A Barking owl fluffing its feathers, or ‘floofing’. Credit: Dr Nick Hamilton
“I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.” Macbeth, William Shakespeare.
Is that an owl hooting? Or a car?
Researchers are after volunteers to help map five native Australian owl species, by listening to short recordings made in the bush.
The results will provide important information about the range and numbers of these beloved birds of prey. They will also help researchers develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems to use in a new field of science, known as “eco-acoustics”.
The project is called Hoot Detective, and is produced by ABC Science in collaboration with the Australian Acoustic Observatory (A2O) for National Science Week. It will commence online on Monday 9 August at www.hootdetective.net.au and run until the end of August.
The idea is to hunt for Powerful, Barking, Boobook, Barn, and Masked owls. For more about each species, visit hootdetective.net.au/the-owls.
Scientists, performers, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week. Read on for contact details for each event, or call:
Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week. Read on for contact details for each event, or call:
Scientists, experts, and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week. Read on for contact details for each event, or call:
Scientists, performers, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week. Read on for contact details for each event, or call:
Professor Mmantsae Moche Diale is a senior physicist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. All too often, she recalls, walking into an unfamiliar laboratory was an experience that sheeted home the gender disparity that pervades her profession.
“If there was equipment that I hadn’t encountered before, I would ask others how to use it,” she says.
“The men in the laboratory would usually just hand me the manual to read. If a man asked the same question, they would happily and quickly explain and demonstrate.”
Dr Anisa Qamar is a professor of plasma physics at Peshawar University in Pakistan.
“I was born in a small village in the north of Pakistan where cultural stereotypes mean females are not allowed to go to school,” she says.
“My parents were well-educated and held education to be a priority, regardless of gender. Indeed, my father built the first female school in the village, but the social pressure was still there.”
She and her parents, she recalled, faced this pressure “boldly”. Her father ensured she received both primary and college education, and played an active role in supporting her admission to university. She was also helped and encouraged by a family friend, Zari Sarfaraz (1923-2008), a noted campaigner for the rights of women in Pakistan.
Professor Prajval Shastri, astrophysicist and adjunct professor at Australia’s International Centre for Radioastronomy Research (ICRAR), is often confounded by the advice senior physicists, mostly men but also women, sometimes provide to aspiring women.
“I constantly encounter colleagues who mentor young men to ‘stick to your passion and press on’, but to women they say, ‘you need to work hard to be in physics because you will have to manage both family and research’,” she says.
“Are they implying that men of future generations will continue to abdicate their life responsibilities at the expense of the women in their families?
Endorsement & Funding to conferences should be contingent on an anonymised review process for selecting contributed abstracts to the conference
Endorsement & Funding to conferences should be contingent on a plenary session on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion which should be embedded within the schedule and include expertise from the social sciences on intersectionality.
Conferences or sessions for undergraduate students which should include sessions on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in order to foster inclusive thinking in the next generation
Demographics of speakers/chairs/attendees should be reported with an intersectionality lens and be available to attendees
Accessibility: IUPAP to sponsor accessible conferences, noting digital divide
IUPAP Members
Encourage IUPAP members to organize workshops to provide skills on entrepreneurship and innovation.
Mentor, network, sponsor: IUPAP calls on Members to facilitate Mentorship of women in physics at all levels
Represent: IUPAP calls on Members and Liaisons to provide opportunities for women in physics to have leadership roles
Systemic changes: IUPAP calls on Members to provide support and commitment to gender parity
Safe and welcoming environment: IUPAP calls on Members to implement code of conduct with zero tolerance for discrimination
IUPAP Processes
The Award nominations process should include certification that there are no known issues of scientific misconduct or harassment for its awards. Create mechanisms for revoking such honors if something is revealed later
support networking through requiring country liaison to be active and available to WiP working groups in their country
IUPAP to give some priority to physics education for females in their policies and projects.
Raise Awareness
Increase awareness of IUPAP amongst physics educators so that IUPAP’s programs gain traction and becomes visible to future generations.
Show what a physicist is: IUPAP to raise awareness of the roles of women in physics
Discussion of mental health issues should be normalised
Increase awareness of imposter syndrome and bias by developing and delivering workshops for academics through conferences. The workshops should provide tips and strategies for countering these, go beyond theory..
Data and Metrics
Organize the gathering of and providing guidance on the quality of data, not restricted to only quantitative, for measuring research output which is fairer to females.
Consider ways in which metrics can be developed for parameters associated with teaching and its evaluation with an eye on the fact that females are more likely to receive inappropriate/irrelevant feedback and critique.
Set up a working group to consider reinvigorating the curriculum and the teaching of physics with the objective of providing a contemporary and ‘balanced’ physics education.
Provide guidance on collecting, analysing, reporting, and storing data on the people of physics, to include: Principles which can be adapted to meet the needs of local communities; Prioritising and centering marginalised groups; and Paying attention to intersectionality of identities, such as indigenous women in physics
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Sarah's structure of the course, specific insight and understanding of science, her contacts and common mistakes made in communication were great and furthered my skills in this area.
Anonymous - Sydney Jan 2020
Science In Public
2020-01-28T15:04:28+11:00
Anonymous - Sydney Jan 2020
Sarah's structure of the course, specific insight and understanding of science, her contacts and common mistakes made in communication were great and furthered my skills in this area.
This is one of the best science communication courses I have ever encountered. It teaches all research to think out of box and really simplify their research in lay man's language. I will highly recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about science communication.
Shwathy Ramesh
Science In Public
2020-02-24T09:29:55+11:00
Shwathy Ramesh
This is one of the best science communication courses I have ever encountered. It teaches all research to think out of box and really simplify their research in lay man's language. I will highly recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about science communication.
