Surprise Good Things

This week was the Fall 2016 AGU meeting in San Francisco, CA. For anyone not familiar, it's the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union and it's attended by over 20,000 scientists annually (24k last year). Just about every topic in the very broad Earth Science umbrella is covered and there is no way to see all of it. This year, a conversation that I had months ago with a friend has been on my mind as I move between meetings, talks, and poster sessions. I won't get into the longer conversation we had but, in response to a comment I made, my friend suggested that female role models were less important to me because I had always had them.

Though it took me by surprise, it was an incredibly true assessment. Throughout my growing up, I was surrounded by women (and men) doing awesome things. I was never told (at least, not by my parents) that there was anything that I could not be. Other people suggested it but I was always encouraged to shrug off their comments. Luckily, I am just contrary enough (it's an ingrained personality trait) that the suggestion that I cannot do something will usually spur me on to prove that I can, regardless of wanting to or not. It gets me into trouble sometimes.

On Monday evening, I met a fellow scientist, helicopter and fixed wing pilot. It's an unusual thing and even more unusual that both of us were women. Like all pilots when meeting, we were quickly off an talking. It was surprising and it was exciting. You have to understand the odds here. Women account for only about 5% of all pilots in the United States. Based on FAA statistics, only about 1.3% of all pilots in the US (both men and women) are dual fixed wing and rotorcraft certified. Even if that 1.3% applies to women (it's probably lower), the odds of happening to bump into another female PhD (roughly 1.5% of the population of the US), who is also a pilot with a dual certification were pretty low. We were both incredibly excited. ;-) It mattered in a way that is difficult to describe but deeply exciting.

Our meeting didn't change my belief in my own ability to do science or to fly an airplane or a helicopter but it was still powerful and unique to find someone that I shared so much in common with.