Continuing to think on my post on the recent New York Times article on women in science and responses to it by women scientists, I quickly emailed a tenured geoscience professor friend asking her opinions on the topic. A pioneer in her field of study, this professor is also very active in professional societies as well as encouraging women in the sciences.

She pointed me to the following articles for further reading:

American Association of University Women | Why So Few (2010)

American Geological Insititute | Participation of Women in Geoscience Occupations (May 14, 2010)

American Geological Insititute | Trends in Geoscience Degrees Conferred to Women (November 23, 2009)

and had this to say:

“Those of us hired in the 70s and 80s don’t seem to have provided a lot of examples of combining a successful academic career with children. And I think that despite spousal hiring policies, halting of the tenure track for childbirth, etc., it remains more difficult for women faculty in the tenure track to sustain or develop relationships, bear and raise children, and generally maintain some sense of balance in their lives.

“… I also think there are still significant “cultural” aspects of physical science and engineering departments that make them feel less comfortable to some women students (competitiveness, “macho” displays, few women faculty, male faculty who consciously or unconsciously put women down). The enrollment numbers from AGI suggest that the geosciences have made some significant improvements in the last decade, but the total numbers of students in geoscience are much lower than in life science, so there may be some significant noise in the observed trends.”

If you know of any other must-read studies and articles on women in science and engineering or the current state of science and technology education in general, please alert me in the comments.

Which I used on the large prickly weeds last evening because I was so sick of having to dig the replicating f**kers out every single day and almost hosed my foot down with the stuff and worried that my kids will be born with their livers outside their bodies and …

Anyway, on with the links.

Earth Magazine | Geologists to be charged for not predicting earthquake? Italy, slow on the science uptake since the early 17th century.

BP To Create $20 Billion Fund For Claims On Day 59 of the still-gushing oil volcano, how can this, a partial repayment by a private company to the United States for the horrible damage wreaked on the Gulf Coast’s waters, land, people, jobs and pysche, in any way be referred to as a “bailout” or “redistribution of wealth?” How in the world is Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) “ashamed” of granting the money to victims? I thought one of the most basic tenets of capitalism is You Break It, You Bought It. As Stinque says, “Anyone responsible, civilly or criminally, should be bankrupted and banished from polite society.”

“The Douche Doesn’t Fall Far From The Bag” The starred comments on this Gawker post about Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, son of Meg Whitman and Exhibit A for supporters of the estate tax, are comedy gold.

Heehaw Marketing | The Cultural Tour Bus “Even with a Budweiser sized budget, it’s just not possible to immerse a team in someone else“s world enough. A single insight doesn’t really give us much understanding at all. And really, with the surface level nonsense most are doing, we“re usually just pecking at observational scraps rather than reaching for some perceptive nirvana.” The article references an interview with David Simon about the Average Reader.

McSweeney | I’m Comic Sans, A**hole “We don’t all have seventy-three weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our seventeen-inch MacBook Pros. Sorry the entire world can’t all be done in stark Eurotrash Swiss type. Sorry some people like to have fun.”

Wired | BP“s ˜Nightmare“ Well: Internal Documents Uncover Negligence

In addition to BP“s decision not to use a liner, the committee’s letter describes four other examples of risky negligence.

Five big corners were cut. Wow.

They weren’t kidding about the MC252 well being a nightmare. The ship that was collecting oil via the LMRP caught fire, presumably due to lightning. Collection operations have been suspended until they get this latest development sorted out. What next? I’m trying very hard not to let the word “snake bit” enter my vernacular.

* Tweet of the day from @TheOilDrum: “As we said weeks ago, BP should run this like Mission Control @NASA – not like an exclusive country club function.”

* Now following WDSU reporter Scott Walker’s blog. He verifies (with video proof) that media presence is deterred at clean-up sites by “security” despite orders to the contrary from above:

Today we visited Grand Isle beach to check on things there and one thing stuck out. Too many chefs in the kitchen. Just yesterday, BP CEO Doug Suttles said cleanup workers were free to talk to the media. He basically said all the instances of reporters being hassled was a misunderstanding. Today I asked the private security guard at the beach if I could talk to the workers. He said no and those were his orders, given to him by his boss.

* Keep at it with the oiled-bird cleanup and support for it, despite those who promote their own ethics through junk science. (Not to mention the poster and commenters who argue for bird euthanasia because clean birds make BP look good and help sell Dawn detergent. That’s messed up, y’all.) Read the International Bird Rescue Research Center’s report on the post-release survival of oil-affected seabirds. “Birds can be successfully rehabilitated and returned to the wild, where many survive for years and breed.” And AND even if a small percentage of the gene pool is all that ends up making it, the cleanup efforts are worth it. We have to have tried.

A friend spends her Mondays as a bird cleanup volunteer down in Plaquemines Parish. There is nothing more in the world I would like to be doing right now, but all I can do from here is cough up the dough to help keep them going and encourage you to volunteer and donate as well.