In honor of Earth Day on Tuesday April 22, please join us in watching the 8-minute video by Severn Cullis-Suzuki who was the “virtual speaker” at the 25th Women in Science Day on March 19, 2009. We encourage you to reflect on the meaning of the stunning speech by a planetary thinker, a concerned 12-year old girl, at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992.
I am only a child she said, yet I know that you [grown ups] don’t know how to fix the things that are being broken in our planet. “You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer. You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream. You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct.” “If you don’t know how to fix it — please stop breaking it” she pleaded.
“I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact, 30 million species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil — borders and governments will never change that.”
At the 24th Women in Science Day, we honored the life and work of Rachel Carson, a poet and scientist, whose words inspired millions to cherish the beauty of nature. ”Those who dwell in the beauty and mysteries of the earth are never alone” wrote Carson and her words are true today. She admired the splendid beauty of the sea because it was she said a place where those who love knowledge can strive to know and those who perceive truth can lead others to find it.
What, she asked, "is the meaning of so tiny a being as the transparent wisp of protoplasm that is a sea lace...?"
“Perhaps we cannot plumb its meaning, but we can come to marvel at its place in the universe and lend a caring hand to our lands and waters that it — and a thousand other creatures — might flourish.”
March 31, 2009
We were pleased to present the 25th Women in Science Day at OSU on March 19. It was a journey of many weeks getting ready for the day. But seeing the enthusiasm of girls returning from workshops and reading their comments gives us a return for our efforts, in full measure. The Women in Science Day program is about gender affirmation and learning by example. We know that attending workshops led by women can change the mental picture a girl has of a scientist. Our program aims to open doors, tear down walls, eradicate stereotypes, and encourage girls toward the full flowering of those talents, skills and ingenuity for which this nation has long been admired.
Around the country and around the world more Women in Science Day programs are needed — to spread the news that science is useful and learning is fun. Beyond the ivory tower and high-tech research environments a whole host of women, young girls to older women, await opportunities to be trained or retrained to participate fully in the scientific and technological workforce. We hope Women in Science Day is helping change perceptions not only in the girls attending but in their families and communities as well. By “Honoring Women in Science through History” we try to encourage awareness and recognition of those contributions which women have always made to the progress of science.
The pursuit of gender equity and full participation of women in science, technology and medicine must go on. After 25 years of local programs we are ready to propagate the Women in Science Day program concept at the state, national and international levels. Will you join us in that effort?
Women in Science Day is March 19, 2009 - Registration is closed
Women in Science Day 2009: “Honoring Women in Science through History”
The 25th Women in Science Day will be held on Thursday, March 19, at the Ohio State University. Over 300 girls and teachers in gifted and talented programs from 19 school districts from around Ohio are expected to attend this highly anticipated event. Participants can choose from 19 unique workshops offered by faculty and staff including everything from human and veterinary medicine, aquatic ecology, chemical experiments, entomology and plant pathology. This year’s participants come from the following counties: Ashland, Butler, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Knox, Lake, Logan, Lorain, Marion, Medina, Montgomery, Perry, Portage, Van Wert, and Wayne.
The lunch program will feature an 8-minute video presentation of a speech by Severn Suzuki at the UN Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. This will be followed by awards and recognition to winners of the 2009 Essay & Picture Contest honoring women in science. The Honorary Chair, Dr. Kathy Sullivan, will deliver the awards to winners at noon at Drake Union, 1849 Cannon Drive. We thank all presenters, assistants, volunteers, sponsors and cosponsors and all who have made this program possible, for 25 years.
Raquel Diaz-Sprague, Executive Director
AWISCO/Women in Science Day Program
