Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna: How a curious girl from Hawaii became a science superstar

Note: On Oct. 7, 2020, Jennifer Doudna and her research collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the CRISPR gene-editing technology. “This year’s prize is about rewriting the code of life,” said Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, as he announced the winners. _________________________________________ Growing up in […]

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Nobel Prize winner Andrea Ghez: How a girl who loved puzzles grew up to solve a galactic mystery

Note: On Oct. 6, 2020, Andrea Ghez was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for “the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy.” She shares the prize with Reinhard Genzel of UC Berkeley and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford. _________________________________________ […]

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How a girl from Tijuana became a champion of cross-border scientific ties

Olivia Graeve remembers exactly when she decided she wanted to be an engineer. During the 1980s, an economic crisis drove thousands of people to flee Mexico’s depressed southern region and seek jobs in the north. Slums sprang up in the hills around Tijuana, the border city where Graeve (GRAH-vay) lived. With a group from her […]

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Library NExT

Lineup of free Sally Ride Science workshops at local libraries expands with fun new courses

Jan. 8, 2018 SAN DIEGO – A program offering free Sally Ride Science STEAM workshops at San Diego library branches is gearing up to serve more students with an expanded course lineup covering everything from Marine Mammals and Kitchen Chemistry to Wearable Electronics and The Science of Harry Potter. Winter offerings for the Library NExT […]

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Pioneering astronaut Sally Ride among icons honored with 2018 stamps

Dec. 12, 2017 Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, will be among the iconic figures celebrated on new stamps in 2018, the U.S. Postal Service® announced. The Postal Service’s 2018 stamp program will honor Ride with a Forever® stamp, along with rock ’n’ roll immortal John Lennon; Lena Horne, the legendary singer, actress, and civil rights […]

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NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Orbits Back to Scripps for Campus Visit

Photos by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications Scripps alumna delivered keynote address at Blue Tech Week, engaged in roundtable discussion with students, and participated in Facebook Live Q&A during visit By Brittany Hook, thisweek@ucsandiego Nov. 16, 2017 Jessica Meir is one of a few scientists and UC San Diego alumni who also hold the prestigious […]

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UCSD Women Rising

Women Rising: Women scientists at UC San Diego have overtaken men as leaders of the campus’s biggest research grants

Photos by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications By Kim McDonald, thisweek@ucsandiego Nov. 9, 2017 For Elizabeth Villa, 2017 was a banner year. Earlier this year, the biophysicist and assistant professor of molecular biology received her first of four years of research funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts following her selection last fall as a Pew scholar. […]

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From left, Rosie Casals, Dolores Huerta, Billie Jean King, and Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Sally Ride Science cofounder Tam O’Shaughnessy receives humanitarian award for STEM education advocacy

Tam O’Shaughnessy, cofounder and executive director of Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, has been honored with the 2017 Joe Shapiro Humanitarian Award for her advocacy of science literacy and diversity in science education. O’Shaughnessy received the award October 21 at Cal State Los Angeles’ Billie Jean King & Friends Gala in recognition of her […]

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A new LEGO set honors the women of NASA—and it looks pretty awesome

ARS TECHNICA By Eric Burger A new playset from LEGO will honor four key women in NASA history—astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, and pioneering astronauts Sally Ride and Mae Jemison. The 231-piece set will be released on November 1, with a recommended selling price of $24.99. First proposed in July, 2016 by the deputy editor […]

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