Black History Month – Role Models

In celebration of Black History Month the EDI department have created a series of posters showcasing inspirational black scientists, with a brief explanation of their accomplishments on each poster. These posters will be displayed in the School of Physics and Astronomy throughout Black History Month and will serve as inspiration for aspiring physicist’s who can look up to these extradentary role models.

One of the role models chosen is Dr. Claudia Alexander who was a specialist in geophysics and planetary science, the last project manager of NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, and served as a project manager and scientist for NASA on the European-led Rosetta mission to land a spacecraft on a comet. She was also a fierce advocate for women and minorities in science. She serves as a exemplary role model for students of colour and for young women in STEM.

Another role model in the series is Chris Jackson. Chris is a geophysicist, chair in Sustainable Geoscience at Manchester University and previously a professor at Imperial College London. His research focuses on three main areas: the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of rift basins, salt tectonics, and using seismic data analysis to study deep-water sedimentology and stratigraphy. He has also appeared in several Earth science-focused documentaries on BBC 4 and National Geographic.

The role model posters are displayed below.

In addition to the role model posters that we created for Black History Month posters created by a science company, Ward’s Science, of inspirational black scientists will also be displayed throughout the School of Physics and Astronomy. These posters include scientists such as Mae Jemison, the first black woman to travel in space, and Emmett Chappelle, who developed a method for detecting life on Mars.

This Ward’s Science poster series is displayed below.