Top International Women's Day and Women's History Month events on science

Stories for, by and about Women in Science

Written by Kristina Necovska

Friday, 19 March 2010

March is big for women thanks to Women's History Month and International Women's Day, which we celebrated on March 8. People all over the world have shown their support for women's issues through nearly every incarnation of activism and creativity -- including an International Women's Marathon. This year, we at Under the Microscope are hosting a special event, Message 2 a Younger Me, and we hope you'll participate.

The list that follows is a round-up of science-related events that occurred or will occur in national, international, virtual and real-life places to celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day. They address the issues that face women in science, technology, mathematics and engineering today.

The Imperial College of London published an online exhibition entitled "100 Women -- 100 Visions," portraits and quotations of women scientists and engineers.

The Women's Media Center is profiling thirty remarkable women in honor of this day. The women profiled range from athletes and artists to political figures. The entry dated March 17 features Dr. Mana Kasongo, who is a physician and journalist who relays developments about this country's health care reforms to the public. March 13th's entry features Kim Knowlton, a top climate change researcher at the Health and Environment Program at the National Resources Defense Council.

Massachusetts-based Science Club for Girls is also having its own "Letter to My Young Self" and a "Letter to My Future Self" event this Month.

Ada Lovelace Day, March 24, "is an international day of blogging (videologging, podcasting, comic drawing etc.!) to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science." The writers at Under the Microscope will be submitting several blog posts.

The Smithsonian Institution has updated its Flickr photostream of beautiful portraits of women in science, including the one of Mary N. Crawford above.

The New York Academy of Sciences is hosting a series of lectures entitled the "Girls' Night Out" series, which invites leading experts to present their research. The upcoming talk is on March 29th, "The Lady and the Sharks" with ichthyologist Eugenie Clark.

OXFAM International launched a campaign called W8. Eight distinguished women will be meeting with Heads of State, Members of the EU Parliament, and national ministers in Canada, UK, France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain to aid efforts to bring about the Millenium Development Goals. Most of the women are directors or leaders of NGOs. One is a professor of pharmaceutical science in Thailand whose interest is in educating people about the high cost of health care for the poor.

L'Oreal and UNESCO presented awards to five laureates of science. They've received fellowships of up to $40,000 each for their research. You can view their videos and stories online.

UNESCO headquarters in Paris are, until today, holding special events for IWD. Events this past week included artistic exhibitions, musical performances and high-level round table talks on gender and equality and women and science. On the 8th a panel discussion was held to discuss the European perspective of the EU member states' efforts to promote women in the sciences.

On March 11th, the Science and the Arts Program at the CUNY Graduate Center hosted Julie Des Jardins, author of The Madam Curie Complex, who gave a talk about the historical significance of women's lack of representation in the sciences.

Bard College hosted their 9th annual International Women's Day Conference on March 6. This years theme was entitled "Women in the Sciences Making a Difference". The college hosted highly accomplished women in the sciences speaking on important topics relating to human rights and science and technology. There were two discussions on the progress of women in STEM fields and on STEM education for girls. Talks were given by the CEO of a successful biotech company, Adelene Perkins and Dr. Zafra Lerman, chemist and human rights activist whose lecture focused on science education for girls in developing nations.

CERN's American lab, Fermilab, had it's first Women's Day. Journalists were on premises to get the perspectives of the female scientists who work there. Deputy Director Young Kee Kim sums up the general feeling: "I hope this day is not only a celebration, but an inspiration, to young women considering a career in science".

More more information, the official page for International Women's Day posts more than 700 events, categorized by country. If you know of other events highlighting women and science, please let us know by adding them in the comments section below.