An Interview with the TrowelBlazer Team
If you’ve read our previous post, you’ll know that we were inspired to start the APS Femwork after a talk given by one of the TrowelBlazers, Tori Herridge. You might have seen her recently on Russel Howard’s Good News, talking about the cloning of woolly mammoths (seriously – how cool is this woman?). The whole TrowelBlazers team are lovely, and they agreed to answer a few questions for us so that we could understand who and what inspired them. They even provide a few tips for budding scientists…
1) How did the idea of trowelblazers.com come about?
Trowelblazers is the result of an apparently harmless chat on Twitter - talking about lack of representation of women in archaeology (on TV in particular), which blossomed to a discussion that included geology and paleontology (in general - textbooks, classrooms, popular imagination) as well. We agreed that it would be great to have an online resource for this showing they did and do exist, past & present, in perhaps greater numbers than anyone realizes. Someone suggested setting up Tumblr, and after all saying "Yes!", Tori kicked things off by actually sorting the blog - we then moved to the dot com for our one year anniversary last May.
2) Why do you think it’s important to recognise the presence of females in palaeontology, archaeology and geology throughout history?
Science in general has a problem with representation of women, both in terms of current issues surrounding diversity (retention of girls to university level and beyond; career progression; research bias...) as well as attention to the role played by women in the development of the field. The trowelblazing sciences are no exception to this, and we feel that we are simply balancing this skewed situation. By showcasing the contribution made by women from the pioneering era of geology, palaeontology and archaeology, through to the present day, we are highlighting the fact that women have been at the heart of some of the biggest advances in these fields, whether acting independently or in collaboration with male researchers (frequently husbands). And maybe even more importantly, they weren't isolated or unusual - there were many less well known women quietly working away, doing great science, who should be better known. Role models from the past and present are fundamental to showing girls today that this is something they can do.
3) What’s the most rewarding thing about trowelblazers for you?
TrowelBlazers is amazing fun on many levels (while also being a lot of work, which we have to fit around our paid employment). Discovering new women, often submitted by others, is always exciting. Tracing the stories of individuals, their development as researchers, and the interconnections between them is completely fascinating, and really brings to life the character of the women involved alongside their scientific contributions. A great example is the excavations at Mount Carmel run by Dorothy Garrod in the 1930s, which acted as a node for many well-known women who either dug there or visited, including Kathleen Kenyon, Gertrude Caton Thompson, Dorothea Bate and Jacquetta Hawkes. We are currently preparing a really exciting performance piece (featuring science, poetry and archive materials) based around this called Woman In Time for the British Science Week in Bradford.
It's also really rewarding to be involved with other people and organisations passionate about similar things to us, such as Bryony Kimmings who we made a video with about palaeontology, and the makers of Lottie Dolls, for whom we acted as consultants for the design of a palaentologist doll, Fossil Hunter Lottie. Lastly but not least, it is fabulous to interact with everyone who follows, supports and contributes to trowelblazers as a community. We can't emphasize that aspect enough- archivists, academics, students, interested members of the public, friends & family of the women have all contributed to our efforts enormously and we have learned so much from them.
4) If you could go back to any point in history and meet anyone - when, who and why?
There are so many, really too many to list, haha! We each have our favorites. Brenna wants to go back to tell all the TBs that struggled in their own time that they made it, they inspired and continue to inspire, and particularly thank the headmistress that sent her students off to study with Dorothy Garrod. We all feel it would be wonderful to tell people what an impact they have had.
5) What advice do you have for budding paleontologists and scientists who want to make a breakthrough in their careers like so many of these inspirational female figures did?
Pick an area you're excited by, do research on it, find your own niche and just get out there on fieldwork or projects as soon as you can. Be prepared for long hours, potentially being rootless for a few years during your early career, and like in all sciences, more number crunching than you might have expected. Don't let anyone put you off things because they're difficult or nobody's done them before!
So - there we go, an insight into the TrowelBlazer Team. We think they're doing a great job of rebalancing the gender bias in these fields - the female trowelblazers of the past are continuing to be unearthed and celebrated. Spread the word!
