A few great resources for more information are Sisters in Science by Diann Jordan, the Famous Black Inventors website, MIT’s Inventor of the Week, and the Black Scientists website.

Dr. Mae C. Jemison
Field: Astronomy; Engineering
Why she’s on our list: Jemison is best known as the first black woman astronaut; however, she is also active in melding together “hard” and "soft" sciences. She’s a teacher and science education advocate. In 2009, Dr. Jemison was part of a speaker series for Women’s History month in Washington, DC, formed by Michelle Obama to promote women’s accomplishments.
For more information: http://quest.nasa.gov/women/TODTWD/jemison.bio.html

Dr. Patricia Bath
Field: Ophthalmologic surgeon, inventor
Why she’s on our list: Bath co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness (AIPB) in 1976. Most notably she is known for inventing the Laserphaco Probe, “a surgical tool that uses a laser to vaporize cataracts via a tiny, 1-millimeter insertion into a patient’s eye.” Bath is also the first “African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention.”
For more information: http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/bath.html

Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes
Field: Mathematics
Why she's on our list: Dr. Haynes is the first black woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1943 from Catholic University. She was committed to education. Catholic University established the Euphemia Haynes Chair in the Department of Education in her honor.
For more information: http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/Haynes-Lofton.html

Valerie Thomas
Field: Mathematics; Computer Science
Why she's on our list: Thomas is known as the inventor of the Illusion Transmitter which is “a three-dimensional illusional television system for transmitting an illusion of an object.” Surgeons are looking to use this technology to look in the human body. Thomas retired from NASA in 1995.
For more information: http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/thomas.html and http://www.black-inventor.com/Valerie-Thomas.asp

Dr. Betty Harris
Field: Chemistry
Why she's on our list: Dr. Harris is best known for her work in explosives and nuclear technology. She is known for her patented invention: The spot test to identify explosives in the field. She works for Los Alamos National Laboratory and has received the state's Governor's Trailblazer Award. She has also worked with the Girl Scouts to develop a chemistry merit badge.
For more information: http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/archive/99-064.shtml and http://www.black-inventor.com/Dr-Betty-Harris.asp

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson
Field: Physics
Why she's on our list: She's the first black woman to earn a doctorate in theoretical physics, and the first black woman to head the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She is a past president (2004) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Currently she is the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She was appointed by President Obama to serve as an advisor of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
For more information: http://www.rpi.edu/president/profile.html

Bessie Coleman
Field: Aviation
Why she's on our list: Coleman was the first black woman aviator. She received an international pilot’s license in 1921 in France due to the Jim Crow laws of the United States. 
For more information: http://www.bessiecoleman.com/default.html and http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=182

Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville
Field: Mathematics
Why she's on our list: In 1949 (just a few years after Euphemia Lofton Haynes), Dr. Granville received her doctorate in mathematics. She has worked at the New York Institute of Mathematics, and as a professor at Fisk University, Texas College, University of Texas and California State University.
For more information: http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/granvill.htm

Dr. Ida Stephens Owens
Field: Physiology; Biochemistry
Why she's on our list: Dr. Owens is known for her work on drug detoxifying enzymes but is also notable for being the first black woman to receive her doctorate from Duke University in 1967. She received her Ph.D. in Biology and Physiology, and her research focuses mostly on how the human body responds to poison. She continues her work at NIH.
For more information: http://web.duke.edu/womstud/portraits.pdf

Is there someone missing from our list? Are you a black female scientist with a story of your journey to science? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or tell your story in the Your Stories section of our site (registration and login required).

Image courtesy of NASA 

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Noreen February 26, 2010 24.90.73.29	It is such a great idea to compile this list! I remember when I was a student teacher a few years ago, I had to do a social studies/literacy lesson plan about Bessie Coleman. The kids loved her story! And so did I. She is such a great inspiration for today's generation.

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