Issue of September 6, 2024
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, Hannah Jang-Condell, and Ferah Munshi
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. –eds.]
This week’s issues:
1. Crosspost: Maggie Aderin-Pocock on diversity: ‘It’s hard to find an argument against it’
2. Women in Astronomy Citizen Science
3. ‘She was right and they were wrong’
4. Women and Girls in Astronomy
5. Head count: statistics about women in astronomy
6. Smithsonian National Air and Space Events
7. AfAS
8. Investigating experiences of a Black woman in physics and astronomy
9. Larger teams worsen academic career prospects
10. Brooke Owens Fellowship
11. CHARA proposals
12. 245th AAS meeting call for splinter proposals
13. 2024 Physics and Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute
14. Deadlines
15. Job Opportunities
16. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
17. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
18. 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. Crosspost: Maggie Aderin-Pocock on diversity: ‘It’s hard to find an argument against it’
From: Nicolle Zellner
By: Audrey Thompson for Nature
Audrey Thompson is the most famous Black female scientist in the United Kingdom. She has co-hosted the BBC’s
long-running astronomy television programme The Sky at Night since 2014, and earned a BAFTA nomination
(from the British Avademy of Film and Television Arts) for her work on the children’s programme
Stargaxing in 2016.
Read more at:
https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2024/09/crosspost-maggie-aderin-pocock-on.html
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2. Women in Astronomy Citizen Science
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
Women hold up half the sky… but they don’t show up in these numbers in NASA-sponsored astrophysics projects. Why is this? And what can we – men, women, and nonbinary people – all do to welcome people of all genders to projects?
The NASA Cit Sci Leaders Event.
Date:
Thursday, September 26, 2024
3:00 PM 4:30 PM
Read more at and register:
https://nasacitsci.gmri.org/winterspring-2024/event-s7z3y-49cc3-pb43c-xdxp4-awx9y
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3. ‘She was right and they were wrong’
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By: Robin McKie at The Guardian
A new play by Stella Feehily called “The Lightest Element” is about the life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
It opens this week at the Hamptstead Theater.
Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/sep/01/female-astronomers-cecilia-payne-gaposchkin-play
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4. Women and Girls in Astronomy
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
By: IAU Outreach Global Project
The Women and Girls in Astronomy project supports events that recognise the role of all women in advancing science and encourages everyone on and off the gender spectrum to consider careers in astronomy. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) strongly encourages activities throughout the year, with a particular focus between two International Days adopted by the United Nations: the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February and International Women’s Day on 8 March.
This year, our National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) network turns 10! In honour of their amazing work, we will feature the women of the NOCs: their incredible stories and the people of all genders they inspire.
Read more at:
https://www.iau.org/public/women-and-girls-in-astronomy/
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5. Head count: statistics about women in astronomy
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
By: Catherine Cesarsky and Helen Walker
Some numbers are easy to get, because there was a General Assembly of the IAU in Rio de Janeiro in August 2009. The local organizing committee (thanks to Norma Tavares) counted 667 women among the 2109 people attending the IAU. This puts women at 31.6% of the people attending the IAU. We know that very few sessions had 31.6% of their talks given by women and only one of the ten plenary reviews and invited discourses was given by a woman (10%). Every three years the IAU has new members elected, and in 2009 the number exceeded 10 000 members. The number of women is increasing — in 2003 it was 12.1%, in 2006 it rose to 12.9%, and it now stands at 13.6%, an increase of 0.7% per triennium. So the percentage of invited speakers at the IAU roughly reflects the percentage of female members in the IAU. Table 1 shows the percentage of female members of the IAU per country, for those countries with more than around 40 members in 2009. Argentina has the highest percentage of women by far, whereas the UK and USA have fairly low percentages. Only seven countries have more than 20% female members in the IAU.
Read more at:
https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/51/2/2.33/251639
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6. Smithsonian National Air and Space Events
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.edu]
Join us for in-person and online events. We have events going on at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, at the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, around the DC Metropolitan area, and online.
The U.S. military began training women as pilots and other aviators in 1973. But they didn’t achieve full equality until 1993, when they gained the right to fly combat aircraft. Join Beverly Weintraub, author of Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators, and Eileen Bjorkman (U.S. Air Force, ret.), author of Fly Girls Revolt: The Story of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door to Fly in Combat, as they discuss the challenges faced by America’s pioneering women military aviators and their fight to open doors for future generations.
On July 23, 1999, NASA launched the Chandra x-ray Observatory into space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. Since then, astronomers have pulled from Chandra’s x-ray data to create incredibly detailed images of some of the universe’s most dramatic events, from supernova explosions to black hole jets. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of a telescope that has given astronomers unprecedented views of the universe in x-rays.
Join us to hear from astronauts who deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory during the STS-93 mission as well as scientists from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory who analyze the important data sent back to us here on Earth.
Date: September 25, 2024 | 8 – 9pm
Read more at:
https://airandspace.si.edu/whats-on/events
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7. AfAS
From: Sethanne Hoeard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
The African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) is an initiative that aims to connect women working in astronomy and related fields in Africa. It was established in September 2020 as one of the committees under AfAS. With AfNWA we would like to guarantee future participation of girls and women at all levels in astronomy and science developments in Africa. Our main objectives are improving the status of women in science in Africa, and using astronomy to inspire more girls to do STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
AfNWA-ISP 2023 awards recognise outstanding early career and senior women in astronomy in Africa
winner of the “Prof. Carolina Ödman-Govender Early Career Award” and Prof. Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane as the winner of the “Senior Award” for Women in Astronomy in Africa. The nomination acknowledges Dr Namumba’s and Prof. Chennaoui Aoudjehane’s excellent contributions in science, efforts that advance representation of women in science at different stages of their lives, as well as mentoring the next cohort of African astronomers in particular women. AfNWA and ISP are delighted to give these prestigious awards to two women who embody the mission and values of their associations.
Read more at:
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8. Investigating experiences of a Black woman in physics and astronomy
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
By: Lisabeth M. Santana and Chandralekha Singh
This research focuses on the experiences of physics and astronomy graduate women of color. We conducted semi-structured, empathetic interviews to understand their experiences in their graduate program and how they navigate the physics department at a large research university, which is a predominantly white institution. The interviews are guided by critical race theory (CRT). We use CRT to examine how racial identities play a role in the obstacles faced by these women, including interactions with peers and faculty members. In this paper, we focus on the experiences of a Black woman in physics, Linda, to understand how her marginalized identities affected her experiences in physics during her undergraduate and graduate programs. The themes that emerged from Linda’s interview include lack of support, more than just doing physics, and persistence in physics.
Read more At:
https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=16270
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9. Larger teams worsen academic career prospects
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]
By: Science
As teams grow, new Ph.D. graduates are less likely to land tenure-track jobs and more likely to leave science—especially women and international researchers. Early-career academics are facing an increasing squeeze in the hunt for tenure-track positions and funding—and despite widespread discussion, solutions have proved evasive. Now, a new study puts a finger on a major contributor: Research teams have grown, doubling from 1.8 authors per paper on average in 1970 to 3.6 in 2004. And for each one-person increase in average team size for a given research field, newly minted Ph.D.s working in that discipline are 24% less likely to hold a tenure-track job, 29% less likely to receive tenure, 11% less likely to receive federal grants, and 11% more likely to leave science, according to a study published on 14 August in Nature Biotechnology. The people most likely to leave were women and foreign-born scientists.
Read more at:
https://www.science.org/content/article/larger-teams-worsen-academic-career-prospects
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10. Brooke Owens Fellowship
From: Josh-or-Kas Knicely [knicelyjoshua_at_gmail.com]
The Brooke Owens Fellowship is an aerospace fellowship for women and gender minorities. Applications are due Oct 7th. Please share this opportunity in your circles. There is a Slack server set up for this working group here:
https://join.slack.com/t/idea-working-group/shared_invite/zt-z3c9heo2-yI8XjnMPcSf~FWCzfC61yQ
Read more at:
http://www.brookeowensfellowship.org/
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11. CHARA proposals
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
By: Cyprien Lanthermann
VDear Colleagues,
The CHARA Array will offer 50 nights of community access time through NOIRLab during the 2025A semester (March 3 through July 31, 2025). Proposals are due on Monday, September30, 2024 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST).
The available beam combiners in 2025A are CLASSIC, MIRC-X/MYSTIC, and PAVO. The MIRC-X and MYSTIC combiners operate together for simultaneous six telescope observationsin the H and K bands with sub-milliarcsecond resolution. The new 6T visible combiner is available in shared-risk mode. On sky commissioning of the high sensitivity 3T near IR combiner Silmaril is on-going, and we hope to offer Silmaril to the community in 2025B.
If you have questions about the best observing strategy or preparing a proposal, then join us for a special Webex meeting:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 16:00 EDT = 13:00 PDT
https://gsumeetings.webex.com/gsumeetings/j.php…
Cyprien Lanthermann (clanthermann@gsu.edu) is our Visitor Support Scientist. Jeremy Jones (jjones176@gsu.edu) is our Data Scientist. Both of them are available to assistnew observers with selecting instruments, planning observations, and collecting, and reducing data.
Additional information about the instrument capabilities and applying for time at the CHARA Array can be found through the following link:
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/observers/applying-for-chara-time
NOIRLab Call for Proposals:
https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/proposals/call-for-proposals/
NOIRLab Proposal Form:
https://time-allocation.noirlab.edu/#/
Read mores at:
https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/proposals/call-for-proposals/
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12. 245th AAS meeting call for splinter proposals
From: Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]
by: AAS
There’s still time to submit a Splinter Meeting proposal for the 245th AAS meeting! Proposals are due by Thursday, 12 September. Splinter Meetings are science or programmatic meetings that do not fit the definition of Special Session (for example, meetings that run longer than 90 minutes, or that have a by-invitation audience).
Read more at:
https://aas.org/meetings/aas245/splinter-meetings
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13. 2024 Physics and Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute
By: Tom Rice AAS
We are excited to announce the 2024 Physics and Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute, hosted by the American Association of Physics Teachers, American Physical Society, and American Astronomical Society, scheduled for 7-10 November at the American Center for Physics in Washington, DC. This workshop is designed for tenure-track faculty, full-time lecturers (or equivalent), adjunct faculty and part-time faculty, and postdocs. It offers a unique opportunity to engage in creative interactions with teaching experts and network with peers. If you’ve attended in the past, please share with someone who is eligible! Deadline is September 19, 2024.
Read more at:
https://aas.org/posts/news/2024/08/register-2024-physics-and-astronomy-faculty-teaching-institute
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14. Deadlines
From: AAS
12 September: AAS 245: Splinter Meeting proposal deadline
13 September: DPS 56: Housing deadline
26 September: AAS 245: Abstract deadline
26 September: AAS 245: Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize deadline
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15. 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 2025 at the Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, DC
https://aas.org/jobregister/ad/af2ac67a
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16. 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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17. 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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18. Access to Past Issues
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/search/label/AASWOMEN
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