What’s Changed for Women in the Sciences since Darwin?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 5-6:30 p.m.
Location: Union Stage, ASU Memorial Union 085
Sponsors: Association for Women in Science (AWIS), ASU Emeritus College, School of Life Sciences, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Center for Biology and Society
The numbers of women attaining science and engineering doctorates have increased substantially over the last 20 years. However, in most fields, the proportion of women falls with each successive educational and professional level. When it comes to calling on the scientific leadership of our time, women are seriously underrepresented, leading us to answer the above question with “Not enough.” This panel will investigate the past and present reasons for the inequity of women in the sciences.
Moderator
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Susanne Neuer
Susanne Neuer is an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences and a biological oceanographer. She did her undergraduate work in Biology in Germany, then came to the United States as a Fulbright fellow to earn her Masters of Science degree from the University of Washington and her doctorate from Oregon State University in Corvallis. Her main research interest is in the area of ocean biogeochemistry; especially the dynamics of the biological carbon pump, and the role of ocean biota in the carbon export to the deep sea. Most of her research has been ship based; she has participated in more than 20 cruises, five of which as chief scientist. She is also the President of the Central Arizona Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and has recently been elected to the national board of AWIS.
Panelists
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Bianca L. Bernstein
Bianca L. Bernstein, Ph.D. is a professor of Counseling Psychology, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, and Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Her psychology degrees are from the University of California at Berkeley and Santa Barbara. Administrative roles have included serving as Director of the Division of Graduate Education at the Nation al Science Foundation and Dean of the Graduate College at ASU. Dr. Bernstein’s higher education focus is on broadening the participation of women and minorities in science and engineering careers, preparing future faculty, and reforming graduate education. Her over 200 publications and scholarly presentations have focused on graduate education reform and the advancement of women and underrepresented minorities. Dr. Bernstein’s CareerWISE research program for building personal resilience and improving persistence among women in science and engineering Ph.D. programs, is supported by the National Science Foundation.
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Nicole Herbots
Nicole Herbots, i.r., PhD UCL, doctor ingenieur, joined ASU's Department of Physics & Astronomy in 1991, and is emeritus. She is an inventor who holds multiple patents in semiconductors technology, & a science educator who develops & uses interactive desktop experiments, technology and whiteboards. She was an IBM Professor of Electronic Materials at MIT and a researcher in the Solid State Division at Oak Ridge National Lab. She founded and directs at ASU the Combined Ion & Molecular Deposition Laboratory. She earned her doctorate in Applied Physics at the Université Catholique de Louvain, where her work involved 3 departments – Condensed Matter Physics, Nuclear Physics (UCL Cyclotron facility), and Electrical Engineering (UCL clean-room WINFAB). Her students research & model low temperature (T<480 K) synthesis of new semiconductor nanophases such as sub-nanometer ordered silicon dioxides (US Patent 6,613,677) & SiGeO2 (US patent 5,124,421). Her methods, CIMD (US Patent 4,800,200) combines molecular beams, ion beam deposition, ion beam oxidation & new low temperature techniques such as the Herbots-Atluri Clean, the EpOX™ process, EpOxNOx™ and SilOxSi(S)™ to produce either templates for (hetero) epitaxy in her clean-room laboratory, of "nanostacks" of ultrathin films to create high performance gate oxides, peroskvites and photovoltaic surfaces. Their most recent technology disclosures are at the boundary of condensed matter physics, biology and medical electronics, with applications in medical devices implants such as integrate single device medical implants and artificial implant eye-lenses.
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Marigold Linton
Marigold Linton and Robert E. Barnhill, former ASU Vice President for Research, were married in Salt Lake City in 1983, when both were professors at the University of Utah. A psychologist of note, Linton is also the first reservation Native American from California to go to a university. She served as ASU’s director of American Indian programs, as an academic professional, before working with the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian National University. She has served on the Board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and now serves on the congressionally mandated Committee on Equity of Opportunity in Science and Engineering. She was president of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native American in Sciences (SACNAS), whose goal is to bring Native Americans into science and engineering.
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Jane Maienschein
Regents’ Professor
President’s Professor
Parents Association Professor and Director
Center for Biology and Society
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Mrinalini Muralidharan
Mrinalini Muralidharan grew up in Mumbai India, coming to the US at age 18 years for her higher education. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors degree in Molecular Biosciences and Biotechology from Arizona State University in 2002, and is currently working on completing her doctoral degree in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. Her research examines the role of lipase-like enzymes in plant defense mechanisms. She is a member of the Association for Women in Science and believes that women have much to contribute to science, and that it is critical to improve the retention rate of women in this field. Another subject that is really close to her heart is raising awareness about AIDS. She works closely with a group that promotes education about HIV/AIDS in India.