Diversity in Science - last minute call for posts

I really hope that some of you visited Danielle Lee's blog, Urban Science Adventures, via the link on the upper right corner of this page. As a result of the sessions on gender and race at ScienceOnline'09, she had the really wonderful idea of starting up a blog carnival focusing on diversity among scientists. The internet could be a powerful tool to highlight the diversity that already exists among practicing scientists. One of the reasons that is often given for why members of minority groups don't pursue a career in science is the lack of role models that we can relate to. But what if there are scientists who look like us, come from where we come from, have had to overcome what we have to overcome, and more? If we don't know about them, that is an opportunity to feel included that has been missed.

I have been a very bad blogger lately - I had intentions of really playing up the inaugural edition of this carnival for the whole month of February. Since February is Black History Month, entries should be about an African American scientist. As Danielle says:

All year is great time to learn more about science and the people who make the discoveries. But February offers a great opportunity to learn about the achievements of African-Americans (and others from the African Diaspora) in the sciences. So I’m introducing a new Blog Carnival – Diversity in Science. Blogs of every genre are invited to write a special feature post about a person who is a pioneer and/or innovator in any of the amazing fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Tell us all about him/her?
How has this person impacted field of STEM and/or inspired you?
Or why is his/her story interesting?

Unfortunately, Thing 2 has been ill, work has been piling up, and so, blogging has been very light in general, so I haven't been able to show the support that such a great idea deserves. But we have until tomorrow (Friday, February 20) to submit entries. So, if you haven't done so, take a moment to write something about an African American scientist you really dig - someone whose work is interesting, or someone whose personal life you can relate to, or even just someone you have heard of and happen to know is black. Google them, find out a little about them, write it up, and submit it. Easy as pie. I'm going to write one right now.