Women’s History – Mae Jemison

I had an extra busy this week last week and on Friday, to add to the crazy mix, my youngest was home sick.  So my hands were pretty full. But I never like my kids to think that being home sick means a ticket to a day of TV, video games and no learning. I of course built in some “brain work”. But Apollo didn’t seem too bothered thank goodness.

Since it’s Women’s history month I though it would be perfect to get around to the library book I checked out for him a week ago about Mae Jemison. So while he layed under his blanket on the couch I read to him about this amazing black woman that was the first african american astronaut to go into space!

The book was in a nice light, easily digestible format with lots of pictures. It was great and we talked a bit about her after reading it. I even learned more about her, not knowing that she spent a while before becoming an astronaut as a doctor and then traveling to the African continent to provide medical assistance. I also learned about her work after the launch.

I always say that I am going to create a scrapbook with women who inspire me in it and never get around to it. Probably because I make the task to “big”.  But reading this reminds me how much it’s important to keep inspiration close and not let age or anything for that matter prevent it. Because each time you get exposed to it, it awakens your soul.

Just look what she has been doing since resigning from astronauts corp in 1993:

Jemison is a Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and was a professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 to 2002.^[24] Jemison continues to advocate strongly in favor of science education and getting minority students interested in science. She sees science and technology as being very much a part of society, and African-Americans as having been deeply involved in U.S. science and technology from the beginning.^[17] She has been a member of various scientific organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, the Association for Space Explorers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.^[25] Additionally, she served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation from 1990 to 1992.^[7]

In 1993 Jemison founded her own company, the Jemison Group that researches, markets, and develops science and technology for daily life.^[12] Jemison founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence and named the foundation in honor of her mother.^[26] “My parents were the best scientists I knew,” Jemison said, “because they were always asking questions.”^[26] One of the projects of Jemison’s foundation is The Earth We Share (TEWS), an international science camp where students, ages 12 to 16, work to solve current global problems, like “How Many People Can the Earth Hold” and “Predict the Hot Public Stocks of The Year 2030.”^[24] The four-week residential program helps students build critical thinking and problem solving skills through an experiential curriculum.^[24] Camps have been held at Dartmouth College, Colorado School of Mines, Choate Rosemary Hall and other sites around the United States.^[26] TEWS was introduced internationally to high school students in day programs in South Africa and Tunisia.^[27] In 1999, TEWS was expanded overseas to adults at the Zermatt Creativity and Leadership Symposium held in Switzerland.^[27]

In 1999, Jemison founded BioSentient Corp and has been working to develop a portable device that allows mobile monitoring of the involuntary nervous system.^[24] BioSentient has obtained the license to commercialize NASA’s space-age technology known as Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), a patented technique that uses biofeedback and autogenic therapy to allow patients to monitor and control their physiology as a possible treatment for anxiety and stress-related disorders.^[24] BioSentient is examining AFTE as a treatment for anxiety, nausea, migraine and tension headaches, chronic pain, hypertension and hypotension, and stress-related disorders.” ^[28]

In 2012, Jemison made the winning bid for the DARPA 100 Year Starship project through the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence.^[29] The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence was awarded a $500,000 grant for further work. The new organization maintained the organizational name 100 Year Starship. Jemison is the current principal of the 100 Year Starship.

In the end, it wasn’t a bad “sick day” for Apollo after all. Happy Women’s History month!

Belinda