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These short biographical essays were written as part of a 4th year Women's and Gender Studies seminar class I took in the winter/spring of 2017 called “Representations of Women’s Scientific Contributions” with Dr. Cindy Stelmackowich at Carleton University. Each of the essays required deep research into difficult to find historical and contemporary info-fragments and sometimes oblique references in order to find a coherent and accurate narrative. They also needed to be short (always a challenge for me, heh). Obviously, research into living scientists was a bit easier with the advent of the web (and Dr. Conlan is known by some in non-scientific circles from having been featured in magazines like Canadian Geographic and for her children’s books on her research, so there are popular sources as well).
Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1950, Kathleen (Kathy) Conlan is an active Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature focused on antarctic and arctic marine benthic (bottom dwelling organism) ecology and amphipod systematics that, in addition to its pure research value, is a means of studying long term climate change, the effects of pollutants, and the impact of fisheries on marine life (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015). She also studies the effects of ice scours (the scraping of the sea floor by moving icebergs and ice packs) on benthic life (Conlan & Kvitek, 2005), and the ecology of underwater canyons (Conlan, 2016). Her work is so influential that she has become synonymous with her field of research in the scientific community, for example “studies of sea-bed disturbance, especially the effects on crustacean communities of chemical toxins, are Kathy Conlan’s work” (Riffenburgh, 2007).
Conlan also engages in continual public outreach, education, and the popularization of her work through talks, direct engagement with students, museum exhibits, and public demonstrations, e.g. (Vancouver Aquarium, 2017), (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2010), (Racette, 2007), (Hill, 2003), and (Nguyen, 2015). She has also written a children’s book about her work called “Under The Ice” that has won at least 8 awards (Kids Can Press, 2017), including the prestigious Science in Society prize for a children’s book handed out by the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, since it was published in hardcover in 2002 (Conlan, 2002). In 2015, she was named one of Canada’s greatest explorers by Canadian Geographic (Canadian Geographic, 2015). In addition to her research, her infectious enthusiasm for her work and respect for the people who live in the arctic (Hill, 2003), has made her a welcome visitor and educator of young and old alike. Conlan states of her motivations for outreach and knowledge sharing, “the founding idea was that if youth knew about the Arctic and Antarctica they would protect and stand up for it against any exploitation that might occur in the future [...]. In essence, we were creating a bunch of ambassadors.” (science.ca, 2015).
While she grew up in Ottawa, it was a trip to the west coast when she was 16 that ignited the interest that led to her career, “I was really taken with the ocean and marine life at that point, and that trip really solidified my interest in going into biology” (science.ca, 2015). She got her B.Sc. (Honours) at Queen’s University in 1972, her M.Sc. in marine ecology at the University of Victoria in 1977, and her Ph.D. in systematics and evolution from Carleton University in 1988 (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015) (CCAR, 2015). She has been Chief Officer (2008-present) and Secretary (2004-8), Life Sciences Scientific Standing Group for SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research); Member, Canadian Committee for Antarctic Research (1998-present); Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Carleton University (2004-present); and Section Head, Life Sciences Program, Canadian Museum of Nature (2006-present) (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015). While it is impossible to draw conclusions, it is notable that she was one of four women out of 14 members (28.6% women) of the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research (CCAR) for 2014-15 (CCAR, 2015). The number does agree with with studies done at the time that shows that 22% of STEM professionals are women (Shendruk, 2015).
Conlan is all the more interesting in that this particular field of study is not necessarily attractive or even accessible to many due to cultural bias and socialization – in short, the “ick factor” of studying sea “bugs” (Hildebrand, 2005). Hildebrand writes that while on an unsuccessful mega-fauna (i.e. whale) spotting tourist trip aboard an arctic research vessel (with Conlan on board), a lack of whales to be spotted caused them to turn to whatever activity they could find on the ship. Their writing shows that Conlan’s passion is obvious as she studies the amphipods she has brought up from the sea floor as she exclaims, “look at this [...] here’s a female with a brood pouch of fifteen”, or “this one’s a male [...]. You can see he's holding a female under his thorax. They'll mate when the female molts. It's very exciting to watch!”. In stark contrast, Hildebrand felt that “there is nothing spiritual in these lives, nothing exultant; they are simply grist for larger animals” (Hildebrand, 2005). Such attitudes only serve to emphasize the importance of the work, both in research and outreach, that Conlan and scientists like her are doing – it is work that is crucial to understanding global ecosystems and our impact on them, yet is unglamourous in the eyes of the average person, with the exception of the breathtaking photographs of her diving under Antarctic ice.
( And the very useful references are here... )
Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1950, Kathleen (Kathy) Conlan is an active Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature focused on antarctic and arctic marine benthic (bottom dwelling organism) ecology and amphipod systematics that, in addition to its pure research value, is a means of studying long term climate change, the effects of pollutants, and the impact of fisheries on marine life (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015). She also studies the effects of ice scours (the scraping of the sea floor by moving icebergs and ice packs) on benthic life (Conlan & Kvitek, 2005), and the ecology of underwater canyons (Conlan, 2016). Her work is so influential that she has become synonymous with her field of research in the scientific community, for example “studies of sea-bed disturbance, especially the effects on crustacean communities of chemical toxins, are Kathy Conlan’s work” (Riffenburgh, 2007).
Conlan also engages in continual public outreach, education, and the popularization of her work through talks, direct engagement with students, museum exhibits, and public demonstrations, e.g. (Vancouver Aquarium, 2017), (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2010), (Racette, 2007), (Hill, 2003), and (Nguyen, 2015). She has also written a children’s book about her work called “Under The Ice” that has won at least 8 awards (Kids Can Press, 2017), including the prestigious Science in Society prize for a children’s book handed out by the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, since it was published in hardcover in 2002 (Conlan, 2002). In 2015, she was named one of Canada’s greatest explorers by Canadian Geographic (Canadian Geographic, 2015). In addition to her research, her infectious enthusiasm for her work and respect for the people who live in the arctic (Hill, 2003), has made her a welcome visitor and educator of young and old alike. Conlan states of her motivations for outreach and knowledge sharing, “the founding idea was that if youth knew about the Arctic and Antarctica they would protect and stand up for it against any exploitation that might occur in the future [...]. In essence, we were creating a bunch of ambassadors.” (science.ca, 2015).
While she grew up in Ottawa, it was a trip to the west coast when she was 16 that ignited the interest that led to her career, “I was really taken with the ocean and marine life at that point, and that trip really solidified my interest in going into biology” (science.ca, 2015). She got her B.Sc. (Honours) at Queen’s University in 1972, her M.Sc. in marine ecology at the University of Victoria in 1977, and her Ph.D. in systematics and evolution from Carleton University in 1988 (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015) (CCAR, 2015). She has been Chief Officer (2008-present) and Secretary (2004-8), Life Sciences Scientific Standing Group for SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research); Member, Canadian Committee for Antarctic Research (1998-present); Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Carleton University (2004-present); and Section Head, Life Sciences Program, Canadian Museum of Nature (2006-present) (Canadian Museum of Nature, 2015). While it is impossible to draw conclusions, it is notable that she was one of four women out of 14 members (28.6% women) of the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research (CCAR) for 2014-15 (CCAR, 2015). The number does agree with with studies done at the time that shows that 22% of STEM professionals are women (Shendruk, 2015).
Conlan is all the more interesting in that this particular field of study is not necessarily attractive or even accessible to many due to cultural bias and socialization – in short, the “ick factor” of studying sea “bugs” (Hildebrand, 2005). Hildebrand writes that while on an unsuccessful mega-fauna (i.e. whale) spotting tourist trip aboard an arctic research vessel (with Conlan on board), a lack of whales to be spotted caused them to turn to whatever activity they could find on the ship. Their writing shows that Conlan’s passion is obvious as she studies the amphipods she has brought up from the sea floor as she exclaims, “look at this [...] here’s a female with a brood pouch of fifteen”, or “this one’s a male [...]. You can see he's holding a female under his thorax. They'll mate when the female molts. It's very exciting to watch!”. In stark contrast, Hildebrand felt that “there is nothing spiritual in these lives, nothing exultant; they are simply grist for larger animals” (Hildebrand, 2005). Such attitudes only serve to emphasize the importance of the work, both in research and outreach, that Conlan and scientists like her are doing – it is work that is crucial to understanding global ecosystems and our impact on them, yet is unglamourous in the eyes of the average person, with the exception of the breathtaking photographs of her diving under Antarctic ice.
( And the very useful references are here... )
