Women in Science Weekly News Roundup

There weren't many news items this past week. Perhaps everyone is on their summer holiday?

Professor Lynne Frostick was elected President of the Geological Society of London, the world's oldest society of earth scientists. Frostick is the second woman to hold the position. The first was Professor Janet Watson, who held the position in the 1980s.

Professor Frostick said, "This is a great honour, but also a challenge in to ensure the Society goes from strength to strength. It also makes me very happy to be following in Janet Watson's footsteps- I wish she were still alive to share it with me."

UPI Energy Watch writes about "Diversifying Energy's Laborers."

Renewable energy may be, in ways, more appealing to women part because of the novelty and because it is more on the liberal side of the engineering work world, Forsyth said.
[. . .]
"As the only woman on the American Wind Energy Association board of directors, I certainly would like to see more women," said Karen Conover, president and chief executive officer of Global Energy Concepts, Inc. "Part of the purpose of Women of Wind Energy is to provide women with a networking forum."

The group provides networking forums in addition to sponsoring women who want to attend AWEA's annual wind power conference. So far, Conover said, the group has been successful. More than 150 attended June's WoWE luncheon. In the last two years, at least nine of the women sponsored are actively working in the industry. Ten more were sponsored at June's conference as well.

Conover knew at a very young age her career would be in engineering.

"In the fourth grade I attended an environmental fair with my father and saw an exhibit on solar energy and even though I didn't understand the economics, from then on out it was science projects and renewable energy and I choose engineering because I wanted to get into the renewable energy field," she said, adding "providing role models for women increases their sense of confidence."

The Associated Press reports on science camp for middle-school girls hosted by the chemical engineering department of the University of Missouri-Rolla.

"What we try to do is portray how engineers (and scientists) help people, and are part of the caring professions - even if you're designing a microchip," said Cecilia Elmore, camp coordinator and director of the university's Women's Leadership Institute.

The weeklong program for ninth- and 10th-graders was so popular that Elmore and her colleagues created the three-day "It's A Girl's Thing" camp for younger students. Now in its second year, the camp will likely expand into a weeklong program next summer, she said.

Tags: Lynne Frostick, Geological Society of London, Karen Conover, Women of Wind Energy, summer camp, science for girls, University of Missouri-Rolla