AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 05, 2010
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson & Michele Montgomery
This week's issues:
1. Meet the (New and Continuing) Editorial Staff of STATUS
2. AAS Childcare
3. Too Busy: A Comment
4. Blewett Scholarship
5. Four Funding Opportunities
6. MIT Poster Contest for Mentoring in Research
7. Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher
8. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
9. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Meet the (New and Continuing) Editorial Staff of STATUS
From: Pat Knezek [pknezek
noao.edu]
I'm delighted to announce that Catharine (Katy) Garmany has
agreed to assume the role of editor of STATUS. In addition, Arti Garg
will be joining myself and Joannah Hinz as an associate editor. Katy
will take the helm of STATUS beginning with the January 2011 issue.
I will be serving as the Interim Editor for the June 2010 issue.
Although she doesn't officially step in until the fall, Katy is already
ramping up and we're very glad to have both Katy and Arti involved!
I'd like to take this opportunity to echo the thanks of the CSWA
(AASWOMEN 12/18/09 issue) to Fran Bagenal for the excellent job
she did as editor for five years.
Given the staff changes, I thought it would be appropriate for us to
(re)introduce ourselves, so below are brief biographies for each of
us (in alphabetical order!).
Dr. Arti Garg:
Arti is currently serving as an American Physical Society funded
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Congressional Fellow. Prior to her fellowship, she was a post-
doctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her
astronomy research focuses on time-varying astrophysical
phenomena such as gravitational microlensing, variable stars, and
supernovae. She is married to a physicist who now works in the
semi-conductor industry, and she wants to assure readers that the
so-called "two-body" challenge extends beyond academia.
Dr. Catharine Garmany:
Katy is part of the Education and Public Outreach (EPO) group at the
National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). She is the Editor
of the NOAO/NSO Newsletter, and serves as NOAO Diversity
Advocate, along with Dara Norman. Prior to coming to NOAO, she
was the Director of an astronomy program at Biosphere 2, and
before that spent many years at the University of Colorado, both as
a researcher with a special interest in hot stars, and later director of
the planetarium and observatory on the campus. She is married to
astronomer John Glaspey, and proud that her 3 year old grandson
can find Jupiter for his father!
Dr. Joannah Hinz:
Joannah is a senior research associate at the University of Arizona
working on infrared observations of nearby galaxies using the
Spitzer and Herschel telescopes, with interests in dust content and
outer disk evolution. She is currently a member of the CSWA and
has been an associate editor of STATUS since 2002.
Dr. Patricia Knezek:
Pat is an associate scientist at the National Optical Astronomy
Observatory (NOAO), and is currently serving as the Deputy Director
of WIYN Observatory. Her varied career path since finishing her
Ph.D. has taken her to U. Michigan, Las Campanas Observatory,
Johns Hopkins, STScI, and now NOAO/WIYN. Her research focuses
on the interplay of star formation and galaxy evolution. She is a
former member of the CSWA, and has been an associate editor of
STATUS since 2004. She is currently active in the working group
developing the AAS/AIP Longitudinal Study of the career paths of
astronomers. She and her partner, a mechanical engineer who
designs astronomical instruments, are currently struggling first hand
with balancing work/life and the needs of aging parents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. AAS Childcare
From: DonWomen in Astronomy Blog
In an effort to make the AAS meetings more family friendly, at the
215th Meeting in DC in January 2010 there was an on-site childcare
facility made available for a nominal rate of $8 per hour per child.
The CSWA and the AAS advertised this service to ensure that all who
wished to take advantage of this program were aware of its
existence. It appears the initial use was modest (see statistics
below) and the AAS and CSWA hope that, through increased
awareness and use by the community, it will become a regular
feature of AAS meetings.
[The AAS will provide these on-site childcare services at the next
two winter meetings – Eds.]
The following data were provided by the AAS on usage of the
facility:
Sunday: 2 children total, 2 infants
Monday: 10 children total, 2 infants
Tuesday: 10 children total, 1 infant
Wednesday: 10 children total, 1 infant
Thursday: 2 children total, 1 infant
The ages of the children ranged from 6 months through 12 years old
as follows:
0 – 2 years old: 2 (25%)
3 – 5 years old: 4 (33%)
6 – 8 years old: 4 (33%)
9 – 12 years old: 1 ( 9%)
A total of 12 children from 8 families were signed up for the
program. The CSWA is encouraged by this initial response. If
members can confidently count on it being available, it will serve the
society and its members with young children well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Too Busy: A Comment
From: Kathy Mead [kmeadearthlink.net]
[The last issue of AASWOMEN cited a post from AnnH on the
Women in Astronomy blog that asked the question, “Do we try to
“protect” busy women by not inviting them?” – Eds.]
Of course the "too busy" woman should be asked. It's up to her to
decide. I'm tempted to ask whether "too busy" men are protected
in this way, but I don't think that matters. IF you want someone on a
committee, ask them. Certainly if you are considering them for a
position, then you respect their ability to decide for themselves
whether they can handle this commitment. Especially if it's a man
saying the woman is too busy, that strikes me as patriarchal or just
too insecure to risk being turned down. If it's a woman publicly
wondering if another woman is too busy, it makes me wonder why
the former woman feels the need to publicly "protect" the latter
woman. Do we really need others to protect us from over
committing ourselves? I hope not.
Here is the link to the original post:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2010/02/do-we-try-to-protect-busy-women-by-not.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Blewett Scholarship
From: WIPHYS March 1, 2010
Applications are due June 4, 2010 for the M. Hildred Blewett
Scholarship for Women in Physics. The scholarship consists of an
award of up to $45,000 to enable women to return to physics
research careers after having had to interrupt those careers for
family reasons. Details on the scholarship and how to apply can be
found at
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/blewett/index.cfm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Four Funding Opportunities
From: WIPHYS March 3, 2010
1) The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Program. This program offers one to three year postdoctoral
fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and
engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical
areas of interest and relevance to the Navy. This program has a
rolling admission. For program information, see:
http://www.asee.org/resources/nrl/
2) The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP). NREIP is a
ten week summer research opportunity for undergraduate Juniors
& Seniors, and Graduate students, under the guidance of a mentor,
at a participating Navy Laboratory. The stipend amounts for the
program are $5,500 for undergraduate students and $6,500 for
graduate students. U.S. citizenship required; Permanent residents
accepted at certain labs. For program information, see:
http://www.asee.org/nreip
3) Humboldt Research Fellowship. Fellowships for Postdoctoral
Researchers are for postdoctoral scientists and scholars who have
completed a doctoral degree within four years prior to the
application submission date are eligible. This fellowship allows for a
stay of 6-24 months in Germany and provides a monthly stipend of
2,250 EUR. For program information, see:
http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/771.html
4) Humboldt Research Fellowships for Experienced Researchers are
for scientists and scholars who have completed a doctoral degree
within twelve years prior to the application submission date are
eligible. This fellowship allows for a stay of 6-18 months in Germany
which may be divided into a maximum of three visits of at least
three months each and provides a monthly stipend of 2,450 EUR.
For program information, see:
http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/1710.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. MIT Poster Contest for Mentoring in Research
From: WIPHYS March 3, 2010
MIT’s School of Science is co-sponsoring a competition to make
mentoring more visibly prominent in the minds of members of the
science research community. The mentoring poster competition will
recognize the best posters. Check out the website
http://pcmr.mit.edu/ to see the wonderful ideas that emerged and
click on "browse posters."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher
From: WIPHYS March 4, 2010
Nominations are now being sought for the 2011 Outstanding
Undergraduate Science Teacher Award (OUSTA) granted by the
Society for College Science Teachers (SCST), an affiliate of the
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). A nominee need not
be a member of the SCST. Nominations may be made by colleagues
or students and self-nominations are also encouraged!
The purpose of the OUSTA is to recognize the achievements of
teaching colleagues who have enhanced the profession as
outstanding teachers of college-level science. This annual award is
based upon a selection process that evaluates nominees according
to the following ranked categories: 1) teaching excellence; 2)
scholarship; and 3) service.
For details regarding the nomination and application process, visit
http://www.scst.org/SCST/Grants_%26_Awards.html
The deadline for application materials is June 1, 2010. (Although this
date may seem a long way in the future, nominating and/or
beginning the application process early will allow ample time for
compiling the required materials.)
Please send names of potential nominee/applicants to
csandlermich.edu . We will follow-up with everyone to provide
further materials and details about the application process. We are
also interested in hearing from you if you are considering self-
nomination so that we can guide you through the process.
Won’t you consider applying for this award and/or identifying your
colleagues who are outstanding undergraduate science teachers so
that they might be encouraged to apply for the 2011 OUSTA? The
award includes a cash award, membership in SCST and NSTA, travel
stipend to attend next two years’ national conferences, and more.
The awardee will be responsible for delivering a brief luncheon talk
about teaching at the NSTA/SCST conference in Year One and a
lecture about a topic of their choosing in their own discipline in Year
Two.
Questions? Contact
Claire Sandler, Director
University of Michigan Science Learning Center
csandlerumich.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
[Please remember to replace "" in the below e-mail addresses.]
To submit to AASWOMEN: send email to aaswomenaas.org. All
material sent to that address will be posted unless you tell us
otherwise (including your email address).
To subscribe or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN go to
http://lists.aas.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aaswlist
and fill out the form.
If you experience any problems, please email itdeptaas.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN
Past issues of AASWOMEN are available at
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.