Spotlight on women in science

We celebrate International Women’s Day in March, but the contributions of women in science should be highlighted and celebrated every day. Marine biology, environmental conservation and cartography are only a few of the disciplines where women have changed the ways we understand the Earth and our effect on its health.

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: The Story of Maria Mitchell by Laura Alary. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2022.

Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM by Tonya Bolden. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2020.

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science – and the World by Rachel Swaby. New York: Broadway Books, 2015.

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Clair Nivola. New York: Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012.

Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp Revealed the Ocean’s Biggest Secret by Jess Keating. New York: Tundra Books, 2020.

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson by Amy Ehrlich. San Diego, California: Silver Whistle, Harcourt, 2003.

Sisters in Science: Conversations With Black Women Scientists About Race, Gender, and Their Passion for Science, With Interviews by Diann Jordan. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2006.

Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor, New York: Holiday House, 2017.

Ten Women Who Changed Science and the World by Catherine Whitlock and Evans Rhodri. New York: New Diversion Books, 2018.

Two in the Far North by Margaret Murie. Anchorage, Alaska: Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, 1978 Women in Field Biology: A Journey Into Nature by M.L. Crump and M.J. Lannoo. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, 2023.

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky. New York: Ten Speed Press, 2016.

Wonder Women of Science: Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World by Tiera Fletcher. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2021.

Anyone in Wisconsin can borrow these books. Just email askwater@aqua.wisc.edu.