This Americas Program award will support for a second year the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Latin American Lecture Series on Women in Science. The lecture series aim to showcase the achievements of distinguished U.S. women scientists to wide audiences in Latin America. Organized by Marina Ratchford of the AAAS Directorate for Education and Human Resources, the initiative seeks to increase both the visibility of U.S. women scientists' careers, and the participation of women in the scientific enterprise in the U.S. and Latin America.
The AAAS proposes to extend the lecture series to three more events in the course of Year 2 of the project (August 2003-July 2004). In the selection of nine new participants, they will continue to look for inspirational personal stories about pursuing a scientific career and overcoming obstacles to professional advancement, giving preference to fields traditionally underrepresented by women, and looking for a diversity of fields and sectors. In addition, applicants will be encouraged to nominate a graduate student from their organizations to be considered in the selection process, which will furnish role models for other students in Latin America and allow the comparison of student experiences across regions. Nine scientists and three students will be selected to participate in events in Argentina/Uruguay, Mexico and Jamaica. The AAAS will work in partnership with several national and regional scientific organizations to organize and publicize these events, to ensure the participation of local women scientists and students, and to plan additional visits to primary and secondary schools, universities and research institutes.
