Celebrating women in astronomy

BY MATHIEU ISIDRO (SKAO)

11 February marked International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The event kicked off a number of public outreach events, talks and activities around the world as part of a month-long celebration of Women in Astronomy coordinated by the IAU’s Office for Astronomy Outreach.

Diversity and inclusion are core values of the SKAO and the Observatory is keen to become an employer of choice for women in STEM, it was therefore natural we’d support this initiative!

The communications team of the Observatory worked on a number of resources, including this video interview with two of our astronomers, Dr Shari Breen and Dr Philippa Hartley, answering frequently asked questions from the public. (View the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IveYEG0VGMw) We also interviewed Dr Chiara Ferrari, SKA-France Director, for this issue of the SKA magazine.

Actions weren’t limited to public communication, and we also announced a lineup of speakers for the Observatory’s internal seminar series over the coming year, covering topics such as diversity and business strategy, astronomy’s role in fostering cultural relations, recent research, engineering, and computing.

Here are a few highlights from the IAU’s activities:

• Daily content highlighting the contributions of women in astronomy across the decades, including this short video about pioneering radio astronomer Ruby Payne Scott: https://twitter.com/IAU_Outreach/status/1498991600273440784

• A series of weekly “Meet the IAU astronomers” interviews between women in astronomy around the world, including Dr Shirin Haque, IAU National Outreach Coordinator from Trinidad and Tobago, interviewing Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, discoverer of the first pulsar: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqscU0F-NkNTNr6aMSpgzBh_tfd_uCnyD

• A “draw an astronomer” contest for children 12 and under around the world, who had their artworks shared by the IAU: https://twitter.com/IAU_Outreach/status/1497225033009217537

SKAO’s Dr Shari Breen and Dr Philippa Hartley answer frequently asked questions about SKA science.