Women in STEM

Donna J. Nelson is an advocate for scientific accuracy in the media and was one of the science advisors for the television show Breaking Bad. Image: David McNeese (CC BY-SA 3.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009, Dr. Susan Solomon’s work in atmospheric science helped us to understand the depletion of the ozone layer and the creation of the ozone hole in the Antarctic. Image: NOAA. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

September 15 is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month in the United State and today we would like to introduce you to Dr. Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in the world to travel to space and the first Hispanic woman to be the director of the Johnson Space Center. Image: NASA/Bill Stafford. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

In 2010 Dr. Marla Spivak was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship grant which she used to help found the Bee Squad – a group that helps beekeepers and the community in the Twin Cities are of Minnesota to foster healthy bee populations and pollinator landscapes through education and hands-on mentorships including at the state’s largest prison. Image Courtesy of the University of Minnesota. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Astronomy is often considered a visible field of study, even though much of what is observed is outside the visible spectrum. By helping to develop the use of sonification as part of the study of astronomical objects Dr. Wanda Diaz-Merced not only carved out her own place in the field but is also an advocate for others with disabilities being part of the scientific community as well. Image: International Astronomical Union (CC BY 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Jan Davis is a Registered Professional Engineer, holds one patent, and oh yeah – she is also an astronaut. Image: NASA. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Mary Vaux Walcott was known as the Audubon of botany for her illustrations of North American wildflowers. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Not only did Dr. Dorothy Hill do her own meticulous research in many of the fields within the discipline of geology but she also led the charge in standardizing the research and field work done by her colleagues in the Australian scientific community. Image: University of Queensland (CC BY 3.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Following her father’s passion for mathematics and with his encouragement Dr. Marjorie Lee Browne would become one of the first African American women to earn a doctorate in mathematics. Image Courtesy of the University of Michigan. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Fifty years ago, audiences met the crew of the Starship Enterprise when Star Trek premiered. The cast inspired a generation, including physician, dancer, and astronaut Mae Jemison. Image: NASA. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The first woman member of the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada, Sylvia Fedoruk also worked as a professor of oncology and associate member in physics at the University of Saskatchewan before being appointed chancellor of the school in 1986. Image Courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Joining the United States Department of Energy in 2003 Dr. Sunita Satyapal worked in the Fuel Cells Technology Program and was promoted to Director of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Image: US Dept. of Energy. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

When Christy Edwards was in the fifth grade, she watched an IMAX movie on the space shuttle. Sitting in the theater, she decided that she wanted to be a space explorer. Image Via Christine Edwards on LinkedIn. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Before being appointed the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Megan Smith was trying to make the world a better place through science and invention. Image: Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Dawn Wright, known among her peers as Deep Sea Dawn, has traveled to 38 countries and has completed oceanographic fieldwork in geologically active regions including the East Pacific Rise, The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Tonga Trench. Oh, and this Chief Scientist at the Environmental Systems Research Institute is a self-professed Lego Maniac. Image Courtesy of ESRI. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The first African American to earn a degree in marine science from Texas A&M, Dr. Ashanti Johnson has loved the ocean since and early age. Continuing her studies at Texas A&M University she became the first and only to date African American to earn a doctorate in chemical oceanography. Image: Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

As a professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Molly Stevens is also the Research Director for Biomedical Material Sciences in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College. Image: James Duncan Davidson (CC BY-NC 2.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The first woman to earn a degree from the New York College of Pharmacy, Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi would go on to change the lives of women both as a doctor and educator. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Sylvia Earle, dubbed, “Her Deepness” by The New Yorker, has experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and nonprofit organizations. But all her work has led her to focus on preserving the world’s oceans. Image: NOAA. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

To continue her efforts in making the world a safer place Dr. Rita Colwell founded CosmosID, a genomic big data company that is focused on the rapid identification of microorganisms for infectious disease diagnostics, food safety inspections, pharmaceutical discovery, public health surveillance, and microbiome analysis for health and wellness. Image: The National Science Foundation. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Alyson McGregor examines how sex and gender differences impact emergency medical care and the overall health of women and she works on communicating these differences to medical professionals and the public. Image Via LinkedIn. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal was the first scientist to clone HIV, helping lead to blood tests and better treatments for the virus. She says that her main motivation “is simply the satisfaction of making discoveries, finding things out that no one knew before.” Image: National Cancer Institute. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha was one of the key individuals to expose lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan and bring attention to the contamination in the water supply. Image: Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

In 1843, photographer and botanist Anna Atkins became the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographs. Image: Wikipedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Chung-Pei Ma has helped discover two of the largest black holes found to date and is also a classical violinist that played with the Youth Symphony in Taiwan at age 8 and still enjoys playing as a hobby. Image Courtesy of UC Berkeley. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Antonia Novello was appointed Surgeon General of the United States in 1990, becoming the first woman and first Hispanic to serve in that role. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

A food scientist with a positive worldwide public health impact, Dr. Virginia Holsinger‘s work on food security issues and dairy product research impacted many lives throughout her 41 year career at the United States Department of Agriculture. Image: USDA. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The recipient of the 2008 Turing Award, Dr. Barbara Liskov is an Institute Professor and member of the Programming Methodology group at MIT. Image: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY-SA 3.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Isabel Morgan's work was a critical step in the journey toward a killed-virus polio vaccine. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Today we want to tell you about aviator turned conservationist Ila Fox Loetscher. Image Courtesy of Sea Turtle Inc. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Margaret Reed Lewis earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Goucher College in 1901 and spent the next few years studying for a graduate degree. She never quite achieved that goal but made great strides in our understanding of cells and tissues during her lifetime. Image: Smithsonian Institution Archives. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Erna Hoover has been quoted as saying that, “when I was hired the glass ceiling was somewhere between the basement and the sub-basement.” But that didn’t stop her from developing a program that would change the way telephone systems operated and being awarded one of the first patents for computer software. Image Courtesy of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

An advocate for women in STEM fields, Natalie Panek is a program advisor and mentor for Cybermentor, an online mentoring program for girls in grades 6 to 12 in Alberta, Canada along with being a systems engineer for space robots at MDA Space. Image Courtesy of @nmpanek on Instagram. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The inspiration for the novel Contact and its subsequent film, Dr. Jill Tarter has spent over 35 years searching the vast universe for evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence. Image: Victor R. Ruiz (CC BY 2.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Fabiola Gianotti has been a leader at CERN since the 1990's, and is serving as their Director-General until 2025. Image: ATLAS Experiment at CERN (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

A professor of mathematics at Stanford University, Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani was one of the leading researchers in the field of complex geodesics and their closures in moduli space. Image: Maryeraud9/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

An explorer and treasure hunter at heart, Sue Hendrickson has been a diver, amber miner, paleontologist, and conservationist just to name a few of her career's explorations. You may have heard of her namesake, a T-Rex named Sue. Image Courtesy of the Field Museum. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The first woman to be selected by the Association for Advancement of Invention and Innovations as the National Inventor of the year, Barbara Askins was a chemist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Image: NASA/Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

The first American women to earn a degree in dentistry had to forge her own path to achieve this goal. Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor would in turn fight for the rights of other women to achieve their dreams. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Engineer Mary Golda Ross once offered this advice: “To function efficiently in today’s world, you need math. The world is so technical, if you plan to work in it, a math background will let you go farther and faster.” Image via The Museum of Women Pilots. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Founder of the Frontier Nursing Service, a program credited with lowering the infant mortality rate in Leslie County, Kentucky from one of the highest in the nation to below the national average Mary Carson Breckinridge turned her own personal tragedy into a lasting legacy that still serves southeastern Kentucky with four rural health clinics, a hospital, and a home health agency. Image via the National Library of Medicine. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Inspired at an early age to become a chemist, Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff’s scientific work in molecular biology has fundamentally changed the treatment of diabetes. Image: Anthony L. Komaroff (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

August 6th marks the anniversary of the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory that deployed the rover Curiosity onto the surface of the red planet. Because of the thin atmosphere present, the design of the landing system had to rely on a combination of rockets and a parachute. The team that designed the supersonic parachute used on this mission was led by Dr. Anita Sengupta. Image Via Dr. Anita Sengupta (Facebook) Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

With research contributions in the areas of multi-spectral research on x-ray and gamma ray sources, space-borne instrumentation, and observational and experimental astrophysics Dr. France A. Córdova has been a leader in both academia and public service in the sciences since being inspired by the moon landings. Image: National Science Foundation. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

While much of Dr. Eleanor Baum’s career has been in academia. she also has worked in the aerospace engineering and has been a consultant involved with the practical side of other electrical engineering pursuits as well. Image Courtesy of Cooper Union Alumni Association. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Rosalind Fox says that working at John Deere provides her with a sense of pride because her work has a higher purpose in that the company’s efforts support the growing global demand for food, shelter and roads. Image via LinkedIn. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Dr. Edith Widder is an oceanographer, bioluminescence expert, a certified scientific research pilot for Atmospheric Diving Systems, and an inventor. Image: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

In her first year of working at the New York City’s Department of Health diagnostic laboratory, Dr. Anna Wessels Williams would change the world. Image: Changing the Face of Medicine. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Today meet the woman who invented the thread that is used to make Kevlar, Stephanie Kwolek. Image: Chemical Heritage Foundation (CC BY-SA 3.0). Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

Becoming one of MIT’s youngest full professors at the age of 35, Jackie Yi-Ru Ying is one of the world’s leading experts on nanotechnology. Image via NanoBio Lab. Sources and additional reading are available at https://introductionsnecessary.com Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms