Monday, November 18th 2013
You may know I’ve been paying some attention to the restructuring at the North Carolina Nature Research Center and how that has affected Dr. Meg Lowman, also known as Canopy Meg.
So…Matt Shipman shared this story with me on my Facebook wall today:
Top state museum scientist leaving Nature Research Center
Go read the whole thing, but here are a few key quotes. Looks like other folks finally picked up on Dr. Lowman’s poor treatment and the broader problems at the NRC:
“The top scientist at the Nature Research Center is leaving her post three years after taking the helm of the science museum’s new $56-million wing. The move comes four months after the museum’s new director effectively demoted her….
“On July 1, Lowman was effectively demoted from her original position as director of the center, where she oversaw nine scientists and other staffers who conducted research in labs designed to showcase science to the public. Her altered role, created by Koster, contained no management duties….
“Bilbro said she also opposed the move, although she understood Koster’s motivation to unify the great museum.
“”I saw the Nature Research Center as a part of the museum,” Bilbro said. “I just disagreed with the way he restructured and reorganized.”
“Lowman said she didn’t know about the California job until the academy began recruiting her for the position. But she pointed out that her transition to new job responsibilities at the North Carolina museum made the timing of her departure ideal.”
Monday, November 11th 2013
Trigger warning for graphic description of internet harassment.
* * *
We science writers all have our favorite troll comments. For me, they are the ones that claim I don’t know my topic, that tell me what I should have written, that criticize my tone rather than my content. The commenter that said my child is an abomination and will die before she’s 40. The commenter who claimed to hope I never got raped, worded in such a way that he did, indeed, hope I got raped. I’ve only had comments with content on rape a handful of times, but each one manages to terrify me and upset me for several days.
Yet, is our experience in academia that different? What about the student who asked one too many questions about masturbation? The emails that try to overwhelm you with evidence in a way that clearly implies they don’t think you have read the same literature? The colleagues who question your expertise, particularly if they disagree with your behavior or the way you perform your gender? The reviewer that will never be satisfied with your responses and revisions, because they fundamentally disagree with your research question? And of course, in science writing and in science we have stories of outright harassment and sexual violence.
Next week, I am giving a talk at the 2013 American Anthropology Association Meeting in Chicago, IL on the impact of internet trolls on attempts by women to write for the public, as part of a broader session on public anthropology (the session, 8-9:45am Friday the 22nd; my talk, 8:30am). What I want to explore are the intent and impact of troll comments on women who communicate science. I’ve been asked to do this in the context of my own science writing on reproductive health, and I will be drawing a bit on some of my past writing, notably this and this. As I implied above, I’m also thinking of weaving this conversation in among the ways women’s work gets criticized in academia.
But I would like to broaden the conversation.
My question is, dear readers: what are your most notable trolls/troll comments? I’m intentionally asking in this way, because I am not writing to solicit your “worst stories,” but rather the ones that stick with you. I am not trying to gather data in a rigorous way for this talk, I am just thinking the discussion will be richer if I don’t draw only from my own experience.
So, if you have any stories or quotes you’d like to share, of trolling or mansplaining or threats that happened to you when you tried to communicate science, please let me know in the comments or email me. I am happy to attribute or anonymize your contribution, depending on your preference. I’d also love being pointed at any folks who have already written a lot about internet trolls and gender in science writing, as I’ve inevitably missed some in my own research.
In addition to the public anthropology panel, I’ll also be participating in a roundtable discussion Sunday the 24th from 12:15-2pm on The Urgency of Now: New Forms of Writing and Communicating Anthropology.
Tuesday, October 29th 2013
We’ve been trying to revive the Laboratory for Evolutionary Endocrinology (LEE) blog this year so that our lab puts out a bit more content. This month, graduate student Mary Rogers shares her experiences with our pilot project in a local girls science camp. Next month two of my undergrads will share additional posts on the topic so that we can gain their perspectives as well.
Check it out!
