“If women and girls don’t see themselves on screen as STEM professionals, they’re less likely to pursue those career paths.”
-Geena Davis
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Here's the latest on the Women in STEM.
These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science
Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby are taking citizen science to the extreme. In August, the two women moved into a tiny hunting cabin on the high-Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The hut, dubbed Bamsebu, is the only shelter for 140 kilometers. Polar bears prowl the area. It’s not unusual for the winter chill to reach around –30° Celsius. The conditions are so harsh that few polar scientists themselves collect field data from the area during winter. That’s where Fålun Strøm and Sorby come in — gathering observations about wildlife and the environment that could help scientists’ understand how rapid warming is changing Arctic ecosystems. Read More…
Buffalo Scientist’s Coronavirus Video Goes Viral
It’s a tough time right now, but a Buffalo woman is doing her part to keep you informed about the coronavirus all while putting a smile on your face. Raven Baxter, otherwise known as Raven the Science Maven, is mixing science and rap music to spread a message about the coronavirus. “This is a unique situation for a lot of people. Being asked to stay inside your homes for an extended period of time, your mind kind of just goes all over the place, my mind just went to a very creative space,” said Baxter. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the University at Buffalo student, who’s currently pursuing a PhD in science education, took a popular rap song called “Wipe Me Down” and put her own spin on it. She remixed it into her own song and video and gave people tips on how to make it through the coronavirus outbreak. Read More…
Meet The Gen Z “STEMinists” Working To End The Gender Gap In STEM Fields
It’s 2020, and women have the same opportunities as men. Well, in some fields. Despite the increasing prominence of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — collectively known as STEM fields — these industries have historically been male-dominated. But some young women are working to change that. These Gen Z STEM feminist leaders are leading the way for a new generation of “STEMinists,” and they’re literally changing the face of this important work. While female representation in STEM has increased in recent years — from 2008 to 2016, the number of STEM degrees awarded to women increased by 48% — as of 2020, women’s involvement in STEM still isn’t comparable to that of men. In the 2015-2016 school year, the most recent year for which data is available, only about one-third of bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields went to women. Read More…
One Giant Leap for Humankind: The 12 women that could go to the Moon
NASA astronauts go above and beyond, in more ways than one. To even qualify for the NASA program, it takes a bachelor’s degree in a science – or math-related field and either three years’ work experience in that field or 1,000 hours of piloting. While that in itself is a big achievement, most astronauts pursue more education, more research and more experience before they are chosen as a NASA trainee, where they will face rigorous mental and physical training. To be a woman in the male-dominated NASA astronaut program is to add adversity to an already daunting endeavor, but the 12 women in the current NASA Astronaut Corps take it in a stride. Read More…
From egg to animal: retracing an embryo’s first steps
Studying the early development of humans and other mammals takes colossal dexterity and stamina. Unlike, say, sea-urchin embryos — which are transparent — mammalian embryos are hidden from view. Investigating their development is also tricky because of the delicate timing and sequence of events that produce highly complex organisms. As a result, the story of how scientists have ingeniously deciphered many of the basic mechanisms of development over the past century is often as gripping as what they’ve discovered. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz has been a key player in that story. A pathbreaking figure in developmental biology and stem-cell science for several decades, her work has reset the clock for the determination of cell fate in the early mammalian embryo. Read More…
Words With Friends 2 designer talks women in tech and imposter syndrome
Michelle David played video games growing up, but she never expected to work in the industry. As a kid, she certainly didn’t know she’d grow up to become the UX designer at Zynga, working on the extremely popular game Words With Friends. “I knew I wanted to be a creator,” David said. “After school, I looked around and noticed this new wave of gaming blossoming on smartphones.” David paid attention to the trend and started freelancing — creating props, characters and icons for various indie mobile games. Read More…
Five brilliant female scientists you should know about
You might think of men you hear about the discovery of DNA, or even the creation of wireless networking, but women have been behind much of that, and a lot more, too. Married to a scientist doing her PhD, this journalist is always delighted to see the amazing things being developed and created by women. While men are typically painted as the breadwinners in history, some of humanity’s biggest achievements have women at the helm, and they might be for things you’ve never really thought about. There are hundreds of women scientists and technologies worth talking about, but on Interntional Women’s Day 2020, we’re sharing five of the ones we’re thinking about before spending time with the two women that matter most in his life, his wife and daughter. Read More…
Meet 10 Women in Science Who Changed the World
Who are the greatest scientists of all time? Chances are, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton or other big names probably come to mind — and for good reason. Those scientists made remarkable discoveries and changed how we understand the world. But far too often, women are left off the roster, even though they’ve long made significant strides in science — including in eras when they were excluded from formal education and careers in the field. It was only until recently that female scientists have come out of the shadows of history. In recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8 — and just because it’s the year 2020 — here are a few boundary-breaking women in science that should be household names, too. Read More…
20 amazing women in science and math
She wrote the world’s first computer program — in 1837. She discovered ancient sea monsters buried in her backyard. She cancelled the chemical tearing our ozone layer apart. You might not know their names or faces, but these pioneering women changed the way we live in and think about the world. From geometry to paleontology, medicine to marine biology, they advanced their fields while facing tremendous odds. Join us now as we celebrate their stories. Here are 20 amazing (and unsung) women who changed math and science forever. Read More…
How the Hubble Telescope is helping fight gender bias
The push for gender equality in the workplace and during application processes has found an unexpected ally: The Hubble Space Telescope. In collaboration with researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder‘s Leeds School of Business, as well as the University of Memphis, the committee in charge of portioning out time on the telescope among scientists have developed a novel new way to ensure that gender bias doesn’t influence the application process. Just remove all personal information from the applications. This way, it’s impossible for anyone person’s bias to influence the decision-making process. Read More…
