In December 2017, Ed Yong wrote an interesting article about how fewer women than men are invited to give talks at top US universities.

This article was very timely for me. The previous month, Jenna Congdon, a PhD student at University of Alberta, had asked whether I would be attending the Conference on Comparative Cognition in April 2018. The conversation quickly became a question about whether I could also give a talk at her university.

My research is on spiders. Before I continue, I probably should point out that spiders used to have me screaming and running for cover, but I am fascinated by them now, as this video demonstrates. In particular, I work with jumping spiders (family Salticidae), exploring various cognitive topics like expectancy violation, problem solving, search images, cross-modality priming and numerical cognition. Spiders may have tiny brains, but they are full of surprises.

Perhaps, in a similar way, I used to hate giving talks but I love them now.  I think of them these days as being a wonderful opportunity for sharing spider joy with a room full of people. But the more I thought about speaking at University of Alberta, the more I began to consider – why stop there? Why not take the message even further? After all, I am from New Zealand, and I knew my journey would be long and expensive. I decided that I should try to maximize my time.

At the beginning of January, I tweeted Ed’s article and asked if anyone in North America would be keen for me to give a talk at their university. With Ed’s help, and with the help of other loyal Twitter followers, my query got retweeted and seen by over 18,000 people. It did spark some interest, but no offers. While this was disappointing, I was glad that I tried and I remained undeterred.

Organizing my tour

I ended up being busy enough. I’ve been attending the Conference on Comparative Cognition most years since 2012, and I’m usually the only spider researcher there. People at this conference remember me and I had earlier been asked whether I could give talks at the University of Tennessee and at Brooklyn College. Before I knew it, these places were added to my itinerary, as well as University of Manitoba, MacEwan University and University of Florida.

The plan was that I’d give seven talks, but I also found myself eagerly agreeing to speak at a science cafe in Tennessee (“Chatt about Science”) as well as give a second talk at Brooklyn College for a general audience. I was excited about sharing the spiders with as many people as possible.

My home institution in New Zealand doesn’t provide funds for visiting speakers, so it felt particularly good that my travel expenses within North America could be covered – my flights, accommodation and meals. I was deeply touched by how generous everyone was. Life as a scientist can be isolating at times, but the kindness and hospitality I received from everyone at these institutions was making me feel less alone and also making me feel much appreciated. I even got interviewed by AnimalCognition.org about my tour.

Encouraging diversity

It quickly became apparent, though, that I was doing more than sharing spider joy. Most of my talks were hosted in Psychology departments, but they were also attended by philosophers, entomologists and other biologists, as well as at least one mathematician, physicist and forensic scientist. Some people from other universities even travelled to attend my talks. In other words, the spiders were helping to bring people together and helping to spark interesting conversations. They were encouraging diversity.

This got me thinking about being a woman in science. At this stage in my career, I was fortunate to have the time to tour around. While I don’t know where my career will take me next, I do know that I care about science communication and that a speaking tour was valuable experience. Of course, many people do not have the luxury of being able to spend weeks touring around, but there should always be the opportunity to give talks. There are many things we can gain from doing so – for one thing, we all need to feel encouraged and appreciated by our peers. Moreover, a diversity of speakers helps to foster a diversity of thoughts and ideas.

I met many interesting people along my journey, but I particularly enjoyed talking with the female students at the different places I visited. I hope that, as a female scientist myself, I could be a source of inspiration for them. There are so many challenges that we face as scientists, but it’s important to find opportunities to celebrate our successes when we can. And, if there was ever the opportunity for another speaking tour in the future, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

A similar article is published on my personal website. You can also follow me on Twitter.