Hi everyone! It has been a pretty crazy summer here at the Seattle pod. Lots of events, lots of actions, and lots of writing!
Hopefully you all had a chance to check out some of our public or private salon series events, join us at our socials, come to a member meeting, or join us supporting local and national social and political issues that concern our members. If not, here is an overview of what we have been up to.
We kicked off the summer with a picnic social with members and friends to celebrate the official launch of 500 Women Scientists.
Next, we invited Dr. Sapna Cheryan to speak at our first summer salon event held at Ada's Technical Books and Cafe. In her presentation titled, Who Belongs? Cultural Stereotypes Influence Gender Disparities in Science and Technology, Dr. Cheryan discussed gender disparities in computer science and the impact of inaccurate stereotypes that deter women from entering the field.
Following this event, our teams hosted more events for members and for the public.
Our Science Policy Team's summer salon event, Civics for Scientists, helped educate our members about how we can get involved in policy and how we can bring our scientific expertise into the policy realm.
Our Science Literacy Team has also been hard at work leading workshops for local summer day camps and hosting the summer salon event, Dealing With Controversy, at Ada's Technical Books.There, Joy DeLyria discussed how to have productive conversations about controversial science topics.
Our Inclusivity & Diversity Team held a summer salon event for pod members titled, Science, Intersectionality, and Allyship. This event focused on how to be a better ally, what intersectionality means for scientists and feminists, and explore the nature of privilege. The team also held an Unloading and Problem-solving Social to talk about the challenges of misogyny in STEM.
SEA500WS also got involved in the issues that matter to our members:
We worked with Postdocs United to co-host, Making Science Work for All, where we got a chance to learn from our research colleagues about their experiences in organized labor as they work to improve the working conditions of graduate students, postdocs, and adjunct faculty.
Members also organized to help support I-940 De-Escalate Washington, gathering signatures at Bumbershoot. This initiative requires de-escalation, mental health, and first aid training for our local police; a change in standards for use of deadly force; and would add a “good faith” standard and independent investigation. We intend to continue to support De-Escalate through future member-led activities.
Our members were also involved in bringing our expertise to the public. SEA500WS submitted a written comment to the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission to stress the importance of Puget Sound Energy transitioning completely away from coal.
Furthermore, pod founder, Sarah Myhre, now has a weekly column in The Stranger on climate change communication. Her writing touches upon many subjects, including the summer heat wave and climate attribution and the need for honesty and integrity in our local climate conversations.
We hope you all had a great summer and look forward to seeing you all this autumn!