Science Is Human

on the other hand also having it be legitimize as a form of research communication, if that makes sense. I get super excited, for example, when there's like big press conferences, when the image of the black hole came out. So we have the new image of the black hole on a bunch of jewelry when that image came out, one of the women at one of the press conferences was wearing a dress by one of the designers that we've worked with in the past. And now I've seen her even give more recent talks and she has a custom dress with the black hole image on it, by that same designer. And so that we weren't directly involved with, but we've supported that designer, given her images, helps connect her with other people for other projects.

as much as I want to sell and engage with people who don't know science, the shop did start to make females in academia feel more comfortable expressing themselves in fashion. Because it's something that I had gotten criticized for, was wearing heels and make up, by my department head, that's why I left that department. So, there is also the component of not just the general public, but also making people feel more comfortable in a lab setting or when they have to go to campus and most of the people in their class are men and are people that they don't talk to. And they'll be like, "Oh, I like your uterus necklace. Where'd you get that?" And can make friends in academia that way, so there's that component too

I think one thing that really stuck with me, and specifically regarding the cosplay element of it, was going into the event, the big focus was trying to get, and hoping people would dress up as a scientist. And that was really the big driver behind that. But I think coming out of it, what really stuck with me, was not necessarily getting people to dress up as a scientist, but getting them to realize, what they do is science, and engineering. And that's, I think what really stuck with me, and this idea, that we can have an award for the best science cosplay, but maybe the more important thing, is giving out the actual process award.

it struck me is as important yet, again, is the idea of science being appropriate within its community. And that idea of that the representation of science and scientists at community events that are not related to science is still in and of itself a meaningful, important thing, because it is part of where it is.