pursue a STEM career.

Read More At:

https://theconversation.com/identifying-as-a-stem-person-makes-you-more-likely-to-pursue-a-stem-job-and-caregivers-may-unknowingly-shape-kids-self-identity-254771

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3. Academy Member was Female Trailblazer in Astronomy
From: Setthanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

One of the early members of The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy), Margaret Burbidge, PhD was an influential astrophysicist and proponent of women’s equality in science.

Read More At:

https://www.nyas.org/ideas-insights/blog/academy-member-was-female-trailblazer-in-astronomy/

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4. Astronomer: The Role of Women in Astronomy
From: Melissa Joskow, Smithsonian

Long before your laptop computer and the computers that took us to the Moon, there was another type of computer. In the early 20th century, women who made calculations and reduced astronomical data were known as “computers.” The hours were long and the pay was minimal. Computers were paid 25 cents an hour (about $6.30 in today’s dollars) and worked seven hours a day, six days a week. Their calculations, however, laid important groundwork for future astronomers and led to some of the most important astronomical discoveries.

Read More At

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/computer-astronomer-role-women-astronomy

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5. Women Writers and Astronomy
From: Noah Comet / USNA

The deadline for submissions has passed. The Journal is expected in the summer 2025.

In 1808, at age 14, Felicia Hemans ventured into the literary marketplace with a volume simply entitled Poems. The success that would eventually make hers a household name was years away, but her thoughts were already tuned to a region far vaster than the North Wales community she called home. In “To the Moon,” for example, she looked to the cosmos and to classical precedent as she channeled the Greek myth of Selene/Artemis as an archetype of creative power: Heaven's canopy is studded bright, With countless stars, in streams of light; Yet what avail their beams divine, If thou fair queen, refuse to shine?

Read More at

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/09/17/women-writers-and-astronomy-special-journal-issue

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6. Changing Bio of Vera Rubin
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

Scientists alarmed as Rubin Observatory changes biography of astronomer Vera Rubin amid Trump's push to end DEI effortsC

"No executive order, no political edict is going to undermine or end our efforts to make the scientific workforce look more like our people," astronomer John Barentine told Space.com. "If anything, it is giving us more encouragement to continue to do this work, because it is the morally, philosophically and politically right thing to do."

Read More At:

https://www.space.com/the-universe/earth/scientists-alarmed-as-rubin-observatory-changes-biography-of-astronomer-vera-rubin-amid-trumps-push-to-end-dei-efforts

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7. Women Astronomers Day
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.edu]

Woman Astronomers Day is celebrated on August 1 every year. This holiday celebrates the many achievements of women in science that have long gone unrecognized. The contributions that female astronomers have made are even more impressive considering they practiced astronomy as a hobby, having been denied a chance at formal education. The most well-known is Maria Mitchell, who made a name for herself not only by her accomplishments in astronomy but by her dedication to furthering women’s education. This holiday celebrates her achievements and sheds light on the importance of recognizing women’s contributions to science.

Read More At:

https://nationaltoday.com/woman-astronomers-day/

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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#howtoincrease

- Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellowship Starting in 2026 at the Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, DC

https://aas.org/jobregister/ad/51772d23

- UC San Diego Burbidge Visiting Professorship at: UC San Diego Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics San Diego, CA

https://astro.ucsd.edu/research/burbidge/index.html

- Brown University faculty position in Planetary Sciences

https://apply.interfolio.com/173797

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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.

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10. 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/aaswlist/subscribe/ and enter your name and email address, 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.

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11. Access to Past Issues

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/search/label/AASWOMEN

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