Women in Science

MY WORK for WOMEN in SCIENCE

I have been active in Women in Science activities for many, many years. In 1979, I gave the keynote address, entitled "Women in Mathematics – Mathematics for Women," to the Women's Week Convocation, sponsored by the National Organization for Women, at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg, SC. In 1974, I gave the keynote address entitled "Questions Posed by Progress in the Sciences in the Remainder of the Twentieth Century," in Spanish, to the Second Hemispherical Conference on Legislation on Medicine and Nursing of the CIE/FIFN in Bogotá, Colombia. That talk emphasized gender equity issues arising from the then new, genetic engineering field. I am a member of the Women in Science Section of the New York Academy of Science and the Women in Science Society at St. John's Univ.

GRANTS

• NSF Gender Equity, 2000

Recently, Profs. Anne Dranginis of the St. John's University Biology Dept. and Elise Megehee of the St. John's University Chemistry Dept. and I submitted a large ($880,000) grant proposal to the Women in Science Initiative within the Gender Equity Program of the Education and Human Resources Directorate of the National Science Foundation. The proposal is entitled "Fixing the Leaky Science Pipeline: Group Science Fair Projects for Ninth Grade Girls in a Tri-State Area." Faculty Associates on the grant proposal are Profs. Fredericka Bell-Berti (Speech), Deborah Saldana (Education), and Bill Nieter (Environmental Studies). This three-year program, described below, will surely make important changes in the lives of young women who might otherwise be tracked away from Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology. A summary follows.

Summary of NSF Gender Equity Proposal:

"Fixing the Leaky Science Pipeline: Group Science Fair Projects for Ninth Grade Girls in a Tri-State Area."

This three-year program seeks to make SMET careers an appealing reality for young high school girls, and, thereby, keep them in the "science pipeline" through their high school years. The girls' motivation and self-confidence will be enhanced through their completion of group research projects resulting from their membership in Science Clubs for Girls directed by high school science and mathematics teachers selected for this project. Students' completed projects will be entered into a Science Fair hosted by the St. John’s University Women in Science Program. Each year, 60 science and mathematics teachers in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area will participate in an in-residence Summer Institute and a variety of academic year program activities designed to teach them how to market SMET toward their female students. The teachers will be organized into regional site groups during the Summer Institute. Site group identification will continue during the academic year, fostering on-going instruction, support and feedback. Academic year electronic -mentoring and video-conference meetings between participants and project staff will focus direction and facilitate problem solving. Participating teachers' students will be electronically mentored through the same electronic bulletin board. Regional site groups will continue beyond the teachers' program participation, providing leadership in gender equity.

end of proposal.

• U.S. Dept. of Education Grant, (thanks to ex-Rep. Rick Lazio, R-NY)

In May, 2000, Profs. Anne Dranginis and Elise Megehee, along with myself and Prof. Frank Cantelmo of the St. John's Univ. Dept. of Biological Sciences as Faculty Associates, received a grant from the U. S. Dept. of Education for funds to run a Summer Camp for Ninth Grade Girls and Boys in Suffolk County, NY, at the Oakdale campus of St. John's University. The week-long day camp will feature hands-on science as well as discussions with accomplished women scientists on Long Island.  The girls and boys, chosen from high schools in western Suffolk County, will collect water samples from nearby ecological sites and analyze them in the laboratories at the St. John's Univ. Queens campus. The young students will make formal reports, adorned with photographs taken during the week's proceedings, at a presentation for their parents on the last day of the Camp. Participating students will be electronically mentored through the an electronic bulletin board on the Internet for the ensuing year.

• Long Island Fund for Women and Girls

In June, 2000, Dr. Anne Dranginis, Dr. Elise Megehee, and myself, submitted a grant proposal to the Long Island Fund for Women and Girls in the name of the St. John's University Center for the Advancement of Science Education which will fund the administration of an electronic mentoring web site for the women and girls on Long Island who are interested in careers and study in Science, Mathematics, Engineerig and Technology.