Updates & News
Last weekend we held our third board meeting and it was a blast. I won't go so far as to say we can save the world, but we sure are trying our best to change the face of science. You can read a summary our our meeting here, and we'd love to hear from you - what ideas have you been thinking about, which changes have you seen make a difference that you want us to include (or not include) - our email is always open. Enjoy the weekend friends!
We've said it before, but 500WS is a truly global organization! We have 146 pods in the US, and also 145 spread across the world! Every week or so we highlight a pod that has gotten off the ground and is making progress in their own community. This week that pod is Vancouver, BC. Jen Rowland is leading the group and changing perceptions of what a scientist looks like. Keep up the great work team!
Happy Pride Month! We’re thrilled to partner with 500 Queer Scientists, which launched yesterday to increase visibility for LGBTQ+ people in the scientific community. Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ STEMM community or an ally, you can do your part to make this campaign a success.
Happy Pride Month! This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know Dr. Lauren Esposito, an arachnologist, educator, and co-founder of the campaign 500 Queer Scientists, which launched today! 500QS is a new visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ people and their allies working in STEMM and STEMM-supporting jobs. In this interview, Lauren chats about her work and the need raise awareness around issues facing LGBTQ+ members of the scientific community. You can follow 500QS and amplify their work on Twitter @500QueerSci and Instagram @500QueerScientists!
We are so excited about this weekend! We are meeting for our third board meeting in Atlanta. Are you in the area? Join us for Saturday's meet-up, RSVP here. Otherwise, keep an eye out for updates, a summary of the meeting, and new projects for 2018. We wouldn't be able to do this without the help and support of all of you, so thank you!
I thought yesterday was Wednesday, so today is a great surprise - Happy Friday! We had a full week: many in the US were giving comments to the EPA, we had an awesome interview with Melise Edwards, and we commented on the National Academies of Science steps towards addressing harassment. Have a nice long weekend (to those in the US). See you next week!
This week we are happy to introduce our Pod from Eugene Oregon. They are working hard to engage people in many different STEM or “STEM-adjacent” careers and to encourage mixing of science, industry, education, public policy, and the general public towards community-building that highlights science and active inquiry in everyday life. Read on to find out more about how they interact with their community. Thanks for taking time to answer our questions ladies!
500 Women Scientists, Earthjustice, the Public Comment Project, and the Union of Concerned Scientists are calling on scientists nationwide to submit public comments drawing on their expertise and detailing how the EPA proposed Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science would impact the use of specific research. Join the National Week of Action, May 20-26.
This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know rock climber and neuroscientist Melise Edwards. In addition to being a Research Associate at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, she uses her Instagram platform (@meliseymo) to share her climbing adventures, while discussing issues of inclusion, sexism, and racism in the climbing community. Here, she chats about how her passions for science and climbing intersect and how both the scientific and climbing communities can do better when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This week we are excited to highlight one or largest pods - Gothenburg, Sweden. Found on the western side of Sweden between Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, the Gothenburg pod formed because they were dissatisfied with the rate of change in the situation for women in science. They have now gathered a large diverse group of scientists who are dedicated to identify structural gender inequalities in the scientific community and work towards correcting them. Read on to learn more about this awesome group of women!
This week, we want to amplify the voices of Dreamers in the STEM community and celebrate their contributions to science. You may remember we wrote a piece about DACA in January. Today, undocumented students are facing heightened barriers and we want to find ways to support them. We ask you to watch and share the video of Evelyn Valdez-Ward’s speech at the March for Science DC or read it and share this post.
Hello friends, how was your week? We spent the week thinking about ways our organization can best address issues of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the sciences. Do you have awesome success stories of programs that both reward and elevate POC so as to create equity in science and move us beyond our current very flawed system? We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Meanwhile, we are preparing for our board meeting, can't wait to share the outcomes with you all!
Support diversity on your campus! In response to two Native American young men having the campus cops called on them last week, we ask you to pressure your university leadership via twitter, facebook, and post cards to support organizations such as SACNAS, Black Student Alliance, and various cultural centers.
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
