Becca
sage
Reged: 09/20/04
Posts: 398
Loc: West Bend WI
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Hi All, Does anyone know where I can get information on the She is an Astronomer cornerstone project? Thanks
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Becca
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Pedro Russo
member
Reged: 09/27/08
Posts: 20
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http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalprojects/cornerstones/sheisanastronomer/
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Sunwolf
Vendor
Reged: 02/21/05
Posts: 163
Loc: CA, USA
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There wasn't a whole lot of information at that link. Is there more? It has a list of folks but no information on how to contact them. I was interested in the project but there is so little provided.
Dawn
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Dawn Baird (Grove)
http://www.astronerds.org
http://www.spaceandastronomy.org
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richard7
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/02/07
Posts: 1676
Loc: Sacramento
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Apparently this is just getting started and there's not a lot of info yet.
Found this on the U.K.website.
Try contacting the IYA website and let us know what you find.
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Richard Trost
Orion 130st, Ioptron e/r80
Meade 10x50, Konusvue 20x80, Zhumell Tachiyon 25x100
Coffee thermos and cup
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Bucephelus
Vendor
Reged: 04/20/06
Posts: 689
Loc: Northern, CA
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If the "She" part is of interest, I am trying to build interest and support for women astronomers.
www.SeeIntoSpace.com
Bucephelus
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CosmicAudioChic
newbie
Reged: 01/02/09
Posts: 1
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida, USA, No...
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I too have been looking for more info on this Cornerstone Project...no updates as of yet!
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A day without fusion is like a day without sunshine!
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Blueberry
newbie
Reged: 01/18/09
Posts: 3
Loc: MI
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I want to be cosmologist. Anyone know for the best colleges in the US? Please help, I also left a post on Astronomy for children, but seems like no one goes there..
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I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
By:Peter De Vries
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1262
Loc: Portland Oregon
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To all
I just thought I'd throw this in here as I just stumbled over this post today. Forgive me if I am off-base a little as I have spent much time, thousands of hours with the public to generate interest in astronomy for all ages and genders. I found when in the streets across the continent on a 10,000 mile solo road trip that I performed in one month, that women were generally more interested in astronomy than men. I have spoken about this sidewalk venture on NPR several times but I need to remember to mention the gender interest that I have noticed.
I have also spoken to Dobson about this many times as we have both noticed it. When I taught as an adjunct professor of astronomy recently in a local university, I noticed that my best students out of a full class of 25, were the women.
See the total sidewalk experience here - *emphasis on left column >
www.myspace.com/marksolarprophet
Have you ever listened to John Dobson speak live? The Sidewalk Astronomer film produced about him by Jeffrey Fox Jacobs is a second choice with much in cosmology spoken. Click the official website for the film to sample >
http://www.telescopepictures.com/
Many amateur astronomers will berate him but the cosmologists rave about his controversial approach. I have met him and performed much in sidewalk astronomy with him when he visited here in the Portland area; 2003 2004.
I am willing to do lectures about my astronomy sketch art in relation to generating general interest for astronomy/cosmology. I have lectured about this many times at local schools, universities, observatories, planetariums, etc.
You are more than welcomed to contact me,
best regards,
-Mark
My CN Gallery
Edited by markseibold (01/21/09 05:17 PM)
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George N
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 05/19/06
Posts: 778
Loc: Binghamton & Indian Lake NY
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Quote:
I want to be cosmologist. Anyone know for the best colleges in the US? Please help, I also left a post on Astronomy for children, but seems like no one goes there..
Well since no one else has picked this up I’ll take a shot! 
Basically for a career in cosmology you would need a very strong under graduate program in math, the physical sciences (mostly physics and chemistry), computer science, and perhaps more electrical engineering that the “normal” science major. Beyond that you should expect to need to get a PhD in Physics or Astrophysics.
While you should consult with a professional guidance councilor, I highly recommend this place: www.rpi.edu Yes of course that was where I went! 
I also have several friends who went here (www.cornell.edu), had kids who went there, or currently work for the place. I’ve met a number of the current staff. Recently at Kopernik Observatory (www.kopernik.org) we’ve had lectures from two professors and two grad students (both women) from the planetary sciences (Mars rovers) and astronomy departments. I’ve been impressed by all.
Good luck with your plans and don’t let anyone talk you out of them!
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George N
Obsession 20
Optical Guidance Systems 10" F/9 R-C Cass
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SBIG STL-1301E CCD
Member, International Dark-Sky Association
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Blueberry
newbie
Reged: 01/18/09
Posts: 3
Loc: MI
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Thank you, I have checked many colleges and have informed my parents of my search. They say that no way would we be able to afford out of state tuition. Plus the fact that multiple carreer tests set me up as a bank accountant or artist. Yeah, right.. I'll keep looking, but MI really is not excelling in anything right now, so... I'll figure something out. Right now I keep my mind a buzz with news in cosmology, and especially quantum and superstring. And to think I checked out the books required for Ohio states astrophysics class- sad really that I'm 15 and already read the books required for the courses. I'll keep at my own theory in proccess dealing with the working of expansion and demensions. Again, thank you for all the help and suggestions, I really like this site, its noce to look around at all the smart older people, knowing I'm probably one of the youngest here interested in science. Thanks!  
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I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
By:Peter De Vries
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Sunwolf
Vendor
Reged: 02/21/05
Posts: 163
Loc: CA, USA
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Quote:
I found when in the streets across the continent on a 10,000 mile solo road trip that I performed in one month, that women were generally more interested in astronomy than men... I have also spoken to Dobson about this many times as we have both noticed it.
Hi Mark,
Some of your observations in your post interested me and I began to wander down a meandering trial of thought...
Although as a woman I can certainly see the draw of astronomy to others of my gender I also wonder if perhaps yourpersonal experience could have less to do with women and astronomy in general and more to do with the specific personalities involved.
You use John's experience to bolster your thought that women were generally more interested in astronomy than men. I have known John for many years and have spent a lot of time with him when he would spend weekends at my home with my family and I. I have also gone to restaurants and other public places with him and I have found John to be very charismatic and engaging with women. He certainly has his moments of opposite effect, let me tell you, but most of the time he could be very engaging.
From what I have seen and read of you (well-spoken, artistically inclined, etc.) I could make a leap that you may have a similar charisma and effect upon the female gender.
While I do not dispute that women could indeed be more interested in astronomy than men I think I would like to venture forth the idea that the "observer effects the observed" and that perhaps the experience you and John share with feminine interest in astronomy may in fact be women responding to the personality of the person presenting the subject.
I was bored to tears of anatomy until I ran into a professor who was empassioned by the subject and eloquent in her presentation of the matter. John has a way of making astronomy passionate and human and women respond to that much more ardently than cold, hard numbers. Could it be that the ladies you encountered are as much drawn to your passion for the subject as the subject itself?
Just a thought to kick around,
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Dawn Baird (Grove)
http://www.astronerds.org
http://www.spaceandastronomy.org
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1262
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Hi Dawn
It’s good to hear from others who have met John Dobson personally. I run into so many interested in astronomy across the continent and especially locally here in Portland that knew he was here for several months twice over a several year period but missed meeting him. I just spoke to his secretary recently as I planned to meet up with them this holiday season in Death Valley, but John’s health was questionable so he decided not to go at the last minute.
Your observance of gender awareness in astronomy is a good one as I believe that the entire cosmic experience is really about us as humans finding better communications to reach a universal understanding.
Mark
*Link to a photo of one of the many sessions of sidewalk astronomy that John and I provided for schools here in the Portland area, documented in much news (this was in 2004 at a local university in Portland) >
(Several physics students posed with the Physics Professor, John and me as we provided solar h-alpha telescopic observing. This photo would not have been possible if a young lady physics student had not asked for the group photo. She is standing between John and the Physics professor) >
John Dobson and Mark Seibold provide h-alpha Solar Observing at Portland State University
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1262
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Hi Dawn
I thought I would follow up as I observed yet again exactly what we discussed before. I set up a Nexstar 5i at a local restaurant since your last post here. I also took my portfolio with many of my large lunar pastels and a few of the sun; that you may have seen in Astronomy Picture of the Day and Spaceweather.com many times or my gallery here.
The restaurant owner is a young lady my daughters age at 28. She wants to display my work in her retaurant (actually a sophisticated Asian teahouse) and expressed her intense interest in astronomy. When I set up the telescope outside the restaurant with the crescent moon with Venus above, many patrons in the restaurant could see it outside the window. Many couples, were both men and women. Out of a couple dozen people of both genders, only several to maybe a dozen women made the effort to come out and observe through the telesscope over a one hour period, express their deep interest in astronomy, physics and/or art. Then I heard this again as I have many times before from women across the continent on the sidewalks: “I took an astronomy class some years ago but the instructor was boring”, or this: “He did not know how to relate to women in the class; if you’d been the instructor, I would not have dropped the class. Just seeing these pastel sketches makes me want to try to sketch again, as I never thought of the night sky through a telescope as a subject for art.” Not one male initiated to come over and observe with the exception of the owners father and then only because his daughter coaxed him to and a grandmother on the sidewalk took her grandson by the hand to direct him to the eyepiece. The young man at age 11 or 12, I estimated, was delighted and wanted to tell his teacher the next day. His grandmother was ecstatic with the image of the moon with craters and earthshine as she exclaimed that she had never observed trough a telescope. I would guess that she was about 60.
I am not sure what to make of this; that I am perhaps missing many opportunities to teach? I have two contingencies to soon lecture again with my large astro sketches as art produced from direct observation, for an art class and a local astronomy class at the community college nearby, which I have lectured for many times with my astrophotography.
I am more than willing to do this anywhere in the continent for some minor compensation of travel and lodging arrangements if local schools and/or clubs would want to commit to inviting me. I am not however really well versed in cosmology but rather the artistic process to render pastel sketching from observation through the eyepiece. I think it is a shame that many people above here searched for cosmology info and could find very little. The local astronomy teacher at Mt Hood Community College in Gresham, a suburb of 100,000 population just outside of Portland Oregon, is one of the most passionate astronomy lecturers locally in our region who has also offered cosmology as a special additional course at the community college which has a great planetarium. I will forward his info here as he has had John Dobson as a guest speaker many times to lecture on cosmology. I am sure that Doug would be willing to suggest further information for any of you who may be interested. >
Doug McCarty
Mt. Hood Community College Planetarium Director and Astronomy Professor -
503 491 7297
- Mark
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mwc
journeyman
Reged: 03/28/09
Posts: 7
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that's a bit telling.. a website set up for women in astronomy that is basically dead.. why don't they just remove that cornerstone project? to me that would be much better then have a website set up to focus on women in astronomy that has absolutely no substance.. maybe i'll drop them an email and suggest the same..
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Pedro Russo
member
Reged: 09/27/08
Posts: 20
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The SIAA website will be launched within 2 weeks.
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1262
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Pedro
That is interesting to hear. Can you direct us to it as it is about 2 weeks later now.
thanks,
Mark
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Staralfur
member
Reged: 10/17/05
Posts: 37
Loc: Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
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Follow this link to it:
http://www.sheisanastronomer.org/
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Celestron 9.25 SCT
Megrez Fluorite Doublet
PST
Binomite I
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khkremer
member
Reged: 08/30/08
Posts: 32
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Here is some information, including the press release:
The She Is An Astronomer project seeks to break down misconceptions and
gender issues in astronomy and science
21 April 2009, Paris: The highly anticipated International Year of
Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, She Is An Astronomer, was launched
today. She Is An Astronomer aims to help achieve several of the United
Nations Millennium Development Goals, including promoting gender equality
and empowering women.
The complete press release is at:
http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0909/
She Is An Astronomer website:
http://www.sheisanastronomer.org
************ IAU0909: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 21 APRIL 2009 17:00 CEST
************
www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0909/
The She Is An Astronomer project seeks to break down misconceptions and
gender
issues in astronomy and science
21 April 2009, Paris: The highly anticipated International Year of Astronomy
2009 Cornerstone project , She Is An Astronomer, was launched today. She
Is An
Astronomer aims to help achieve several of the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals, including promoting gender equality and empowering women.
Gender equality is a priority concern for the whole scientific community,
regardless of its field, cultural background or geographic location. This is
also the case for astronomy, where only approximately one quarter of all
professionals are women. In some countries there are no female astronomers,
whilst in others more than half the professional astronomers are female.
These
numbers drop towards more senior levels, suggesting that scientific
careers are
heavily affected by social and cultural factors and are not determined solely
by ability. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, She
Is An Astronomer (SIAA), has been established to address these issues and
tackle the main problems.
The SIAA programme of activities was announced today during the European Week
of Astronomy & Space Science at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.
Boasting a
mixture of international, national and local events ranging from conferences,
meetings and workshops to address gender issues, events targeted at
teenagers,
and the central SIAA website, the variety is designed to appeal to a wide
cross-section of the professional and public communities.
The official SIAA website, www.sheisanastronomer.org, provides a
one-stop-shop
for gender issues in astronomy and science. The site boasts five sections:
profiles of living and historic astronomers; resources for female
astronomers;
events taking place during IYA2009; an SIAA Ambassadors' Area; and a forum
where issues, lessons and challenges can be discussed, including the
opportunity to question experts. The website provides neutral, informative
and
accessible information and will be used to advertise new events, keeping
interested parties at the forefront of developments. Examples of best
practices
and relevant statistics will be pooled, making them accessible to the wider
community. Content will be regularly added during 2009, resulting in a vast
depository that will remain online long into the future, acting as an ongoing
legacy.
Several of the international and national meetings arranged for 2009
feature a
SIAA presence. These include the IAU General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, meetings in the US and Egypt, a book launch in Australia, an
exhibition
in Germany and many local events. Spain is conducting its first ever
survey of
women in astronomy and has also produced a calendar featuring historic female
astronomers.
IYA2009 encourages us to discuss magnificent and complex topics, from black
holes to the mysteries of our Sun, but without losing sight of the core human
aspects. SIAA will play its part in ensuring that the Year's impact is
definitely felt here on Earth.
Notes
The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together
almost 10 000 distinguished astronomers from all nations of the world. Its
mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its
aspects
through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally
recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the
surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest
professional body for astronomers.
Links
She Is An Astronomer website: http://www.sheisanastronomer.org
IYA2009 website: http://www.astronomy2009.org
European Week of Astronomy & Space Science: http://www.jenam2009.eu
For more information
Helen Walker
She Is An Astronomer Project Chair
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Space Science and Technology Department, Building R68
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK
Tel.: +44 (0) 1235 446 490
Cell : +44 (0) 7870 977 018
E-mail: helen.walker@stfc.ac.uk
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1262
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Khkremer
That is a tremendous body of information; whether gender or not; it defies what one suggested earlier that this area of woman in astronomy and the Cornerstone Project would be rendered as dead. On the contrary, it appears as live and well!
Mark
www.markseibold.com
My CN Sketch Gallery
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Blind-Cyclops
sage
Reged: 11/28/05
Posts: 489
Loc: Kitchener, ON, Canada
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Hello folks,
Happened across this thread while getting back into the swing of observing after my heart attack.
I've spent the summer volunteering my time conducting sidewalk astronomy sessions during numerous evenings two blocks from the house (close to home and not an hour's drive out in the countryside). I've noticed that ladies (young and umm... older...) have no fear of approaching an old fellow standing beside a telescope and asking, "What you doing?"
They seem both interested and eager to look through the telescope and binocular. They are interested in the astro-facts and how to go about getting started with eyes and binoculars without spending the family fortune. However, they also seem to listen closely when I talk about all the career possibilies for ladies in astronomy. The mention of being able to take part in astronomy without being an astronaut seems to perk their interest. The mention of Caroline Herschel (1750 – 1848), one of the first lady astronomers astounds most. And when I mention the name of Marcia Bartusiak, a professor at MIT who has written several outstanding books on astronomy and teaches science writing, they become more interested.
It is a shame ladies like Ms. Bartusiak are not promoted more for young girls to see they can have a very good future in astronomy associated careers, if not directly in astronomy. Having only briefly looked at the "She is an Astronomer" web site, it seems the site coordinators should look at posting more links and names of ladies in and around the field of astronomy. Some associated career fields can be just as rewarding while still having one or both eyes in astronomy (pun intended).
Best of luck to those ladies (young and not so...) who are looking for a career reward that is "out of this world."
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Clear skies...
Duncan 
"Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"
-- Closing line in movie spoken by newspaper report Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spencer) in the Sci-Fi movie
"The Thing From Another World", RKO Radio Pictures, 1951.
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Garrett 20x80mm, 410 head, 055 tripod.
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