Updates & News
Summer is just around the corner, many of us may be taking a break, trying to catch up with life and the world, recharging, or traveling. As you make your summer plans, know that we appreciate all the effort that you have contributed over the last six months. We are working hard to focus the goals and outcomes of our organization. At any point, please share your ideas and your pod's ideas with us!
This week, we continue our partnership with our friends at UCS, who are hosting a webinar with Andy Rosenberg from UCS and Amanda Stanley from COMPASS, to discuss the efforts to create support for science and science based decision-making in government in order to protect public health, safety and the environment. The webinar will be held on June 28th from 12-1PM MDT.
This is a great opportunity to hone your skills in communication, leadership, organizing, strategy, relationship building, and other key aspects of leading effective change.
The 500 Women Scientists leadership team and advisory board met at the University of Colorado Sustainability Innovation Lab to hone in on who we are as an organization, what we stand for, and what we want to accomplish in the coming weeks, months, and years.
This week, we celebrate our organization and our accomplishments. Join us!
1) This is an exciting week for 500 Women Scientists as we throw a launch party Saturday, June 3rd. If you can’t join us in Boulder, CO, please organize an activity with your local pod and tell us about it!
https://500womenscientists.org/updates/2017/5/11/launch-party-preparation
2) Summer time is movie time and watching a movie can still be activism! Could superheroine Wonder Woman break the box office, and thus set the stage for more movies with badass lead women? We suggest a ladies night out to the movies. Some cities are hosting women-only viewings! If you get a chance to attend one, let us know!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/movies/women-only-screenings-of-wonder-woman-sell-out-and-prompt-complaints.html?mabReward=CTM4&recp=2&mi_u=66772212&mi_user_hash=2f477cc0e2e5622708597ee78420201ce488466594ec858f132c5445&_r=0
Another week where our normalcy and capacity for outrage is challenged. Our hearts are with Manchester.
We continue to push for diversity in science and we are not the only ones
Fighting for women in STEM in the age of Trump
Prepare for the June 3rd Launch Party with your pod
Tools to help us speak up for science
SisterMentors, a project to help girls succeed in high school, college, and life.
This week we partner with our friends at the Union of Concerned Scientists who provide a range of tangible trainings and resources to help advocate for science. We encourage you to check out their WatchDog Toolkit, which includes open actions and hands-on advocacy guides. Look for more in the coming weeks and months as we work with UCS to help women scientists weigh in on policy-relevant topics.
The federal 2018 budget proposal is out, with deep cuts to science. Let your representatives that investing in science is critical.
Another week where the events in Washington DC are sowing chaos and fear. Let us not get distracted by the circus and remind ourselves why we have come together in this amazing powerful team. To empower, to take action, and to reach out to our communities. Enjoy and rest up this weekend, and Happy Mother's Day weekend to all the moms!
We are all aware that the EPA has come under attack by the new administration- facing serious funding cuts and cuts to regulations vital to human health and environmental protection. This week, the Fort Collins Pod has put together an action for you, to step up and tell the agency why our country needs environmental protection!
Today on #meetascientist, we get to know Wendy Bohon, the leader of 500WS outreach and communication. From science communication to motherhood to fighting misogyny, Wendy crushes it and demonstrates that with a strong group of women, we can take some serious shots at the glass ceiling! Thanks Wendy for sharing your story with us!
Hello May! We are only one month away from our official launch and we could not be more excited! Start planning with your Pod what you will be doing June 3rd to celebrate. And if you can't participate on the day of, you can still help us raise funds for girls in science and the outdoors (our goal is to reach $5000 by the launch). Happy weekend ladies!
The Seattle Pod was one of the first to form and now has a huge group of women working together to take action in their community. Last week, they published a beautiful mission statement, go and read it for some daily motivation. They are also planning a 'Summer Salon' series focusing on civics training, social justice education, and feminist theory in STEM. Thanks Seattle for sharing your vision, there is so much we can learn from your group!
Pod Location: Seattle, Washington
Number of women: 138 members on Google Groups
Frequency of meeting: Group meeting 1/month, informal social 1/month, team meetings occur throughout the month
Mission statement: Our Please see our mission here: Public Scholarship in Action
How did you come to this mission, why is it relevant to your city and state?
We are public scholarship in action. Our mission statement was essentially written by our membership - we wrote it through a multi-step process of consensus building and group writing. At one of the first general meetings, we asked members to write down three ideas they want to see in the mission statement of the Seattle pod. From those initial submissions, three action-oriented themes quickly emerged: policy, literacy and inclusivity/diversity. Members also reiterated their love of the people and places of the Pacific Northwest. We pulled all of the statements together, and after some collaborative editing, we had the mission statement. What we love about this statement is that it is truly an organic reflection of the values that unite our community of women scientists in the Salish Sea region.
Public Scholarship: (noun) the fusion of research, education, public outreach, and community dialogue
How has your pod ensured that a diverse group of women scientists attend the pod meetings?
It’s important to first acknowledge that our meetings mostly consist of white women in academia. This is something that we are working to change. We hope to change this by training and educating our membership, actively partnering with local social justice organizations, and physically showing up for on-going social justice responses to hate and violence.
Our members are actively engaging with other organizations in the Puget Sound region to build our networks and increase diversity. We have begun building coalitions with academic union groups in Seattle, and hope to expand those coalitions to include other types of organizations. We also use our various communication channels to organize and inspire our members to attend and support other social justice groups, such as the Seattle Women’s March and Black Lives Matter.
All this is part of a larger opportunity to educate ourselves about civil rights, intersectional feminism, and the decolonization of science. We hope to be ambassadors for the values of our scientific community. We intend to critically evaluate our public positions as an organization with the appropriate lenses of social science and social justice. In doing this work, we commit to the practice of listening to the lived experiences of others, and the deep and necessary work of self reflection and public integrity.
Can you talk about the activities that the pod is focusing on? What actions and outputs do you envision? Who is your audience?
The first main push for the Seattle Pod was for a group of our members to be present at the March for Science. In addition to visibly supporting science, we also intend to be accountable to social justice issues surrounding science. Our next steps will include action along our three main themes: policy, literacy and inclusivity/diversity. The pod has formed three groups along these lines that meet regularly to plan action items. Another focus for us is to begin providing workshops in civics and public communication for scientists, which will help our membership gear up for increased involvement in public discourse. We are also planning to do a series of salon events where our members can meet for supportive discussion on a wide range of issues.
Are their any specific activities that the group is really excited about focusing on?
We are excited about a suite of upcoming projects. We are building a “Summer Salon” series of discussion for our membership, including civics training, social justice education and feminist theory in STEM. Through this capacity and conversation-building work, we are focusing on building a Seattle 500 Women Scientist speakers bureau. We envision a community hub to support and amplify women scientists voices across the Salish Sea.
Also, one of the emergent properties of this group is how we are supporting one another and becoming friends. We intend to be a safe place for support and friendship amongst women scientists - and this is quickly become true. So, our social events together and the relationships developing within teams are also really positive parts of our organization.
You have so many women who have signed up for your pod, do you have tips for other pods across the country? What have you learned so far?
Initially, we used our personal networks, and invited people personally to join a Facebook group. Gradually, we moved outside our networks, for instance by setting up public events on Meetup and promoting on Twitter. Once we found our feet, we set up a website which we have used to make our mission statement publicly available. And we’ve found that one of the most effective ways to retain engagement is to actually meet in person on a regular basis! In addition to general and focus-group meetings, we have social events once a month. It makes the pod more connected and helps grow our network.
The March for Science was a great opportunity to share a statement on why we were marching. We also met lots of potential new members at the march itself. As we marched, we handed out flyers and buttons to anyone who was interested. We also encourage members to wear the buttons, as they can be a great conversation starter in the field.
We have found that there is a lot of interest in general out there from people who really want to do something, but they don’t know how to get involved. We are drawing in women scientists who have perhaps not been active in politics or outreach. Having the initial mission statement from 500 Women Scientists has really helped. People read it and think, “ Hey that statement aligns with my values and I want to join this movement.” They are also seeking a refreshing departure from the attitude that “science is completely objective and unbiased,” which can dominates science advocacy conversations.
Pod Strike Team:
(from top left Sarah, Jeanna, Kim, Hannah, Laura & Kate)
Dr. Sarah Myhre is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington in the School of Oceanography and the Future of Ice Initiative. She is climate and ocean scientist, public speaker, and thought leader in the field of climate communication.
Dr. Jeanna Wheeler is a research scientist with the Seattle Institute for Biomedical & Clinical Research located at the VA Puget Sound. Her research areas are genetics and behavioral neuroscience. She is currently focused on understanding neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and ALS.
Dr. Kim Martini is a Senior Physical Oceanographer at Sea-Bird Scientific in Bellevue, Washington. She is passionate about data and communicating science in fun and accessible ways.
Dr. Hannah Gelman is a Senior Fellow (post-doc) in the Department of Genome Sciences and the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington.
Dr. Laura Osburn is a research scientist at the Center for Education and Research in Construction. She has a PhD in Communication with expertise in the use of storytelling for decision-making. She loves ethnography, narrative analysis, and observing how people make and use data.
Dr. Kate Richerson is a postdoctoral researcher at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, focusing on marine and fisheries ecology. She is interested in the intersection of conservation and human well-being.
This week on #meetascientist we want to take time to introduce you to the creative and adventurous women behind The Cairn Project. We have teamed up with The Cairn Project to raise $20,000 to support girls in science and the outdoors. This is an ambitious project and we still have a long way to go, please consider contributing to this amazing cause. And in the meantime, get to know Alison and Sarah!
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
