NEW YORK: Fed up with being overlooked as a female scientist despite wading through mud carting heavy equipment and working twice as hard as her male colleagues, Ellen Currano is on a drive for change - by donning a beard.
Currano, an associate professor of paleobotany at the University of Wyoming in the US, said her patience at being sidelined in a male-dominated world ran out when a male colleague was praised for an idea she had voiced moments before. She confided in her filmmaker friend Lexi Jamieson Marsh that she was tired of feeling invisible and seeing male scientists were always interviewed on television when an expert was needed. "I said, 'If I just put a beard on, then maybe they would listen to what I have to say,'" she said.
Marsh said Currano's comment hit a nerve and inspired "The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science", a tongue-in-cheek way to celebrate women who dedicate their lives to the geosciences. The project includes a website, two documentary films, and a travelling exhibit featuring portraits of about 100 female paleontologists with facial hair sharing stories about the fight for equal pay, field work opportunities and promotions.
The first feature-length documentary will hold its premiere this week at the University of California at Berkeley where a photo exhibit will also be on display until September with all proceeds going to a fund for future female paleontologists. "For women, it's an opportunity to share things that have happened to them or ways that they see their institution could do better," said Currano.
Currano, an associate professor of paleobotany at the University of Wyoming in the US, said her patience at being sidelined in a male-dominated world ran out when a male colleague was praised for an idea she had voiced moments before. She confided in her filmmaker friend Lexi Jamieson Marsh that she was tired of feeling invisible and seeing male scientists were always interviewed on television when an expert was needed. "I said, 'If I just put a beard on, then maybe they would listen to what I have to say,'" she said.
Marsh said Currano's comment hit a nerve and inspired "The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science", a tongue-in-cheek way to celebrate women who dedicate their lives to the geosciences. The project includes a website, two documentary films, and a travelling exhibit featuring portraits of about 100 female paleontologists with facial hair sharing stories about the fight for equal pay, field work opportunities and promotions.
The first feature-length documentary will hold its premiere this week at the University of California at Berkeley where a photo exhibit will also be on display until September with all proceeds going to a fund for future female paleontologists. "For women, it's an opportunity to share things that have happened to them or ways that they see their institution could do better," said Currano.
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