Sciencewoman's turn to share...

Thank you all so much for introducing yourselves and telling us why you read this blog. Its been incredibly reassuring (at a time when I'm feeling a bit insecure about my research output) to know that I have been doing *something* good with my time. In return for your sharing, I'm going to tell you a little bit more about what I do in the real world.

I'm a geoscientist and I work at the intersection of three subfields. That's part of why I've gotten a kick out of calling myself an -ologist, because the unnamed prefix could change day-by-day depending on my mood. Working at an intersection also means that I have a really hard time defining myself professionally, figuring out where my research fits into the bigger picture, where to submit to journals and grants, etc. This is probably something I'm going to blog about more than once over the coming months.

I'm really interested in climate change and sustainability, even though it's not directly what I research, but because when I think about the world's challenges over the coming decades, climate change is the one that leaps immediately to mind. Plus, the geosciences are in a prime position to help identify the causes and consequences of climate change, understand the costs and benefits of mitigation strategies, and to educate students and the general public. I'm beginning the process of trying to integrate climate change into all of my classes, and I may soon be working on a grant proposal along similar lines. Maybe more about that as it develops.

I'm OK with telling you more about my professional self now because I'm in a tenure-track job, but also because this blog has evolved from its intimate beginnings. I still talk about what's going on in my personal life (how Minnow still doesn't sleep through the night, damn it!), but I also hold more in reserve now than I did before moving to Sb & Mystery U. Maybe it's maturity, maybe it's insecurity, but in either case, it's made this space one where I'm less concerned about professional and personal repercussions of what I write here.

In fact, I'd like to figure out how to use what I've learned from being ScienceWoman to my professional advantage. I may revise the recent post on conference childcare and submit it as an opinion piece to a professional newsletter. A few months ago, my professional society was looking for volunteers for the "women and diversity" committee (or something similar). I thought, "gosh, I'd love to do that," but they wanted people with demonstrated experience and leadership on the issue, and despite reading and writing about women in science issues for more than 3 years(!), I didn't have anything I could put on the application. That something I want to change, and I've just got to devise a solution without overloading myself more.

I'm not suddenly going to begin spouting geology jargon all over this blog, because that's not who I am and that's not what this space is for, but since Sciencewomen readers have been so wonderfully supportive in giving advice and comfort, and in sharing bits and pieces of themselves, it only seemed fair to be open with you all.