Welcome to the Women in Paleontology forum @kate-griener! I really connect with your note on unconscious bias. I’m a graduate student in vertebrate paleontology (I’m actually one of the many female grad students of @bmacfadden that @egardner mentioned!) but I’m also really interested in science communication and I run a podcast about the history of women in STEM. In the last episode of the podcast, I highlighted the story of 19th century American geneticist Nettie Stevens. Her story really clearly exemplifies the issue of unconscious bias!
Mary Anning will actually be featured on the podcast as well! I’m excited to have paleontology graduate students Amy Atwater and Meaghan Emery (hosts of the blog Mary Anning’s Revenge) join me as guests on the episode. I’ll let you know when it goes up in the late spring!
As for role models, @taorminalepore is doing super rad work as a paleontology educator at Alf Museum of Paleontology, where she works with high school students. You might want to check out the Women in Paleo: Spotlights section of the forum to learn about what other ladies are up to!