AWIS
________________________________________________________________________

ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE

Washington Wire

 Edited by: Sarah Rhodes

June 2012
Issue II

Greetings!

  
AWIS will be holding elections in late September and the AWIS Governance Committee invites nominations or self-nominations of those members who wish to be considered as potential candidates. In assembling the final slate of candidates, the Governance Committee will consider the balance of disciplines, skills, geography, and employment sector required for a well-rounded Board.

This year, we are looking to fill the office of President-Elect and two Councilor positions.  All current AWIS members are eligible to run for board positions.

A President-Elect shall be elected every second year and shall assume office on January 1 of the year following the election. The President-Elect shall exercise responsibility over particular activities at the request of the President and prepare to assume the responsibilities of the Presidency.  The President-Elect shall become President after one year and serve for a period of two years in this office in addition to serving one more year as Immediate Past President.  The total commitment is four (4) years.

Councilors assume responsibility for AWIS initiatives, represent the membership on the Board, and help set policy for the organization. They serve for a period of three (3) years and should be prepared to attend up to three Board meetings per year. (AWIS does not reimburse travel expenses.)

For more information, view a copy of the AWIS Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws or the 2011-2014 Strategic Plan.

By August 31, 2012 please e-mail a resume (no longer than two pages) and a statement of interest to: awis@awis.org - put "ELECTION" in the subject line.

 

Please include:
  1. Name
  2. Mailing address (home or work)
  3. Phone numbers (work, cell, fax)
  4. E-mail address
  5. Position for which the candidate is running (President-Elect, Councilor)
  6. CV (maximum 3 pages) including current professional position and professional activities
  7. Statement of Interest (maximum two pages) which should address (1) Involvement in AWIS; (2) Why the candidate is interested in the position for which she or he is running; (3) Women in science issues that the candidate would work on as goals for National AWIS.
Serving in leadership roles in professional organizations like AWIS can provide you with invaluable opportunities to gain visibility by expanding your network and public standing.
 
We look forward to hearing from you.  
Best regards,
  
Janet
____________
Janet Bandows Koster
AWIS Executive Director 
In This Issue
Careers
Education
Health
Science and Technology
Work Life Satisfaction
Events
Opportunities
Careers

 

Negotiate the Salary You Want
Many women start salary negotiations by asking for their "gotta-have-it number," which leaves no room to reach a compromise. Instead, you should "triple your fees and anchor your salary requests high -- so that you find your way (make concessions, ask for reciprocity) to the sweet spot where everybody's happy," writes Forbes blogger Lisa Gates.  Learn three tips for changing the equation.

 


9 Barriers for Women of Color in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Members of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy and the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, including AWIS member Nancy Morrison, identified nine barriers that face WoC in astronomy and outlined 7 recommendations for addressing the issues.

 

System transformation 

Education

 

National Survey Confirms Plight of Adjuncts in HigherEd
The Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) just released the results of a survey addressing adjunct working conditions. CAW received close to 30,000 responses, with just over 20,000 coming from individuals who identified themselves as working in a contingent position at an institution or institutions of higher education in fall 2010. Part-time faculty respondents from the sciences made up 15%.  The bottom line?  Adjuncts don't make much money, they receive little support in terms of professional development from the institutions where they teach, and most would accept a full-time tenure-track position if it were offered to them.

Gender Lessons Learned in K-12 Science Assessment
As part of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment, students completed hands-on and interactive computer tasks.  While there was no gender gap in interactive computer tasks, female students in all three grades scored higher than males on the hands-on tasks, and males scored higher on the traditional paper-and-pencil science assessment.
Health

Contributed by Anahita Hamidi 

 

Engaging Your Brain Keeps It Functioning
Being passionate about what you do keeps you engaged, and interestingly, may also have clear benefits for your brain.  Cynthia Greene of the Huffington Post points out that this is more than simply a case of "use it or lose it".  In fact, individuals who are more engaged with what they do tend not only to have better memory and overall executive functioning, but also lead a more purpose-driven life.  So... find your passion!

 
Brain power

 

The Science of Meditation
Just a few decades ago, meditation was considered an occult and perhaps even mysterious Eastern practice.  Today, however, meditation is often touted as a great tool for stress reduction.  Yet, the science behind exactly why meditation may lead to an increased sense of wellbeing has remained somewhat of a mystery. Scientists at UC Davis found meditation related to positive changes in visual perception, emotional engagement, and even cellular aging.

 
OM's physiology 

Science and Technology
Contributed by Anahita Hamidi

 

Better Late than Never: Delayed Publishing for Flu Papers
Just because interesting scientific findings get past the peer review process, doesn't mean that the work is immediately published...  Especially in infectious diseases research where there can be "dual-use" concerns.  Last year, two papers on H5N1 were blocked from publication for this very reason. However, the second paper was recently published in the journal Science. The data didn't change but thanks to a few rewritten sentences (assuring publishers that it will not be spread through air) it is now better contextualized and ready for your reading pleasure.

  

Delayed release

 

AWIS Member Challenges Google to Be More Inclusive
Ann Martin, PhD, has written an open letter to Google challenging the tech giant to feature more women in its Google Doodles (the changes to the company's logo on its homepage).  Millions of people visits the Google homepage each day.  "Google Doodles highlight role models in science, technology, the arts, and the humanities, but a quick look will show you that the people you have chosen to honor do not represent the full spectrum of humanity," says Dr. Martin. 

 

Google Bias

Read the open letter

Work Life Satisfaction
Contributed by Anahita Hamidi
  

Women Still Can't Have it All
Anne Marie Slaughter's controversial article in the Atlantic entitled "Why women still can't have it all" has caused a huge stir.  As a government executive, and mother of a teenage son, Slaughter says that something generally has to give.  She acknowledges that women now have opportunities that weren't available to past generations.  However, we are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can realistically balance a typical high-flying job with children.  Her solution to change the system?  A female President!!

  

Controversial words

 

Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm
"The GDP-lead development model that compels boundless growth on a planet with limited resources no longer makes economic sense," declares the Prime Minister of Bhutan.  "The purpose of development must be to create enabling conditions through public policy for the pursuit of the ultimate goal of happiness by all citizens."  The US ranks 114 out of 143 nations on the Index that uses global data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint.

 

Measuring happiness

 

Women More Stressed By Housework Than Men
Researchers in Sweden released results of questionnaires filled out by 723 residents of a mid-sized Swedish industrial town from 1981 to 2007 that show women still shoulder the greater burden of housework and are more stressed.  The stress worsens when there is salary or gender inequality present in the relationship.  At age 21, both men and women reported roughly the same level of psychological distress (which included restlessness, concentration problems, and anxiety), but by age 42 women's levels of distress had gone up while the men's had stayed the same.

 
Who's scrubbing that tub? 

AWIS News and Events
AWIS Massachusetts Chapter
Event: Meet at Fenway: Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox
Date: July 18
Time: 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Register Now

AWIS Central Jersey and Massachusetts Chapters
Event: Integrating New Technologies into Your Lab
Date: July 20
Time: 12:00PM - 1:00PM
Register Now

AWIS Los Angeles/Ventura County Chapter
Event: Annual Evening of Jazz at LACMA
Date: July 20
Time: 5:30PM - 8:30PM
Register Now
Opportunities
    

Ohio State Hosts Workshop for Women on Commercialization

The  "REACH for Commercialization" will introduce women faculty and postdocs in STEM to the multiple pathways toward entrepreneurship. The workshop is aimed at extending the "REACH" of research beyond the lab, whether it is through patenting, licensing, corporate partnering or starting a business.  Fellowships are available.  The fellowships include travel, all meals and lodging, and registration fees.  Deadline for applications: July 2, 2012. 

 

The C3E Awards are part of the U.S. Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) program launched at the at the 3rd Clean Energy Ministerial in London. The C3E program aims recognize outstanding efforts to advance women's mid-career leadership within the clean energy sector in six categories, each with a $10,000 cash prize. Applications are due by  July 2, 2012.

UNESCO - L'OREAL International Fellowships - 2013
The UNESCO-L'Or�al International Fellowships are designed to identify and reward fifteen deserving, committed and talented young women scientists, from all over the world, active in the field of life sciences. With a view to ensuring that a balanced geographical representation is made, a maximum of three young women, from each of the five geo-cultural regions of the world, will be awarded fellowships. Applications are due by July 15, 2012.

AAAS Mentor Awards Nominations
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is seeking nominations for its 2012 Mentor Awards: the Lifetime Mentor Award and the Mentor Award. The awards honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the science and engineering PhD workforce. Questions can be directed to Gerard Boulin, and the deadline is July 31, 2012.

Science Case Network Meeting
The SCN, a new Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Biology Education, is hosting a networking meeting to help strategize how case study and problem based learning approaches could be used to address perceived gaps in undergraduate biology education. The meeting, called "Networking Strategies to Bridge Perceived Gaps in Biology Education: Content, Reaching Diverse Students, Faculty and Future Faculty Development, and the Biology Curriculum Continuum," is hosted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science and will be in Buffalo, NY on August 6-7, 2012.

Travel Award Program for Early Career Investigators
Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology will offer a limited number of travel awards to early career investigators at the Assistant Professor or equivalent industry scientist level. At times researchers find that attending a Keystone Symposia meeting might substantially further a current research project or assist in problem solving around a particular experimental issue. These travel awards are specifically designed to address this situation. The emphasis is on URM scientists who are pursuing research careers. The application process is open for all meetings between now and February 28, 2013. However, the awards will be made upon review, on a first come basis

 

BBRG Affiliated Scholars Program

The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is designed to accommodate scholars who would like to spend a relatively short period of time in residence, ranging from one month to six months. The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is open to senior and junior faculty (tenured and untenured), visiting scholars, postdoctoral scholars and independent scholars, from the U.S. and abroad, whose work is centrally on women and gender. Applicants must have the Ph.D. in hand one year prior to the beginning of the appointment. The BBRG accepts applications for the BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program throughout the academic year. 


Marie Curie Fellowship
Have you ever wanted to do research in Europe? Apply for a Marie Curie Fellowship. The goal of the Marie Curie Fellowship is to strengthen the human potential in research and technology by stimulating people to enter into the profession of research and attracting researchers from the entire world to Europe. This Fellowship addresses researchers at all stages of their careers, in the public and private sectors, from initial research training, specifically intended for young people, to lifelong learning and career development. Proposals are welcomed from all areas of scientific and technological research and the fellowship covers your salary plus your research expenses. To apply, you must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years' full-time equivalent research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate.
 

Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship
The Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship program aims to encourage creative and highly-trained recipients of doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematical disciplines to engage in hands-on research projects in their areas of expertise at the kind of small innovative businesses that historically have fueled the nation's economic regime. This fellowship program offers small businesses the opportunity to attract top scientific and technological talent at a fraction of the usual cost, while recruiting postdoctoral fellows to work for at least a year outside an academic setting on cutting-edge research aimed at promoting scientific excellence and strengthening our nation's technological prowess. Each research fellow will receive a stipend of at least $75,000 plus health insurance benefits.


NSF's Career-Life Balance (CLB) Initiative
Scientists now have the opportunity to submit supplemental funding requests to support additional personnel (e.g., research technicians or equivalent). This will help sustain research when the Principal Investigator is on family leave. In FY 2012, up to 3 months of salary support may be requested (for a maximum of $12,000 in salary compensation) by CAREER awardees.

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In Memorarium
Phoebe Leboy 
Phoebe S. Leboy, PhD

 AWIS lost an amazing advocate with the passing of Dr. Phoebe Leboy.  There has been an outpouring of admiration of this accomplished scientist from peers and proteges alike.
 
Visit the Phoebe S. Leboy AWIS Memorial Page and read the profile of Phoebe in AWIS in Action!

 

Inside the Latest

AWIS Magazine

AWIS Magazine Spring 2012 
Download a pdf version of the Spring 2012 AWIS Magazine from the AWIS website.



 
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