Monday, February 11, 2019, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In pursuit of gender equality on all levels, this day aims to close the gender gap occurring in STEM-related professions and higher education by raising awareness.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish an annual International Day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology communities.

Mary Agnes Chase (1869-1963), Botanist and Suffragist who identified thousands of types of grass all over the world while fighting for women's right to vote.

"Grass made it possible for the human race to abandon cave life and follow herds." - Mary Agnes Chase


Gertrude Elion (1918-1999), Pharmacologist and Biochemist who has saved thousands of lives with the drugs she developed.

"Don't let others discourage or tell you that you can't do it. In my day I was told women didn't go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn't. - Gertude Elion


Katherine Johnson (1918-), Physicist and Mathematician who calculated the flight path for the first manned mission to the the moon.

"[The other women] didn't ask questions or take the task any further. I asked questions, I wanted to know why. They got used to me asking questions and being the only woman there." - Katherine Johnson


Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943-), an astrophysicist whose research gave us further understanding of the life cycle of the stars and planets.

"If we assumed we've arrived [at absolute truth], we stop searching. We stop developing." - Jocelyn Bell Burnell


Who is a woman in science that you admire?