Women In Science at Evergreen

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to send a little update about how tabling at the Rachel Carson Forum on April 27th went!

It was a beautiful day, perfect for tabling, and I got to talk to a lot of awesome people interested in our group. About 15 people signed up for our email list, which is awesome! I also made a really sweet sign that we can reuse for future tabling events. Michael also joined me for some of the tabling time, but I’m hoping that in the future these kinds of events can be a group-planned effort!

Also, let me know if you’re interested in adding any decorative elements to our poster – it’s a bit simple at the moment.

Does anyone know of upcoming events that we can table at?

Have a good weekend everybody!

Hey WISE people! Please join us for our next meeting on Wednesday May 3, 1-2pm in Lab 1 3033. Everyone welcome!

Spring is here! Flowers are blooming. Birds are chirping. Spring fungi are sprouting! Here’s a little note about a women scientists who has inspired me to study plants and in particular the magical world of fungi.

You may have heard of Beatrix Potter, an English writer and  illustrator, famous for her children’s books such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Her playful illustrations of talking animals were based on careful observations of the natural world around her.

In addition to her love of animals, Ms. Potter was quite accomplished in the  field of mycology, or the study of fungi.  You can read more about the controversy that unfolded when she proposed a new theory of fungal spore germination based on her microscopic studies here.

Hello WISE people!

Here’s what happened during this month’s meeting:

• 5 people attended, one of them a new face! Welcome Averi!
• We discussed last month’s reading, Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science and the World by Rachel Swaby
  • It was an inspiring read about brilliant women overcoming adversity and contributing major scientific breakthroughs
  • In general, the mini-biographies could have been more in-depth, but it was helpful to have the bibliography in the back of the book for further reading
  • There was an interesting diversity in the level of feminism amongst the scientists that transcended their time period, and how these women reacted to the patriarchy around them
  • Due to the low attendance today, we considered doing another discussion of this book during our meeting in May
• Leslie and Averi brought up the upcoming Rachel Carson forum (April 27) with the theme of “Water Equity in the Anthropocene” that will feature speakers and events and is hosted by the MES program here at Evergreen
  • Free tie-dye!
  • We can set up a table here to advertise our group!
• Tanner, Emily, and Tessa plan to meet with our student group advisor this or next week to discuss the process of hosting guest speakers, tabling at the Rachel Carson forum, fundraising (t-shirt selling?), and club message
• We briefly discussed the group’s position on how to address male presence in the club. This initially was sparked when making the Spring poster and whether we should advertise being an all-inclusive club. It was brought up that (I believe I’m recounting this correctly) in order to receive funding by the school and be considered an official student group we must be inclusive for everyone. People brought up very valid points for both sides and no consensus was made, so we’d like to continue this discussion in May.
• Next meeting: Wednesday, May 3!
  • Posters will be printed and put out ASAP this time!
  • We used last month’s consensus to decide our May reading: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
  • Should we meet more often than once per month?

Hi Folks

Here are the meeting minutes from March:

• 10 members attended the March meeting
• Tessa, Emily, Tanner and Michael attended a workshop and made W.I.S.E. an official student club! Yay!
• Observed that all students in rooom have “area of emphasis” in ecology/biology
• Potential group reads were discussed and “Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World” was chosen at the first group read for the April meeting.
• There are 8 copies available in the Summit Library system.
• Can club funds pay for group reads?
• Pauline and Hannah volunteered to do art for the groups flyers.
• Watched TED talk on, astrophysicist, Dr. Jedidiah Isler
• Review of current flyer: It’s good! Maybe some more variety and with less words/more flashy
• Talk to CHAOS and Ladies in Tech Club
• Our goals: promoting underrepresented groups, networking, helping build resumes and finish school in general, positively encouraging each other
• What is our opposition?
• How do we create a presence?
• Next meeting: April 5th!

As I was reading this amazing TED fellows article, highlighting twelve badass scientists who also happen to be women, I came across another TED fellows blog post from February 24  written by astrophysicist, Jedidah Isler, PhD, whose recent TED talk drew the attention of Ivanka Trump via her Twitter account.

Here’s a link to the post Dr Isler wrote in response to Ivanka’s tweet as well as Dr. Isler’s inspiring TED talk titled: The untapped genius that could change science for the better. 

Women in Science at Evergreen (WISE) is an organization dedicated to helping woman-identified science students at The Evergreen State College create community around the common goal of reducing unconscious bias and discrimination toward women scientists. Monthly luncheons, as well as quarterly panel discussions featuring diverse women scientists will provide the opportunity to discuss the challenges and celebrate the achievements of women in scientific fields. Students will also be able to engage in professional networking and cross-discipline discussions of their research and/or educational goals. While WISE is an organization devoted to supporting woman-identified students in sciences at Evergreen, those who do not identify as binary or gendered but who are directly impacted by systemic misogyny in the sciences, along with all other under-represented and oppressed groups, are invited. Indeed, all students interested in advancing an equitable and healthy environment in the sciences are welcome. Interested in learning more about WISE. ?  Contact our coordinator at: calabril@evergreen.edu; join our facebook group at:  Women in Science at Evergreen (W.I.S.E): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786630411613091/#

Here’s a Women In Science at Evergreen flyer Winter 2017 flyer as well!

A special issue of Nature dedicated to Women in Science from 2013. Check it out!

Image attribution: Viktor Koen: http://www.nature.com/news/women-in-science-women-s-work-1.12547

Here’s a recap of last weeks meeting:

We watched Emilie Aries TED talk: “The Power of Saying No”.

We discussed personal sustainability and work/life balance. Some related issues that came up:

• Michal Moore’s “Where to Invade Next“
• work/vacation balance and parental leave in different countries compared with America- here’s a short article in the Atlantic examining this
• Evergreen’s culture and self-reflection helps us to examine priorities
• “Don’t blame yourself, it’s structural and systematic”
• The film (and book) “Wild” – inspirational!

We also discussed a number of potential group reads at our last meeting including. Let’s reply in comments with your first and second choice from this list OR an alternative idea for a common read!:

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed the World by Rachel Swaby

The Mind Has No Sex by Londa Schiebinger

Delusions of Gender or Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine

Sexual Selections Marlene Zuk

Finally, we started to discuss the WISE group becoming an official Evergreen Club through Student Activities- a few students did some research and expressed interest in helping to organize the club. Thanks so Emily, Tessa, Lauren and Mike for expressing interest and gathering information. Here is some additional info that Emily posted on our Facebook site:

“In order to make W.I.S.E. an official club at Evergreen we are required to see an advisor with at least four people and sign up and attend a registration workshop and fill out some minor paperwork, after that we’re official! Tessa (who doesn’t have a Facebook) gathered and gave this information to me to share and she and I have been thinking of being at least temporary leaders for this club. If you would also like to do so please let others know so it can be figured out who has the time for organizing and running this group. The next registration workshops are: Friday feb 24 @ 2-4pm, Tuesday Feb 28 @ 2-4pm, Thursday March 2 @ 2-4pm, Friday March 10 @ 2-4pm, and Tuesday March 14 @ 3-5pm. Leave a comment saying which days would work best for you to attend the workshop-we could also wait until our next meeting on March 1st to discuss this further.”

Looking forward to seeing everyone next week!

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