Strength in numbers

Last week Science Magazine published an article about BethAnn McLaughlin, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University, and her pioneering efforts in the #MeTooSTEM movement. You can find that article here.

To quickly summarize, she's been very supportive of sexual misconduct victims across the STEM fields as well as incredibly vocal about faculty members who have been accused of sexual assault or harassment and are still employed and receiving funding. It's this support and criticism that may have caused her tenure committee to reverse their decision. (There's a lot more to it, but definitely check out the article!)

However, the #MeTooSTEM movement that Professor McLaughlin helped to grow has got her back. They've started an online petition to get the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University to reconsider. You can go here to sign this petition.

Professor McLaughlin has inspired me and many other women. If nothing else, I've become more familiar with the communities of female scientists and the hard work they're doing to support their fellow females in STEM.

500 Women Scientists has a database of female experts in a number of STEM fields; this system allows organizers to request a scientist so that their conference/panel/symposium better represents the women in the field.

The Geocognition Research Laboratory keeps a list of reported sexual misconduct cases at universities. You can find that list here.

And of course, there's Professor McLaughlin's initiative #MeTooSTEM. You can check out their website to share your story, read other victim's stories, learn about important resources, and donate to the gofundme campaign.

These are just a few of the cool initiatives run by female scientists that I've come across. I'm certain that there are many more out there and I'm super excited to learn more about them. The more I learn about these communities, the more passionate I become about my field and the wonderful people in it.