New York Women in Natural Sciences (WINS), based at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is proud to be celebrating our tenth anniversary of advocacy, community building, and celebrating STEM!
Our group is unique in that we are both an AWIS chapter and a community resource group (CRG) at the Museum. We strive to not only help people from underrepresented groups across the New York area flourish in their STEM careers, but also to make our workplace ever more inclusive and equitable for all of our colleagues across the institution.
One way we work towards this goal is through our Untold Stories project. This ambitious project was spearheaded by the late Eleanor Sterling, WINS founding member and Treasurer, to celebrate contributions to the field of natural history by members of marginalized groups that all too often go unrecognized.
Untold Stories, coupled with Eleanor’s activism, even inspired an update to a Museum display to highlight the work of Matthew Henson (1866-1955), the first African American to explore Greenland, to our over four million annual visitors. And, in the spirit of Untold Stories, we will be saluting contributions to the field of entomology from underrepresented groups at our insect-themed tenth anniversary celebration.
In the past year, we, and our sister CRG at the Museum, AMNH PRIDE (People Respect Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) have experienced a flurry of new activity and membership–due in significant part to an influx of new students, scientists, and colleagues who center these core values in their work and in their lives. Our ten years of experience, with the support of AWIS, has put us in a position to offer support to our sister group and embrace the ambitious goals of our new members—which include growing the Untold Stories project.
We’d love to hear from you! If you have an idea for an Untold Story or would like to become involved with the project, please email us at womeninnaturalsciences@gmail.com
Visit the Untold Stories Website: https://untoldstories.net/stories-timeframe/
Learn more about WINS: https://www.winsny.org/