Myra Greene--Some of Her Best Friends are White

As described in a feature by the New York Times, here is how an African American photographer, Myra Greene, from New York has choosen to address issues of race in her life and in her work. In this piece, David Gonzalez quotes Greene as saying:

“I’m always thinking about race,” she said. “I recognize it when I’m the only black person in a room. My white friends will notice I’m the only black person, too. But they don’t notice a room full of white people.”

Enjoy the photographs and the sentiment.

Talking About Race, Gender and Mentoring

Several months ago two friends, one younger and Black, the other older and White, start talking about race. Both women have PhDs and share a passion for science and a commitment to diversity.  The catalyst for this conversation was David Thomas’ “The Truth About Mentoring Minorities:  Race Matters”, originally published in April 2001 by the Harvard Business Review.

The conversation has been periodic, punctuated by weeks (months?) of silence, but has remained focused on the mentoring of doctoral candidates since we are concerned greatly about graduate education. This is just the beginning and we are not able to predict where the conversation will lead.  Periodically, we will be sharing on the results of our conversations on each of our blogs, FairerScience and iPhDgirl.

We thought we would start by writing a bit about where we are coming from.

I (Pat) am a former college professor with a strange hobby- I voluntarily read and critique dissertation proposals and drafts for folks who haven’t been getting enough guidance.  Through the past 30 years I’ve read dissertations from a lot of folks, and almost all of them have been white women or women and men of color and I want to know why.  It’s easy to say racism or sexism or both but that’s simplistic and not helpful.  I want Andrea and me to dig deeper and explore our own perspectives and those of others- toward what is going on with good and bad cross-race mentoring in graduate school.

I (Andrea) am a biophysicist by training and a mischief-maker at heart.  Having left lab science for policy my career focus has shifted to facilitating the practice of science--and people are at this heart of its practice. Academic science, in my opinion, seems to have a talent management problem. My perspectives on and interests in this topic are personal, intellectual, and professional. One key area to explore is that of graduate recruitment and "education".  Why the focus on gender or race? Well, as a Black female it is somewhat personal. By many measures attempts to achieve diversity in the academic ranks has been a failure. But then again, although I'm not an academic or a researcher, I don't feel that I've failed. Moreover, I know that my educational outcome is indistinct from that of so many doctoral students (regardless of race and gender). So perhaps it's narcissism, perhaps it's intellectual curiosity, perhaps it's determination to "make things right". Still, I need to decide what significance I can take from my own experience, from that of others, and from the data. As with everything in life, race does matter. So does gender.  But does it have to be a hindrance to anyone or a roadblock to achievement?

We (Pat and Andrea) are looking forward for our first “real” post and hope you will join the conversation.

Opportunity: Apply to PhD Pipeline Program--Extended deadline

I was just made aware of the PhD Pipeline Program. The application deadline has been extended to March 15, 2012.  Here is a description taken directly from the website:


PhD Pipeline Opportunity Program

The Ph.D. Pipeline Opportunity Program “Ph.D. Pipeline” is supported by a grant from the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) to assist under-represented minorities to qualify for and to acquire doctoral degrees in business disciplines. The PhD Pipeline includes partnerships with an increasing number of business schools to establish a national model which involves academic-year activities at each participating institution as well as a two-week summer workshop at the Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. This program represents a bold, new collaborative model for leading business schools to address an issue of vital economic impact, and includes capacity-building initiatives at selected Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to more effectively and systematically encourage and equip under-represented student populations for doctoral study in business disciplines.

Visit this link to apply. Good luck!

Diversity in Science Carnival #13: Black History Month--Celebrating Our Future

The Diversity in Science Carnival.

Celebrating Black Scientists Past, Present, and Future

Welcome to the 13th DiS Carnival! This is the third carnival celebrated during Black History Month (the first two, DiS #7 and #1 are here).

In 1976, under President Gerald Ford, February also became known as Black History Month. For 50 years prior, "Negro History" was commemorated during the second week of the second month of each year. Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), known as the Father of Black History, was dedicated to studying and disseminating information about black life, history and culture. Many celebrate Black History, but the struggle to bring more scientists into the fold of popular black history continues. Following in this tradition, I would like to celebrate and engage Black scientists as community role models, leaders, and citizens.

Projecting Our Image

How does a child picture a scientist? (Photo credit:Mad4Science)

Thankfully, more and more people are challenging us to combat the stereotypical images of scientists (this Mad4Science has some additional "before and after" drawings from children along the lines of the images above). Also please look at Mariette DiChristina's article on the Scientific American website (and please check out the featured profile of Eunice Nuekie Cofie, President and Chief Cosmetic Chemist of Nuekie, Inc., who also shared this article with me). I love these efforts, but I still feel there aren't enough Black faces being put forth as direct challenges to the predominate stereotypes--we need more than glamorous head shots--we want scientists in action! So please, submit your photos and your stories here and here!

Thinking back...

James H. Stith (left) showing a cadet how to use equipment
during a physics class. This photo was taken at the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point, NY.
(Photo Credit: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives) 

In developing and reading material for this carnival, I got to thinking that as a minority scientist, I've been lucky to have many role models. Here are the names of minority scientists that have influenced, assisted, and impressed me:

• Barbara Williams, Physicist 
• Marilyn Suiter, Geoscientist
• Tuajuanda Jordan, Biochemist
• James Stith, Physicist (and my dad)
• Adrienne Stith Butler, Clinical Psychologist (and my sister)
• Thomas Smith, Biochemist
• Jayne Reuben, Pharmacologist

Think back and reach out to scientists that have guided and influenced you!

Andrea Stith with Joe Francisco, a past
president of the American Chemical Society.

Knowing Your History

I'm not sure if it's just me, but when I think of history, I think of books--heavy, thick, and dusty ones at that. Recently, I was reminded upon meeting Dr. Joseph Francisco that you can learn valuable lessons from someone else's personal history...you just need to ask!

There are some online resources, that give the stories of well-regarded scientists. The National Academy of Science has its African American History Program which began over 25 years ago as a staff initiative. It is now expanded to include an online database of African American citizens of the United States who have made significant contributions in science, engineering, or medicine. Here are some biographies from biography.com and here is one for the kids!

But as I found out in my interview featured on PhDforLife with Dr. Gregory Good, a science historian at the Center for the History of Physics, recording the lives and accomplishments of scientists is crucial because it "gives a face to science." You don't have to be a historian to do this--he recommends ways that YOU can get involved in making sure papers and photos are archived, departmental records saved and oral histories recorded. Also see this post if you think you may want to become a historian of science!

Celebrating Excellence

Thanks to everyone who submitted links to excellent black scientists. Specifically, Jennifer Michalowski at Howard Hughes Medical Institute shared the web pages for HHMI Early Career Scientists Russell A. DeBose-Boyd and Tirin Moore, and HHMI Investigator Erich D. Jarvis. I'd also like to share the profiles of HHMI Professors Winston A. Anderson and Isiah M. Warner. Here also is a link to the 2011 class of HHMI Gilliam Fellows.

HHMI affiliated scentists Andreson, Moore, Jarvis, DeBose-Boyd, and Warner. Photo credit: Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology also submitted this roundup of some of the interviews ASBMB Today has done with its Black members (like Namandje Bumpus, Marion Sewer, and Heather Pinkett). In recognition of Black History Month DNLee pays tribute to five urban ecologists that we all should know. Also, check out the HistoryMakers website--their archive is growing by the day!

In his post Always Bet on Black bashir points out that Blacks have achieved many notable "firsts". And indeed there are many excellent Black scientists! But we can't grow complacent now that we've named our first Black U.S. President. We must focus on an achievement that still eludes us-- that of the first Black scientist to win a Nobel prize in physics, chemistry, or medicine. Thanks to Alberto Roca for pointing out that:

An African American from Detroit, Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (political scientist) was the first black man to receive the distinguished Peace Prize (1950) for his work as a United Nations mediator, and Sir William Arthur Lewis, received the 1979 Economics Prize.

I also agree with Alberto that another worthy milestone would be a Black president of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pursuing Excellence and Celebrating Our Passion

Thanks to everyone who submitted links that depict the passion that many African Americans have for science and strive to share. Here is one about Daniell Washington, a marine biologist who is also the CEO of her own foundation dedicated to inspiring young people and educating them about the importance of the ecosystem protecting the marine environment.

Equally passionate about the environment is Dr. Gillian Bowser. A native of Brooklyn, she is now a research scientist in Colorado, leading many efforts to involve students in ecology. She knows that nature itself thrives on diversity and so does science! Here is the story from Terrasig of Jason Dorsette, a scholar, leader, and inspiration!

Also thanks to DNLee for making me aware of a guest post to her blog The Urban Scientist by her good friend and Sister in Science Charlotte Clark, a geologist. Charlotte describes her journey to becoming a scientist. In Brilliant & Beautiful: Black Female Chemists Promote Science Careers Among Women of Color we learn of two entrepreneurial women who made sure they had a way to give back.

Many thanks to the University of Washington chapter of SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) for submitting two posts celebrating Black History month. The first provides an excellent discussions of African Americans in the US, at UW, in higher education, and in STEM. The second is a guest post called "The Scientist of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" by Keon Vereen, an aerospace engineering doctoral student. In it he talks about the influences that have enabled his science journey and relates what he believes the future holds.

Celebrating our Future

We are on a Quest for Excellence. This was the theme of the Symposium on Supporting Underrepresented Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics held on February 28th at the NASA headquarters. In her speech Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) remarked that while every child won’t go to the moon, we need to make sure that each and every one believes they can. Better yet, I believe that if we teach them their History, they will KNOW they can.

Here is a short list of organizations, resources and programs (please comment to add to this list!) that can help make this dream possible:

• National Society of Black Physicists
• National Society of Black Engineers
• FASEB MARC
• HHMI Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study
• Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering
• Quality Education for Minorities
• Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students
• MySciNet

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March is Women's History Month and DiS Carnival #14 will explore the role of women in the enterprise of STEM. It will be hosted at Double X Science - bring science to the woman in you. Emily WIllingham, co-founder of the blog community will serve as editor.

Quest for Excellence

This report can be
downloaded here.

Hi all! I wanted to let you know the release of The Quest for Excellence: Supporting the Academic Success of Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Disciplines. The authors are Ivory A. Toldson, Ph.D. and Lorenzo L. Esters, Ed.D., and the report was published by The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The report was released yesterday at the Symposium on Supporting Underrepresented Minority Males in STEM Disciplines held at NASA headquarters. Here are links to the agenda, a PowerPoint presentation, and the Minority Male STEM Initiative.

Chance Encounters

At a meeting I attended last week, I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Joseph Francisco, William E. Moore Distinguished Professor—Physical Chemistry, at Purdue University. I thought that I would take a quick moment to introduce him to you!

From his website you can see that he is very good at what he does (in addition to his academic accomplishments, he has held many honors including President of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, an Alexandar von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and President of the American Chemical Society). But as he shared his story, I was more struck by how his journey through life and as a scientist was catalyzed.

It was through a chance encounter outside of his house. He is fully aware that had he waited a few more minutes to walk out the door, he may have missed the stranger standing on the sidewalk. We all know that achievement doesn't come without a lot of hard work, but he readily admits that luck and the ability to build and maintain mentoring relationships helped him realize his potential. I feel lucky to have met him and plan not to forget the lesson that his life has taught me!

More on the Center for History of Physics and Becoming a Science Historian

This blog post provides some additional information that resulted from my conversation with Dr. Gregory Good of the Center for the History of Physics.

How does your Center interact with the public?

Usually it is professional historians, science writers, journalists, and producers (NoVA, BBC, American experience) and some scientists that stop by. The Center mostly interacts with the public through the websites. Much of the website content is found through through Google searches—their aim is to have content appear on first age of hits.

Using their content:

For education use content on web is fair use… go ahead. They draw the line at commercial publishers. 23,000 of 30,000 images are online. The low resolution thumbnails are good enough for PowerPoint and blog use. For high res images there is a no charge, but there is a handling fee (to cover staff time).

How do you become a professional science historian?

For his generation his path is typical—he was an undergraduate science major who moved in to the history of science as a doctoral student. Today many first graduate in history and move into history of science. There are pros and cons to both pathways as the older generation of science historians are less used to social/cultural/political issues and the younger generations have a less clear understanding of what science is doing. But they complement each other.

One interesting tidbit is that Brazil is a top producer of physics historians, and as in Europe the disciplinary historians tend to hold their academic appointments in the science departments (rather than in a department of history).

Also, he wants to remind you that it’s not just the people who are important to study. Things of current scientific relevance might have been undervalued in years past. What “old folks” have done is not necessarily throw away science since old data can be useful in various contexts. For example, in April a conference will be held at the AIP building about the preservation of glass plate negatives (American Astronomical Society wants to preserve them).  Another example is that O₂ readings from 2^nd polar year are very useful today (80 years later)… you never know!

Where can you study history of science?

Mostly graduate programs are available… only a few have bachelors programs.  Probably 100 grad schools with history or science can do minor. A few he listed are:

Harvard, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana, Toronto, York University (Canada), and UPenn.

What made you decide to become a historian?

Change in field was quixotic. He was physics major at a liberal arts school. Philosophy classes introduced him to “old dead scientists,” and this struck a chord and he decided to divert his study from astronomy to give history of science a try. He didn’t know the field’s potential, but it resonated and has worked for him.

Where do science historians work?

They work in academia (actually less than 12%... similar to physics overall), government, museums, private research firms (history associates), branches of military (Naval Research Lab and Army Corps of Engineers each have science historians), and many also end up in academic administration.