Updates & News
Another week has come and gone with chaos being the underlying theme. Yet, everyday I have been so impressed by the brave women of our group, their continuous support for each other and their ability to stay the course and take action! Together we are building amazing capacity and empowering groups of women in ways that are desperately needed. Thank you and have a relaxing weekend!
This week amidst the upsetting and chaotic news of the executive order banning travel from seven predominantly muslim countries, people across the country have stood up for their friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Here we meet two scientists whose lives are directly affected by the ban. At the end of the post we have put together a long list of resources for those affected and those who want to help.
Friends, this week was rough, and there was a lot said about it elsewhere. Instead of getting scared or distracted by the chaos, we are choosing to stay focused. Our mantra this week, make resistance your daily existence.
This past weekend, hundreds, if not thousands of 500 Women Scientists Marched across the globe. Let us know where you marched this weekend. As an organization, we have a collective reason for why we marched, but each of us has our own story.
Many of us have been busy preparing for the March and focused on taking action. This week we wish everyone a safe and inspiring weekend. Don’t forget to take some time for yourself - take a key from DJ Khalid “Have a lot of pillows”. With that in mind, our weekly actions:
500 Women Scientists will be Marching on Washington this weekend and all over the country and the world! In 51 cities, 29 states plus DC, and 3 countries (see the full list at the bottom).
For those of you Marching in other cities and countries - have fun and please post your sign and March pictures to the Facebook page or share with us on twitter. We would love to see all of our 500WomenScientists out on the 21st.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. -Martin Luther King, Jr
Meet Rukmani Vijayaraghavan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia who, using her NSF fellowship resources, has organized a awesome science camp for middle school girls, Girls Exploring the Universe. Rukmani's outreach demonstrates the value in reaching out and setting an example for young girls.
This week I was asked to give a short 'Welcome Back & Happy New Year's' speech at work. Just a few minutes on my thoughts of 2016 and an outlook for 2017. Since I am in the Netherlands, I didn't want to make my speech too political, too soapboxy, or too focused on the USA. But then, I was asked to step up onto a small stage, almost literally a soapbox, and how could I not get a little carried away.
Our mission is to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible, and to transform society by fighting racism, patriarchy, and oppressive societal norms
