Science Briefing February 2, 2017 Kimberly Arcand (Chandra/SAO) Dr. Jedidah C. Isler (Vanderbilt University) Women in STEM: Dr. Cady Coleman (Retired USAF, Former Astronaut) Hidden Figures, Modern Figures Dr. Julie McEnery (NASA GSFC) Facilitator: Jessica Kenney (STScI) 1 Additional Resources http://nasawavelength.org/list/1642 Video: VanguardSTEM: Conversation with Margot Lee Shetterly Webinar: STAR_Net – Wed. Feb. 15 – Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Activities: Coloring the Universe (with Pencil Code) Observing with NASA Websites: Women in Science VanguardSTEM Women@NASA Women in the High Energy Universe Women’s History Month 2016 Exhibits: Here, There, and Everywhere AstrOlympics Light: Beyond the Bulb From Earth to the Universe Visions of the Universe 2 Kim Arcand Visualization Lead [email protected] @kimberlykowal (Twitter, IG) 3 4 As of 2011, women made up only about 26% of U.S. STEM workers 5 Computer science is the only field in science, engineering and mathematics in which the number of women receiving bachelors degrees has decreased since 2002—even after it showed a modest increase in recent years. (Larson, 2014) 6 According to studies, contributing factors include: • a culture that encourages young women to play with dolls rather than robots and pursue traditionally female careers • a self-perpetuating stereotype that a programmer is a white male. (Larson, 2014) 7 Why should we care? By 2020, it is estimated that there will be 1.4 million computer-science related jobs available, in the U.S. but: Only 400,000 CS graduates to fill them. 8 Medication Why Women can experience more and varied side effects from many medications than men do because should such medicines can be biased towards male subjects we care? (Beerya & Zucker) Engineering Better job security and Automobile air bags have been pay but also, more and more dangerous for women of varied viewpoints. smaller stature because engineers originally designed and tested them around the male body. For example: 9 • Improving critical thinking skills Why (Duran & Sendag, 2012) • Making up well-informed citizenry (Marincola, 2006). STEM issues affect should people in the voting booth, in government, in finance, in the world we care? as a whole. • What problems need solving, for Beyond representation whom they’re solved, and how issues, and beyond they’re solved, with and in STEM STEM jobs and outputs, fields, is an issue in which all people lie more subtle reasons should participate. for improving girls’ interest in and potential prospects in STEM fields: 10 • In June, Carnegie Mellon University Upward announced that for the first time ever, 40% of incoming computer- trends? science majors are female. The university attributes the achievement to increasing female-focused networking events, mentoring opportunities, and on-campus community building. • At the University of California at Berkeley, women outnumbered men this year for the first time in the university’s introductory computer- science course. 11 12 Snapshot of gender demographics of astronomers as of January 1, 2013. This shows all levels, including administrators and adjuncts). The fraction of women decreases monotonically with seniority in the field. Ref: AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) January 2014 Status: A Report on Women in Astronomy 13 As of 2013, there were 95 female full professors in astronomy in the U.S. (Vs. 543 male professors of astronomy) 14 As of 2015, there were 78 black American women with PhDs in physics. 15 16 Of 1,000 new hires per year 37% are women 17 “I was in college when Sally flew and frankly I don’t think I really paid attention to the space shuttle program until STS-7, [Ride’s first flight],” said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. “She had a great influence on me. She shaped my life in this program.” “Role models do, in fact, matter,” Garver added. “We’ve all in a way been touched by Sally.” 18 More than 560 People have been trained as astronauts worldwide 19 75 astronauts have been female 20 Valentina Tereshkova Eileen Collins Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger Svetlana Savitskaya Wendy B. Lawrence Naoko Yamazaki Sally Ride Mary E. Weber Shannon Walker Judith Resnik Catherine Coleman Liu Yang Kathryn D. Sullivan Claudie Haigneré Wang Yaping Anna Lee Fisher Susan Still Kilrain Yelena Serova Margaret Rhea Seddon Kathryn P. Hire Samantha Cristoforetti Shannon Lucid Janet L. Kavandi Kathleen Rubins Bonnie J. Dunbar Julie Payette Anne McClain Mary L. Cleave Peggy Whitson Christina M. Hammock Ellen S. Baker Sandra Magnus Jessica U. Meir 3 Kathryn C. Thornton Laurel B. Clark Nicole Aunapu Mann Marsha Ivins Stephanie Wilson Serena M. Aunon Linda M. Godwin Lisa Nowak Jeanette J. Epps Helen Sharman Heidemarie M. Patricia Robertson Tamara E. Jernigan Stefanyshyn-Piper Nadezhda Kuzhelnaya Millie Hughes-Fulford Anousheh Ansari Marianne Merchez Roberta Bondar Sunita Williams Yvonne Cagle Jan Davis Joan Higginbotham Christa McAuliffe Mae Jemison Tracy Caldwell Dyson Tatyana Kuznetsova Susan J. Helms Barbara Morgan Zhanna Yorkina Ellen Ochoa Kalpana Chawla Irina Solovyova Janice E. Voss Yi So-yeon Valentina Ponomaryova Nancy J. Currie Karen L. Nyberg Chiaki Mukai K. Megan McArthur Yelena V. Kondakova Nicole P. Stott 21 My role in 22 Not an astronaut. (though I did want to be an astronaut when I was very young). 23 My Story. Molecular biology Computer science NASA Data Visualization Aesthetics Research Science comm. 24 http://chandra.si.edu/women 25 26 Sophie Brahe (1556-1643) Sophie Brahe was a Danish horticulturist and student of astronomy, chemistry, and medicine. When she was 17, she started assisting her bother with his astronomical observations in 1573. They were among the first people to record accurate positions of the planets in the late 16th century. 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Working with data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes on topics from exploded stars, to star-forming regions, to the area around black holes, students learn basic coding (for beginners, no experience required) and follow a video tutorial to create a real world application of science, technology and even art. By enabling students to use real data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with other astronomical data, this project helps show just how integral coding is in the pursuit of learning about our Universe. 37 Chandra.si.edu/code 38 “Not only is working at NASA my dream job, but I also enjoyed the coding and coloring exercises we completed. It was so cool that we had enough coding experience to understand how to color and mash up images. It was so fun!!!!” “It made me have a whole new outlook on ways coding can be used.” 39 Response • Favorably reviewed by participants • Highly rated by code.org educators • Featured on code.org as way to connect science and computer science • Highlighted in the CSTA (computer science teachers association) newsletter 40 41 How can 3D modeling help experts and non- experts approach the different kinds of objects in space? Learn how 3D models are created with data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and other observatories. Use free CAD software to explore 3D modeling, and receive a 3D printed object after the workshop. The goal is to help learners understand the life cycles of stars and galaxies, while also experimenting with cutting-edge technology through both hardware and software. 42 43 44 Chandra.si.edu/build 45 46 Illustrations: Kristin DiVona Jedidah Isler, Phd NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University Founder, Executive Producer and Host of #VanguardSTEM http://vanguardstem.com/ 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Example crops tested in plant pillows Snow pea Swiss chard Red lettuce Dwarf Chinese cabbage Radish 60 Veg-01 First Harvest 61 62 63 64 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 85 8686 87 88 89 90 91 92 From Dublin to NASA: Getting to where I didn’t expect to be Julie McEnery NASA/GSFC 93 93 PhD in Dublin and Arizona 94 Postdoc at Los Alamos National Lab 95 Goddard Space Flight Center and Fermi/GLAST 96 97 97 Looking to the Future AMEGO mission Detector concept development 98 27 To ensure we meet the needs of the education community (you!), NASA’s UoL is committed to performing regular evaluations, to determine the effectiveness of Professional Learning opportunities like the Science Briefings. If you prefer not to participate in the evaluation process, you can opt out by contacting Kay Ferrari <[email protected]>. This product is based upon work supported by NASA under award number NNX16AC65A. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 99.