Odds and Ends

A few of the blog posts and articles that caught my eye this week, in no particular order:

Assistant professor and X-Gal Rachel Cantwell writes about the discrepancy between the gender and race composition of science fair participants and judges for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and reflects on how the similar lack of role models in academia affects the creation of a welcoming culture for women and minorities.

In my current position, as well as when I travel for my work, I am routinely confronted by the predominance of men within the profession, particularly in positions of power or leadership, such as full professors, symposium organizers, or provosts. I am surprised I didn't understand the implications of that when I was an undergraduate or even a graduate student. But now I do.

---

She's Such a Geek weighs in on the "Girls of Engineering" calendar.

---

A Natural Scientist asks "When is it appropriate to wear "pretty" clothing in the lab?" I left a comment over there, but my take is that the peer pressure to not "dress up" often has as much to do with class as it does with gender, since secretaries and sales reps are often the best dressed people you'll see in a science environment. However, if the clothes are comfortable, don't break any regulations on exposed limbs, and you aren't worried about spilling, why not wear a ruffled dress on a hot day?

---

Pat at Fairer Science writes about the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) summit she is attending. (And, yes, I'm jealous of her hike Rocky Mountain National Park).

---

Zuska points to the May 14 Baldo comic strip, in which Baldo's sister Gracie proclaims "I like math"

---

ScienceRoll has found a neat video on Rosalind Franklin's work by artists Wyllie O Hagan, created to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

---

Modern Mechanix has posted an article from the October 1927 issue of Popular Science titled "Unique Activities of Unusual People." It includes a photo of Northwestern University chemist Gladys E. Woodward, as she "works on a method of removing sulphur" from petroleum. A quick search turns up a number organic chemistry and biochemistry papers by Woodward published in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Turns out that she moved to Philadelphia in the early 1930s, and eventually ended up at the Biochemical Research Foundation in Delaware. It looks like she had a productive career in science.

---

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair blog has a video of Caroline Wurden (Los Alamos, NM) explaining her physics project "Great Balls of Fire" and an audio interview with 2006 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award winner Meredith MacGregor (Boulder, CO) on her research on the "Brazil Nut Effect."

---

Wired Science points to two interviews with science journalist Natalie Angier - one in the Boston Globe and another on NPR's All Things Considered. Angier considers science "the sexiest thing alive." Her latest book, The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, was released on May 1.

---

The May/June issue of MIT's Technology Review profiles new astronomy faculty member Sara Seager in "Planet Gazer"

---

Flea at Feministe reviews recently-published The Dangerous Book for Boys, and likes it - despite the title.

I’m pretty sure we girls are allowed to read it. I don’t think anybody’s going to come along and snatch it out of our delicate, manicured hands. Which is great, because this book kicks so much ass I think everyone should buy it. I seriously cannot say enough good things about the book itself. It really has everything, from the previously mentioned water bomb instructions* to gift wrapping, marbling paper, and poetry (quel butch, no?) to famous battles and true-life tales of derring do. So much is cool in this book that I keep wanting to add to the examples I’m giving. Bugs! Stars! Codes! Invisible Ink! Grammar lessons and Latin (for reals)! Seriously, Latin.

---

Bitch PhD points to an article in the spring issue of Ms. Magazine that appointment of Drew Gilpin Faust to the presidency of Harvard isn't enough.

---

Arizona Daily Star notes that "Women graduates increase in science". Between 1995 and 2006 the number of women graduating with science degrees from the University of Arizona jumped from 30% to 39.4%. I imagine there will be more stories like this as we progress through graduation season.

Tags: women in science