LPSC: The Breakfast

On March 2, 150 women in planetary science and four men filled a ballroom at LPSC to talk about issues for women in planetary science, to network for current and future collaborations, and to enjoy a delicious breakfast together as we got ready for the day.

The seven women behind this site (minus one of our undergrads, who was ill) stood up and talked about our goals and vision for the site and for the community. Ten more stood up and offered ideas and help for women at various stages of their careers, from internships to interviewing for “permanent” jobs. Each of those will get their own post in the next couple weeks, as we all “dig out” from the pile of commitments that accumulated while we were at LPSC. 🙂  Come back next week to hear more from your colleagues at universities and research institutions in the U.S. and Canada, including the Director of the Center of Meteorite Studies at ASU, a Program Officer at the National Academy of Sciences, a geojournalist at The Planetary Society, the Planetary Science Division Communication Officer, and a retiring Discipline Scientist.

We’ll also be announcing new members of the women in planetary science working group, and that is VERY exciting!  We are excited that YOU are here too.  Whether it’s your first visit or your fiftieth, your participation here is what makes it such a great resource, and a place where we want to volunteer our time to help each other.

What can you do here?  Well, here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Browse the archives.  On the right side of this page, you’ll see a handy link called “Topics.”  Pull down the menu over there and scroll through what we’re talking about.  Click to read what we’ve said in the past, and the comments therein.  Add your own comments too — they’ll show up in that box over there called “Recent Comments” and we’ll respond!

2. Join the womeninplanetaryscience@yahoogroups.com email list and post a comment, question, or link to some recent research that you’d like to discuss.

3. Post a question, comment, or short essay here on the web site.  To submit a new guest post or discuss an idea, just send a note to susanniebur@nieburconsulting.com and we’ll post it or share it with the working group for feedback if you like.  We’re not looking for epic essays or theses here — just a conversation starter, a funny observation, or something that’s been on your mind about work, work/life, or the culture of doing science today.  Questions are fine too!

4. Send in an abstract of some work that you’ve published recently (the last year or two) and let us highlight YOUR research.  Your work is contributing to the field of planetary science, and we want to spread the word about the good work that you do.  We’ll be posting these every Friday as a new feature: Planetary Scientist Fridays.  The goal is simple: 51 weeks, 51 planetary scientists.

Can we feature 51 women planetary scientists this year?  We’re up for the challenge, but we can’t do it without you, so send in your abstract and a link to your recent article or talk today.

Thanks for visiting — come back next week for the community updates and our first ever Planetary Scientist Friday!