In March of 2018, the Library's Twitter account (@CSHLLibrary) tweeted daily in honor of a different groundbreaking or trailblazing woman in various STEM fields.
Those tweets are assembled below, with links to the original tweets so you can see what others had to say and join in the conversation as well.
March 1st
Cecilia Payne-Gaposhkin discovered the composition of stars, revealing Hydrogen as the most abundant element in the universe. Her thesis was called the "most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy," & Radcliffe College created astronomy dept to grant her PhD. #WomeninSTEM
March 2nd
Peggy Whitson, a biochemist with a Ph.D. from Rice University, has spent 665 days in space-more than any other American and any other woman, worldwide. She was 1st woman to command the ISS (and did it twice), and holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman (10) #WomeninSTEM
March 3rd
Mae Jemison, the 1st African American woman in space, attended Stanford at 16 for chemical engineering, became a doctor, AND served 2.5 years in the @PeaceCorps. As if that weren't enough, she also studied dance and was the first astronaut to appear in Star Trek. #WomeninSTEM
March 4th
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, making 48 orbits of Earth aboard Vostok 6. Originally a textile worker, the 26 year old Valentina was selected to be a cosmonaut in part due to her amateur parachuting hobby. #WomeninSTEM
March 5th
Hélène Langevin-Joliot is a former nuclear physicist who studied nuclear structure, and serves on the French gov't advisory committee promoting #WomeninSTEM. She is also a descendant of 4 Nobel laureates – granddaughter of Marie & Pierre Curie, and daughter of the Joliot-Curies.
March 6th
Susan Lindquist held a biology PhD from Harvard, was Director of @WhiteheadInst, and served on the @CSHL Board of Trustees from 2002-2005. Through her groundbreaking work on protein folding, she was an early proponent of non-genetic inheritance through proteins @WomeninSTEM
March 7th
While a 23-year-old grad student in 1915, Alice Ball developed the first treatment for leprosy that was both successful and palatable, in less than a year. With degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy, she passed away at 24 before finishing her grad school. #Women in STEM
March 8th
Agnes Arber studied plant morphology and history&philosophy of botany. She was 1st female botanist (& only 3rd woman ever) elected to the Royal Soc, & 1st to get Linnean Society Gold Medal. After Newnham College closed its lab space for women, she made one at home. #WomeninSTEM
March 9th
Biruté Mary Galdikas @DrBirute has been studying, rehabilitating, and conserving habitats of orangutans on Borneo for over 40 yrs, the longest continuous mammal study ever. 1 of the 3 "Trimates", she founded the Orangutan Foundation International @OFIOffice in 1985. #WomeninSTEM
March 10th
Biophysicist, inventor, solar power pioneer, & "Sun Queen" Maria Telkes held a PhD in physical chemistry & was a research assistant @MIT. She developed a solar-powered salt water distiller, an inexpensive solar oven, & the first solar home heating system, and more. #WomeninSTEM
March 11th
Jewel Plummer Cobb earned a PhD in cell physiology from @NYU in 1950. She had a distinguished career in oncology, & as President of @CSUF was first African American woman to head a major university in western US. 1993 Lifetime Achievement Award from @theNASciences #WomeninSTEM
March 12th
Today's #WomeninSTEM is biochemist-oncologist-artist-polyglot Maud Menten, PhD. You likely know her enzyme kinetics equations (co-authored with Michaelis). She was 1 of the 1st women in Canada to earn an MD. Developed azo dye histology staining & was a professor at @PittTweet
March 13th
Mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya's 1st exposure to math was her nursery wallpaper–her dad's calculus notes! Self-taught trig @ 14 to understand optics, PhD from @uniGoettingen. 1st woman professor in Europe @Sotckholm_Uni after years unemployable bec. of her gender. #WomeninSTEM
March 14th
Carol Greider @CWGreider discovered telomerase while a grad student w Elizabeth Blackburn @UCBerkeley. Came to @CSHL for postdoc & stayed as faculty, continuing telomerase research, now Prof @JohnsHopkins. Won @LaskerFDN, grant rejected same day she won @NobelPrize! #WomeninSTEM
March 15th
Martha Chase, as a research assistant at age 24 right here @CSHL, was co-author of 1 of biology's most famous experiments. The Hershey-Chase Blender Experiment proved that DNA, not protein, was the genetic material. She later received a microbiology PhD from @USC #WomeninSTEM
March 16th
Kono Yasui, botanist, cytologist, $more. 1st Japanese woman published in either a Japanese or foreign journal. PhD (from @UTokyo_News_en) on strength of her publications without enrolling - 1st Japanese woman science PhD. Founded journal Cytologia @japanmendel1984 #WomeninSTEM
March 17th
Veronica Rodrigues, neuro/developmental/microbiologist, both in Nairobi & educated in Dublin and Mumbai. Offered permanent faculty position by @TIFRScience while still a grad student there. Pioneer of chemosensory bio in Drosophila olfaction and olfactory development #WomeninSTEM
March 18th
Lynn Margulis, evolutionary biologist & scientific rebel, doggedly promoted Endosymbiosis (theory that certain organelles arose from captured bacteria). Though her paper was rejected 15 times, she persisted. PhD from @UCBerkeley, masters from @UWMadison & @UChicago #WomeninSTEM
March 19th
Chemist Betty Harris recevied her BS at 19 from @SouthernU_BR, taught for a decade, then earned a PhD from @UNM. Created a field test for presence of TATB (explosive) while at @LosAlamosNatLab & worked with the Girl Scouts @girlscouts to develop a chemistrty badge #WomeninSTEM
March 20th
Asima Chatterjee earned her doctorate in organic chemistry from @CalcuttaUniv, first remale D.SC from an Indian university. Founded dept of chemistry @ Lady Brabourne College. Phytomedicine pioneed searched for anti-malarials and anti-epileptics #WomeninSTEM
March 21st
Janaki Ammal, botanist/ cytologist/ geneticist/ taxonomist/ phytogeographer/ ethnobotanist/ environmental activist, 1st Indian woman botanist, ~1st botany PhD to a woman in USA (from @UMich). Landmark pub "Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants," and much more #WomeninSTEM
March 22nd
Hilde Mangold, embryologist, upended developmental biology with her meticulous thesis work by uncovering embryonic induction & the region of embryos now known as the Spemann-Mangold Organizer. She died before seeing her work result in a 1935 Nobel Prize to Spemann #WomeninSTEM
March 23rd
Chien-Shiung Wu, experimental & nuclear physicist, expert in beta decay. Worked on Manhattan Project. Her 'Wu experiment' disproved Law of Conservation of Parity, which won @NobelPrize for her collaborators but not her. Longstanding Professor @Colombia University #WomeninSTEM
March 24th
Rosa Beddington was a groundbreaking English embryologist studying gastrulation and axial patterning. DPhil from Brasenose College in 1981. Demonstrated mammalian node = Spemann-Mangold Organizer, & foundational early contributions to embryonic stem cell manipulation #WomeninSTEM
March 26th
Stephanie Kwolek was a chemist at DuPont for over 40 years and a chemistry tutor. She invented Kevlar while looking for a more lightweight tire fiber. Also created the Nylon Rope Trick, in which you can create a nylon rope before your eyes by combining 2 solutions. #WomeninSTEM
March 27th
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist, plant ecologist, Distinguished Teaching Professor at @sunyesf, & member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation @c_p_n. She is a vocal proponent of Traditional Ecological Knowledge & increasing access to enviro-sci education for Native peoples #WomeninSTEM
March 28th
Emmy Noether was a German mathematician who won wide acclaim for foundational contributions to algebra & theoretical physics. Despite PhD in 1907, worked for many years w/o title or pay, & could only teach as a man's assistant due to gender&religious discrimination. #WomeninSTEM
March 29th
English chemist Martha Whiteley earned a D.Sc . 1902 from Royal College of Science. Pivotal in securing admission of women to the Chemical Society of London & raising awareness of female research chemists. Worked on development of Mustard Gas in WWI #WomeninSTEM
March 30th
Gail Martin, developmental biologist. Mol. Bio. PhD in 1971 @UCBerkeley, professor emerita @UCSF. Developed method to culture pluripotent stem cells from tumors, then embryos. Coined term "embryonic stem cells." Showed importance of FGF signaling during development #WomeninSTEM
March 31st
Marine conservation biologist Idelisa Bonnelly founded Institute for Marine Biology (CIBIMA) & Dominican Foundation for Marine Research (FUNDEMAR). Founded 1st institute to study bio in Dominican Republic & 1st humpback whale sanctuary,@UNESCO Marie Curie Medal #WomeninSTEM
