IAU Executive Committee Working GroupAstronomy for Equity and Inclusion Newsletter #13 May 2021
1) New IAU Executive Committee Working Group Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion Chairs
2) Survey on the physical accessibility of research institutions and astronomical facilities
3) Chandra Discoveries in 3D Available on New Platform
4) Inclusive Outreach
5) Students to Sign and Speak to NASA, ESA Astronauts in Orbit
6) Relevant Reads
7) Inclusive online event at EGO Virgo
8) Join our Sub Groups
9) Subscribe to our Basecamp and join the discussion
10) Share your News!
Dear friends,
Welcome to the thirteenth issue of our monthly newsletter.
We want to give a warm welcome to Susana Deustua as the next Chair of our EC WG, and Jacob Noel-Storr as the Co-Chair. Susana is the current president of IAU Division C Education, Outreach and Heritage, our parent Division until we were elevated to an EC WG. Susana is very well acquainted with the WG, in particular regarding the Springboard to Action, as she was one of the main contributors besides coordinating all the work. Susana has also been actively involved in the discussions during the last months about the specific actions to be implemented in order to fulfil the IAU Inclusion goals along the lines of the Springboard to Action. Jacob Noel-Storr has been an active member of this WG since its inception, a member of the WG Organizing Committee and the chair of our sub-group on “LGBTQI+ Communities in Astronomy”. Jake is the current chair of the European Astronomical Society’s Working Group on Inclusion until July 2021.
In this issue, we want to also highlight the survey on the physical accessibility of research institutions and astronomical facilities led by our sub-working group “Motor Disabilities”; the latest news from our sub-working group on “Inclusive Outreach (Inspiring Stars)” and an amazing collection of the 3D objects from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory ready to be explored or printed out
Wishing you all our best,Lina Canas & Amelia Ortiz-Gil
1) New IAU Executive Committee Working Group Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion Chairs
We are delighted to inform you that the IAU EC has agreed to nominate Susana Deustua as the next Chair of our WG, and Jacob Noel-Storr as the co-chair (and future chair). We want to send our appreciation to those members of the OC that sent us feedback and comments during the selection process. The nominations will be effective at the end of the IAU GA in August 2021.
2) Survey on the physical accessibility of research institutions and astronomical facilities
The group on Motor Disabilities of the EC Working Group on Equity and Inclusion is conducting a survey to learn about how physically accessible (or otherwise) are the planetaria and astronomical facilities around the world in order to identify and look for ways to address the needs in this area. The survey will take you only 5 minutes to complete and is available at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdw7x9Z1QiInyELCoZ5u67g269vh8NQhg3ArmMvWOTasdM8TQ/viewform Please feel free to share the link with your colleagues at other institutions/facilities. You can contact Angela Perez (angela.perez[at]parqueexplora.org) if you have any questions or comments regarding the survey.
3) Chandra Discoveries in 3D Available on New Platform Our colleagues at CXC have published an amazing collection of the 3D objects from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory that can be explored or printed out. Check it here:https://chandra.si.edu/3dprint/
A copy of the Astronomy & Astrophysics paper describing this work is available at https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2021/05/aa39940-20/aa39940-20.html (a preprint version can be found at https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.08017). In addition to Ustamujic, the authors are Salvatore Orlando (INAF Palermo), Emanuele Greco (INAF Palermo and University of Palermo, Italy), Marco Miceli (University of Palermo), Fabrizio Bocchino (INAF Palermo), Antonio Tutone (University of Palermo), and Giovanni Peres (University of Palermo).
4) Inclusive Outreach
The IAU “Inclusive Outreach (Inspiring Stars) subgroup” is working to ensure that there are no barriers in astronomy by removing physical obstacles and adopting the right “language” so that everyone can participate.
You can find the latest news and activities here: https://iau-oao.nao.ac.jp/iau-inclusion/inclusive-outreach-2/
5) Students to Sign and Speak to NASA, ESA Astronauts in Orbit Space-savvy students from the US who are deaf, blind, hearing and visually impaired and their mentors had a unique opportunity on May 19 to connect with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Read more & access the video here:https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/students-to-sign-and-speak-to-nasa-esa-astronauts-in-orbithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJScgVyH_g8
6) Relevant Reads
New Brain Implant Turns Visualized Letters into Texthttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-brain-implant-turns-visualized-letters-into-text/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2021-05-12_top-stories&spMailingID=70108776&spUserID=ODE4NjI0MTg0MQS2&spJobID=2121243493&spReportId=MjEyMTI0MzQ5MwS2
In An Unprecedented Move, Astronomer Geoff Marcy Has Been Kicked Out Of The Prestigious National Academy Of Scienceshttps://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/azeenghorayshi/geoff-marcy-national-academy-sciences-expelled
7) Inclusive online event at EGO Virgo
On May 29 “Stelle per tutti” celebrated the national day of the inclusive astronomy outreach in Italy, an initiative introduced in 2019 by the national amateur astronomers association (Unione Astrofili Italiani – UAI).
In 2020, given the inability to host live activities due to the pandemic restrictions, the team of the National Program for Inclusive Outreach (PNDI) of UAI arranged a first experiment of online inclusive event about exploring the Solar System riding a photon, (www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hJGhOb9nTQ) with good results in terms of attendance and feedback.
The event was in Italian. All the details at this link: www.uai.it/sito/eventi-nazionali-correnti/al-via-il-29-maggio-liniziativa-online-stelle-per-tutti/
8) Join our Sub Groups
The IAU EC WG on Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion sub-groups are subsets of the working group created to focus, both discussions and actions, on the different fields across inclusion. The sub-groups Intend to build upon specific networks within IAU and bring in external expertise, with their members steering and informing the WGs global actions.Identify specific needs in the community and draft courses of action and guidelines, aligned with both the IAU Strategic Plan 2020-2030 and the Springboard of Action leveraging all dimensions of inclusion on research, outreach, education and development.Are in contact and close collaboration with each other through email, basecamp or online meetings, accessing the intersectionality aspects inherent to the field, avoiding duplication of the efforts carried. We would like to invite all of you to join one or more of the subWGs according to your particular interests and expertise. Further information about the subWGs can be found here.
9) Subscribe to our Basecamp and join the discussion
We have set up a common Basecamp dedicated to all communications. As we understand that not all tools are 100% accessible we want to offer various channels tailored to our different needs. As all the actions carried by the WG, our suggestions are open for discussion and we intend to involve our members as much as possible. Therefore if you identify any tool that would suit you please kindly let us know and we will try to implement it. You can subscribe to our Basecamp by sending a message to Amelia Ortiz-Gil and Lina Canas with the subject: Inclusion WG Basecamp at astro4inclusion [at] oao.iau.org.
10) Share your News!Reach out to us and share news, activities, articles, resources and events from the astronomy community for inclusion around the world. We are looking forward to reading your contributions!
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