2017-02-09
Emma Davidson and Rosanne Bersten
On 11 February, we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Australian women have contributed significantly to our scientific achievements on the world stage.
Our own women in science include:
- Emma Stone — not the actor, the Tasmanian-born doctor who graduated with a medical degree in the USA, who helped found the Queen Victoria hospital in Melbourne, and was the first woman to register with the Medical Board of Victoria in 1890.
- Hanna Neumann — Head of the Department of Pure Mathematics at the Australian National University from 1964-1971, and contributor to important work on group theory.
- Dorothy Hill — geologist and palaeontologist at University of Queensland, first woman elected to the Australian Academy of Science and later the President of the Academy, first Australian woman elected to the Royal Society.
And the achievements continue to roll in...
Christine Charles is literally a rocket scientist (!!!) with her own lab at Australian National University.
Pia Waugh advocates for open data and open government, and believes that the geek have already inherited the earth.
We even have our own women in science within the Greens.
Ellen Sandell, MLA in the Victorian State Parliament, graduated from University of Melbourne in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in genetics. Victorian Senator Janet Rice holds a Bachelor of Science with honours in meteorology.
Inspired to learn more?
Groups such as Code Like A Girl are helping more women learn how to work with technology and develop the skills needed for a career in software development.
They host events in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to help girls and women learn how to write code, and what it takes to be part of the industry. Find out more.
Science communicators help us understand the work scientists are doing. You've probably already heard of Elise Andrew from I F*ing Love Science.
If you prefer podcasts to YouTube and Facebook, check out Science for the People. Rachelle Saunders, Bethany Brookshire, and Desiree Schell interview scientists and talk in detail about science and fact-based thinking.
You can hear women talking about very current science on the radio from time to time too, such as this interview from Radio National with Leader of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, Fran Bagenal.
We have some pretty amazing science communicators in Australia, too. Kristin Alford is the Director of the Science Creativity Education Studio at the University of South Australia.
Upulie Divisekera is a molecular biologist and runs the @realscientists rotation curation account on Twitter.
Want to inspire the next generation of women in science?
There are some great books listed at A Mighty Girl — 30 books about female scientists, and 25 books starring science-loving mighty girls.
Cara Santa Maria's Talk Nerdy podcast is great for teen girls, with interviews that encourage thinking about science and the world around us in a fact-based way.
So why is this even important? Because if we truly want to solve some of the big problems of the world, like climate change and better health care, we need scientists. And when only half the population are encouraged and supported to study and have careers in science and technology, we risk missing out on important improvements in global knowledge.