Day 42 of #LiveWell2017

Today, February 11th, is International Girls and Women in Science Day.

One of my science heroes is Rachel Carson. Rachel was a scientist and ecologist who studied nature and wrote extensively about the ocean. During the 1950’s and 1960’s she reluctantly but bravely turned her attention to the damaging long-term impacts of agricultural pesticides. To get her alarming observations out to the public, she wrote the book, Silent Spring. Rachel was viciously attacked by the chemical industry after her revelations were published, even though she was completely correct in her assessment of how those chemicals were impacting living creatures and the environment. She was not treated kindly, even though she told the truth.

In honor of Rachel Carson and International Girls and Women in Science Day, I want every scientist – especially those who are women – to know that they are valued and appreciated. I want every girl who wants to be a scientist to know that she can be.

I was a science teacher for much of my career. I hope my students left my class with a greater understanding of their world and a greater appreciation for the work of scientists. I hope I inspired a few to become scientists themselves. I especially want to encourage girls and women everywhere to study science, to appreciate the natural world, and to bravely publish studies that help us better understand how our world works.

We create goodness when we are willing to do what is right, to seek truth, and to open our minds to new information. We create goodness by being kind to people we disagree with and treating them with respect. Science is good. Scientists are, too.

Be kind to a scientist today.