Maria Mitchell Women of Science Symposium Scheduled for September 23-25, 2021

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 8, 2021

The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association will host its second Maria Mitchell Women of Science Symposium (MMWSS) at the Babson Executive Conference Center in Babson Park, MA from Thursday, September 23 to Saturday, September 25, 2021.

 

The MMWSS is meant to promote and support women and girls in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields while also providing hands-on, intimate spaces for attendees to come together to create real-world solutions that can be taken back to their place of work or education.

 

Distinguished women scientists will speak at the event along with panelists who are women well-known and respected in the STEM fields. Speakers include:             

Nicole Cabrera Salazar, Ph.D. a Latina astrophysicist who is transforming the culture of STEM through her company Movement Consulting;

 

Nancy Gray, Ph.D. the President and CEO of Gordon Research Conferences;

 

Jen Heemstra, Ph.D. professor of Chemistry at Emory University.

 

Panelists at the MMWSS include:

 

Dionne Hoskins-Brown, Ph.D. a Fishery Biologist through the Galveston Laboratory of NOAA Fisheries and an Associate Graduate Professor in the Marine Science program at Savannah State University;

 

Tara Spann Chief People and Strategy Officer for MENTOR National;

 

Sandra Begay a research and development engineer at Sandia National Laboratories;

 

Amy Bower Ph.D. a Senior Scientist in the Dept. of Physical Oceanography at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;

 

Shawna Young Executive Director of the SCRATCH Foundation;

 

Amanda Hough Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year 2019.

 

Women continue to be under-represented in the sciences. According to the 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators report by the National Science Foundation, “Women comprised just 28% of workers in science and engineering occupations in 2010. This under-representation shortchanges the students, the field of science, and the public that benefits from scientific advancement.”

 

The Symposium is named after Maria Mitchell, America’s first woman astronomer. Mitchell, who went on to teach Astronomy at Vassar College, promoted hands-on learning and encouraged women to study science. Jascin Leonardo Finger, MMA Deputy Director and Symposium Coordinator states, “This Symposium is designed to serve as a source of inspiration and support and to be a hands-on experience in which all attendees are actively participating and problem solving much in the spirit of Maria Mitchell. We had an incredibly successful Symposium in 2018 with fantastic feedback and now we look to 2021.”

 

The themes that the Maria Mitchell Women of Science Symposium will address are persisting issues that hindered women in science in Maria Mitchell’s time and still affect them today. The Symposium will also address where women are today; how to recruit women and girls into STEM; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives; how to address the challenges that women still face in STEM; and how to broaden participation and leadership including through mentoring and mental health support. Maria Mitchell believed in learning by doing and the Symposium will continue this philosophy by encouraging all attendees, female and male of all backgrounds and educations, to actively participate, problem-solve, and learn through a hands-on experience.

 

The MMWSS is made possible thanks to the generous support of the American Philosophical Society, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), Vassar College, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, D. E. Shaw Company, Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, American Astronomical Society, Schwartz Hannum PC, Tupancy-Harris Foundation, Axcelis Technologies, Inc., Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Novartis, the Simons Foundation, and Stinson LLP.

 

Tickets to the MMWSS are available at mmwss.org and there are some scholarships available for students and teachers. Please visit the website for more information and registration at www.mmwss.org .

 

The event is organized by the Maria Mitchell Association, a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

For Immediate Release

July 8 2021

Contact: Jascin Finger, MMA Deputy Director & Curator of the Mitchell House, Archives and Special Collections

jfinger@mariamitchell.org

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A past blog that I forgot I had written when I came across the letter written about below. Once I realized I had already written a blog about it, I decided it was worth re-blogging. Over Christmas, a neighbor of my Mother’s gave her a copy of something she came across while cleaning things up in her house. She thought my Mother would enjoy it and by the same token, my Mother thought that I would. Her note with it stated it proved she was as, “old as dirt.” She isn’t old as dirt. Believe me. The letter she had copied was from the War Production Board and dated December 16, 1942. It was, “written at the request of President Roosevelt,” who wanted to thank this young girl for her donation of a rubber tire. This was not any old rubber tire you see. It was a pure rubber tire – very much needed for the war effort – from one of her toy airplanes and measured not more than half an inch or so in diameter. This young girl was distressed that everyone else, including in her family, was assisting in the war effort and that she wasn’t. So when she discovered the tire was rubber, she asked her mother to send it to Washington, DC. Which, obviously, her mother did do. What does this have to do with Maria Mitchell you wonder? Well, it makes me think of collections and saving things. You have your own collections and archives at home – your family papers and photographs, your books (aka special collection books). These are valuable to your family and its history. They help you see what and who came before you and how your family became a family. What they endured. How they got to where they did and how where they came from helped, in part, to get you to where you are today. And then, these papers and books are important for the larger community. We learn from our past and our collective past – and these items help us do that. Scores of researchers use Maria Mitchell’s papers and those of her family every year. Not everyone is doing research on the family – they can be doing research on astronomy or some science-related matter, someone whom Maria or her family knew. The possibilities are endless. So, from this little letter, I know a young girl in Connecticut contributed to the war effort and what she gave. I know that rubber (not that I didn’t already but you get the idea) was important to the war effort in some way. I also know that many people contributed to the war effort and this was just one simple way to do it. I know she had a toy that had rubber components. And as a young girl in 1942, she was playing with toy airplanes. And I know that the war effort was all consuming to the point that a small child wanted to make sure she found a way to help too while seeing her family members helping. Your paper is important. Always find a venue for these items if you no longer want them. They will help us to better understand our world – past and present. JNLF P.S. Remember that every donation, every gift to someone in need, matters. No matter how small it is – or you think it is.

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