List of Black women in geoscience

access the current bwig list here

Inspired by the existence of African American Women in Physics (AAWIP)*, I am attempting to recreate the same for the Geosciences.

If you believe that you or someone you know should be included on this list, if you have a correction or update, or if you’d like to be removed, please contact me using the form on this page. Also, if you think this whole endeavor is problematic, let me know that too. As of now I’m only including Black women (including Black trans women) that earned their PhD in specifically these topics: Geoscience (“geo-” anything), Earth/Planetary Science, Ocean/Marine Science, Atmospheric Sciences.

*- AAWIP is a running list of all Black or African American women who have (or are in the process of) earning PhDs in Physics in the US. This list was conceived by Dr. Jami Valentine Miller when she was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University. Having spoken to several Black physicists, I know just how important the existence of this list has been for them, as they navigate a largely white and male discipline. This 2022 article by Katrina Miller in WIRED gives one such perspective: https://www.wired.com/story/the-unwritten-laws-of-physics/

Illustration of Joan Murrell Owens (PhD Geology, 1984) by George McCalman for Ebony Magazine