This just in: We looked like little girls.
by Emily Willingham
The International Day of the Girl Child is today, October 11. It’s a UN-established day to promote girls’ rights and highlight gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys. Among those inequalities is an imbalance of female representation in science, even though before they become women, girls seem to be just as interested in science as boys.
About a year ago, we posted a collage on our Double X Science Facebook page of some male scientists as boys. Not surprisingly, some of our followers immediately noted the dissonance of having a collage only of boys on a page called “Double X Science.” To remedy that somewhat, we collected a set of images of women scientists as girls. Today, the International Day of the Girl Child, seems like the perfect day to show you what girls who will grow up to be scientists can look like. Our completely unscientific collection suggests that there might be a slight correlation between making goofy faces and growing up to be a scientist. Further submissions welcome; please email images with your information to [email protected].
Without further ado, in order of receipt …
Some Girls Who Grew Up To Be Scientists
Rachael French, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, San José State University
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Tina Cairns. From her Twitter profile: “Scientist, sports fan, geek, wife, mom, dog lover. I don’t have herpes but I’m working on it.”
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Mariana Delfino-Machín, PhD
At this age, this developmental biologist would experiment on ants (by removing limbs) and also keenly protected leatherback turtle nests at the beach.
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Hope Jahren, PhD
Prof. Hope Jahren at age 9 photographed with juvenile Canis familiaris
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Karen James, PhD
Says Karen, a geneticist: “Actually (I was) sort of was a scientist all along… there are stories of unbridled hypothesizing at an early age.”
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Jessica Morrison, PhD (with her mom)
Science writer extraordinaire, life explorer
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Mary Mangan, PhD
President, OpenHelix LLC
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Judy Stone, MD
Blogger, Scientific American Blog Network, “Molecules to Medicine”
Author, “Conducting Clinical Research: A Practical Guide for
Physicians, Nurses, Study Coordinators, and Investigators”
www.conductingclinicalresearch.com
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Suzanne Kennedy, PhD
microbiologist/molecular biologist
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Lali DeRosier, Science Teacher. Grew up to earn a BA in Biology and an MA in Science Education and teach Biology to HS kids.
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Laurie Kauffman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, Oklahoma City University
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Catherine Anderson, PhD, a.k.a., GeneGeek
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Dr. Janda Whitaker
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Michele Arduengo, PhD, ELS
Science and Medical Writer
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Jeanne Garbarino, PhD
Director of Science Outreach at Rockefeller University, Double X Science Editor
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Emily Willingham, PhD
Developmental biologist, science writer, DXS editor
I think a lot about what drove me, and what experiences lured me to science. I was always interested in how stuff worked (above it was a clown on a spring I was trying to assess). I think I would have liked engineering if I had been exposed to that. But I ultimately connected with biology because of the tide pools at the beach. I loved the barnacles, starfish, crabs, shrimp, seaweeds, all of it. Just my size, in a little teeny pool, a whole world of stuff was going on. And it might change with the next high tide.
Gosh, I still love science. For exactly the same reason. Every day the literature washes something new into the pool.
How wonderful to see so many of my friends and colleagues here. Thank you, Emily, and all who provided pictures. I suspect that our daughter will be joining you in some capacity.
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