Issue of January 2, 2026
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. CSWA Sessions & Events at AAS Phoenix 2026
2. In Memory of Katherine Wright
3. The Gruber Foundation Fellowship in Astrophysics
4. Math is for girls
5. Why Being a Black, Female Science Teacher Matters So Much to Students Who Look Like Me
6. Nobel Prize winners: invisible scientists
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.
We look forward to seeing you at the 247th American Astronomical Society meeting to be held January 4-8, 2026 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
CSWA will be hosting and co-hosting several events early in the week. Please come by to meet your CSWA representatives, network, and support women in our field. Events and activities are open to all registered attendees who are interested in participating or learning more. Find the full schedule for AAS 2026 at https://aas.org/meetings/aas247
Sun. Jan. 4: AAS Grad School & REU Fair Phoenix Convention Center, 301 C 5:30-7:00 p.m. MT
Come hear about CSWA's strategic plan and current activities and how you can get involved with AAS at the CSWA table!
Mon. Jan. 5: CSWA Cohorts Kickoff Session Phoenix Convention Center, 232 B 2:00-3:30 p.m. MT
The AAS's Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy invites in person and virtual attendees to kick off the new CSWA Cohorts program. Drawing inspiration from cohort model peer groups (e.g., Lean In Circles; Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists by Ellen Daniell; institutional support groups and mentoring programs), this session aims to connect people within and across career stages in astronomy to solve problems and provide support to each other in challenging times and situations. The goal of the CSWA Cohorts program is to establish topical peer groups that will continue these conversations virtually year-round. Event is open to all AAS attendees, regardless of gender, status, or background.
Sign up for cohorts or suggest a group at https://forms.gle/YUQBhEboZjZvvKPJ8
Mon. Jan. 5: 1400 Degrees and AAS CSWA Networking Event at AAS 247 Offsite event, RSVP link below 6:30-8:30 p.m. MT * Remarks from CSWA and guest speaker Dr. Meg Urry around 7 p.m.
1400 Degrees is partnering with the American Astronomical Society’s Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) for an evening networking and community-building event at the AAS247 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona on January 5th, 2026. Connect over dinner and beverages with scientists from different institutions, career stages, and scientific sub-disciplines within physics and astronomy, in a casual and comfortable environment.
Event is open to ages 21+ colleagues attending the AAS conference who are interested in supporting women and gender minorities in physics and astronomy.
RSVP is required as event space is limited, so make sure to indicate your interest in attending quickly or get on the waitlist at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FNRU5ZQLhMh7tc8daXZ6oeXVjNNYCZTL46ipQJoB9ds/viewform?ts=6924ae7f&edit_requested=true .
Hosts: Karly Pitman/CSWA and Gabriele Betancourt-Martinez (Heising-Simons Foundation; 1400 Degrees: https://1400degrees.org/)
By Physics Magazine
"This year, Physics Magazine lost a remarkable writer and a kind, thoughtful colleague. Katherine Wright, whose byline appears on more than 450 stories in our archive, passed away last September, far too early. She was a prolific writer and a passionate advocate for women and minority rights. She is deeply missed by all who had the privilege to work with her.
Katherine’s voice will be familiar to anyone who has read Physics Magazine over the past decade. Her clear-eyed reporting made some of the most complex physics results accessible and human."
Read more at
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v18/203
With the aim to promote the science of cosmology and other branches of astronomy, The Gruber Foundation has created the TGF Fellowship Programme.
Since 2001, the Gruber Foundation has entrusted the IAU with the selection of one TGF fellow each year. The IAU TGF Fellowship is awarded to a young postdoc working in any field of astrophysics, either theoretical, observational or experimental.
Read more and apply at
https://www.iau.org/Iau/Iau/Science/Grants-and-Prizes/Gruber-Fellowship.aspx
On the Change, Technically podcast, Drs. Ashley Juavinett and Cat Hicks discuss the research on gender, math, and computing.
Listen to the podcast and/or read the transcript at
https://www.changetechnically.fyi/2396236/episodes/18400124-math-is-for-girls
By Alia Pope
"“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked my fourth graders as we circled up for our morning meeting. Hands shot up: doctor, basketball player, singer. Then, a student named Zoey Woods looked at me with a giant grin and said, “A teacher and a scientist, just like you.”
That stopped me in my tracks. She had seen me on my PBS Kids series, where I explore science and technology — and for which I was recently nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Personality. Zoey had realized her teacher was also a scientist, guiding students through hands-on, real-world science, technology, engineering and mathematics challenges and helping to break down complex topics like microchips, circuits and semiconductors. For Zoey, the possibilities multiplied, with doors to her future opening simultaneously."
Read more at
"The first known female astronomer and writer is Enheduanna, daughter of Sargo I, founder of the first known empire, the Akkadian Empire. She wrote about the education of women in her poems... At the end of the second millennium BC, in Ancient Egypt, Seshat was the goddess of reason, writing, and knowledge, patroness of scribes, and protector of astronomy and architecture."
Read more at
https://en.ara.cat/opinion/nobel-prize-winners-invisible-scientists_129_5603058.amp.html
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