キャリアニュース2019年２月13日～19日

#MeToo provocateur BethAnn McLaughlin battles on behalf of women in STEM—but her own job is in peril. ![Figure][1]</img> ILLUSTRATION: ANITA KUNZ BethAnn McLaughlin has no time for James Watson, especially not when the 90-year-old geneticist is peering out from a photo on the wall of her guest room at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Banbury Center. “I don't need him staring at me when I'm trying to go to sleep,” McLaughlin told a December 2018 gathering at the storied New York meeting center as she projected a photo of her redecorating job: She had hung a washcloth over the image of Watson, who co-discovered DNA's structure, directed the lab for decades—and is well-known for racist and sexist statements. The washcloth image was part of McLaughlin's unconventional presentation—by turns sobering, hilarious, passionate, and profane—to two dozen experts who had gathered to wrestle with how to end gender discrimination in the biosciences. McLaughlin, a 51-year-old neuroscientist at Van

It has been an exciting and productive conference. As a fifth-year Ph.D. student, I am less nervous when I present my work than I used to be, and I finally feel I fit in as a scholar. But when my abstract was accepted in the fall, I had to consider something completely unrelated to my science: whether I could afford to go. Carefully, I did the math. Registration, fees, air travel, lodging, and food would exceed $1000. My fellowship comes with $1200 that I can use for conference travel, among other project-related expenses. On top of that, the conference granted my presentation a $500 travel award. I should be able to cover the costs—eventually. ![Figure][1]</img> ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER > “I incur these expenses in a sometimes-scary bet against [my] bank account.” I can't access these funds until after the conference, long after paying for registration and flights. So, for the past 3 months, I have been out a significant chunk of cash. This is money that I can't really spar