Introductions Necessary

Donna J. Nelson

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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: ...

Susan Solomon

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Ellen Ochoa

15 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Hispan...

Marla Spivak

14 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 beekeep...

Wanda Diaz-Merced

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

Jan Davis

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Jan Davis is a Registered Professional Engineer, holds one patent, and oh yeah – she is also an astronaut. Image: NASA. Sources and additional...

Mary Vaux Walcott

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Vaux Walcott was known as the Audubon of botany for her illustrations of North American wildflowers. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Sources and addi...

Dorothy Hill

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 sta...

Marjorie Lee Browne

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Following her father’s passion for mathematics and with his encouragement Dr. Marjorie Lee Browne would become one of the first African American wom...

Mae Jemison

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fifty years ago, audiences met the crew of the Starship Enterprise when Star Trek premiered. The cast inspired a generation, including physician, danc...

Sylvia Fedoruk

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 phy...

Sunita Satyapal

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Christy Edwards

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Megan Smith

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Dawn J. Wright

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Dawn Wright, known among her peers as Deep Sea Dawn, has traveled to 38 countries and has completed oceanographic fieldwork in geologically active...

Ashanti Johnson

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Molly Stevens

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Molly Stevens is also the Research Director for Biomedical Material Sciences in ...

Mary Putnam Jacobi

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 doct...

Sylvia Earle

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sylvia Earle, dubbed, “Her Deepness” by The New Yorker, has experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corpor...

Rita Colwell

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Alyson McGregor

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Alyson McGregor examines how sex and gender differences impact emergency medical care and the overall health of women and she works on communicati...

Flossie Wong-Staal

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

Mona Hanna-Attisha

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 wate...

Anna Atkins

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1843, photographer and botanist Anna Atkins became the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographs. Image: Wikipedia. Sources and...

Chung-Pei Ma

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Symphon...

Antonia Novello

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. Im...

Virginia Holsinger

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A food scientist with a positive worldwide public health impact, Dr. Virginia Holsinger‘s work on food security issues and dairy product research im...

Barbara Liskov

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The recipient of the 2008 Turing Award, Dr. Barbara Liskov is an Institute Professor and member of the Programming Methodology group at MIT. Image: ...

Isabel Morgan

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Isabel Morgan's work was a critical step in the journey toward a killed-virus polio vaccine. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are av...

Ila Fox Loetscher

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today we want to tell you about aviator turned conservationist Ila Fox Loetscher. Image Courtesy of Sea Turtle Inc. Sources and additional reading a...

Margaret Reed Lewis

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Erna Schneider Hoover

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Natalie Panek

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Jill Tarter

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ext...

Fabiola Gianotti

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Maryam Mirzakhani

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A professor of mathematics at Stanford University, Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani was one of the leading researchers in the field of complex geodesics and thei...

Sue Hendrickson

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Barbara Askins

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The first woman to be selected by the Association for Advancement of Invention and Innovations as the National Inventor of the year, Barbara Askins wa...

Lucy Hobbs Taylor

10 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Mary Golda Ross

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 pla...

Mary Carson Breckinridge

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Founder of the Frontier Nursing Service, a program credited with lowering the infant mortality rate in Leslie County, Kentucky from one of the highest...

Lydia Villa-Komaroff

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Inspired at an early age to become a chemist, Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff’s scientific work in molecular biology has fundamentally changed the treatmen...

Anita Sengupta

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

August 6th marks the anniversary of the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory that deployed the rover Curiosity onto the surface of the re...

France A. Córdova

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With research contributions in the areas of multi-spectral research on x-ray and gamma ray sources, space-borne instrumentation, and observational and...

Eleanor Baum

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 wi...

Rosalind Fox

03 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Edith Widder

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Edith Widder is an oceanographer, bioluminescence expert, a certified scientific research pilot for Atmospheric Diving Systems, and an inventor. ...

Anna Wessels Williams

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. I...

Stephanie Kwolek

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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). Sour...

Jackie Yi-Ru Ying

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Betty Harris

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Betty Harris has been a teacher and researcher since earning her BS in chemistry at the age of 19. Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sourc...

Beatrix Potter

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before she was enthralling children with tales of a mischievous rabbit Beatrix Potter was delving deep into the world of mycology. Image: Wikimedia. ...

Ruth E. Dayhoff

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ruth E Dayhoff is a licensed physician, a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics, and the daughter of Dr. Margaret Dayhoff. Image: Wikimedia (CC BY-S...

Janna Levin

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many people love to marvel at the beauty of the cosmos that is observable with our eyes – but what about the beauty that is observable with our ears...

Georgeanna Seegar Jones

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

July 25th marks the birth of the first child conceived using in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to couple in England. The first American child born by IV...

Frances Oldham Kelsey

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bringing the same rigorous standards used in high quality academic research institutions to the FDA Dr. Frances Kelsey stopped the drug thalidomide fr...

Eileen Collins

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eileen Collins is one of only two women to ever command a space shuttle mission. Image: NASA. Sources and additional reading are available at https:...

Lindley Winslow

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the 2016 film Ghostbusters, much of the sets from Dr. Erin Gilbert’s lecture equations to Dr. Jillian Holtzmann’s lab equipment were the real d...

Margaret Hamilton

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

July 21st marks the anniversary of man first stepping on the moon and the software that made it possible was created by a team led by Margaret Hamilto...

Frances “Poppy” Northcutt

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Making the decision to major in mathematics in college was two-fold for Frances “Poppy” Montgomery first she had an aptitude for the subject, but ...

Carolyn Porco

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On July 19, 2013, the Cassini spacecraft turned to take an image of much of our solar system that included Saturn, Mars, Venus, and the Earth. This h...

Katalin Karikó

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Kariko spent most of her career working in the much-maligned field of RNA research – which was finally brought into the spotlight when it was us...

Maya Warren

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Part of the Amazing Race winning team, the Sweet Scientists, Dr. Maya Warren was honored to represent women in science and to inspire young people to ...

Patricia Bath

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the first African American woman to be granted a patent for a medical purpose Dr. Patricia Bath has dedicated her career to protecting and improvin...

Joceyln Bell Burnell

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Discovering pulsars, a type of neutron star, Dr. Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, changed the way we understood the death of massive stars. That instead of the s...

Florence Bascom

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Florence Bascom worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and founded the geology program at Bryn Mawr College. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additi...

Sheila Widnall

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Sheila Widnall spent the majority of her career balancing research, teaching, and public service. She was the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force and...

Mildred Cohn

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009, Dr. Mildred Cohn has also been awarded the National Medal of Science. Image: Science History Instit...

Joanna Haigh

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since 2014 Dr. Joanna Haigh has been the co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College. Image: Carbon Brief (CC BY-SA ...

Florence B. Seibert

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stricken by polio at the age of three, Dr. Florence Seibert turned to academics because she couldn’t go out and dance and play like other children. ...

Mildred Dresselhaus

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, known as the Queen of Carbon Chemistry, has been a trailblazer since her early days. Image: Pete Souza/US White House Sourc...

Chiaki Mukai

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Chiaki Mukai was already an established cardiac surgeon when she became the first Japanese woman to go to space. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and a...

Nettie Stevens

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Nettie Stevens’ career as a geneticist wasn’t very long, lasting only about 11 years, but in that short time she was able to make huge strides...

Ayah Bdeir

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Engineer, artist, and inventor Ayah Bdeir has focused her career on democratizing hardware to make education and innovation more accessible. Image: W...

Hertha Ayrton

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When it was suggested that Marie Curie’s husband had actually been the one to discover the element radium Hertha Ayrton, a friend and colleague, qui...

Mary Edwards Walker

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Walker trained as a surgeon, volunteered for the Union Army in the Civil War, and is the only woman to have been awarded the Congressional Medal ...

Christine Darden

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Christine Darden has said of her success as an engineer at NASA, "I was able to stand on the shoulders of those women who came before me, and wome...

Dorothy Horstmann

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It was believed that the polio virus directly attacked the central nervous system until Dr. Dorothy Horstmann made a groundbreaking discovery about th...

Shirley Ann Jackson

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On July 1st, 1999 Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson became president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and since then she has transformed the oldest technica...

Marianne North

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As an unmarried woman in Victorian England, Marianne North rejected the roles of wife and homemaker. She also rejected the conventions that biological...

Jeanette Brown

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Organic medicinal chemist Jeanette Brown is also a historian, author, and advocate for increasing diversity in science. Image: Science History Instit...

Pamela Silver

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Pamela Silver is one of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology – an interdisciplinary combination of biology and engineering. ...

Barbara Rothbaum

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Barbara Rothbaum is a pioneer in the use of virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of various psychological disorders, specializing in...

Eugenie Clark

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A professor at Columbia University told Eugenie Clark, “If you do finish, you will probably get married, have a bunch of kids, and never do anything...

Mary Styles Harris

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Mary Styles Harris has spent her career combining her knowledge as a genetics researcher with a drive to provide health care information to minori...

Amy Arnsten

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Amy F.T. Arnsten leads the Arnsten Lab, studying neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine. Image Courtesy of Yale School of Medicine Sources and ...

Cynthia Rosenzweig

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig has used her expertise in climatology to help study the impact of climate change on agriculture and cities. Image: United Nati...

Yvonne Pendleton

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Yvonne Pendleton has spent her career helping us to understand our place in the universe. Image: NASA. Sources and additional reading are availa...

Grace Olive Wiley

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Grace Wiley believed that with the right methods even the deadliest snakes could be tamed and by speaking to them and handling them with her bare hand...

Mary L. Good

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mary L. Good was an inorganic chemist who led the American Chemical Society and chaired the board of the National Science Foundation. Image: Science ...

Pearl I. Young

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Physicist Pearl I. Young was the first woman hired for a technical position at the NACA. Image: NASA. Sources and additional reading are available a...

Sally Ride

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On June 18th, 1983 Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she launched on the Space Shuttle Challenger. Image: NASA. Sources and a...

Padmasree Warrior

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Padmasree Warrior has been hailed by Fortune magazine as “the New Queen of the Electric Car Biz” Image: TechCrunch (CC BY 2.0 DEED) Sources and ...

Valentina Tereshkova

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Image: Wikimedia. Sources and additional reading are available at https://in...

Shannon Walker

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Space physicist Dr. Shannon Walker has a second distinction that sets her apart even from the small group of people that have traveled to space, in ad...

Wang Zhenyi

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wang Zhenyi was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and poet born in 1768 and despite the social philosophy of the time she was an avid reader and th...

Maria Kirch

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Kirch is considered the first woman to discover a comet, but for many years her husband took the credit. Image: Jacob Dyer/Unsplash. Sources a...

Dorothy “Dottie” Lee

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dorothy “Dottie” Lee made her way in a male dominated field to build a celebrated career at NASA. Image: NASA/JPL. Sources and additional read...

Gilda Barabino

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While working on her doctorate, Dr. Gilda Barabino wanted a career that allowed her to use her education and knowledge to help people but didn’t wan...

Mica Endsley

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Mica Endsley was the first woman to serve as the Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force. Image: WIkimedia. Sources and additional readin...