By Christy Tidwell

After sharing the initial post in this series, I got several messages or comments suggesting other cool women! So I thought I’d post a few additional suggestions here to conclude Women’s History Month.

Ellen Swallow Richards – suggested by Joseph Heumann, Eastern Illinois University

Best known for her work in the field of sanitary engineering, Ellen Swallow Richards was a chemist – one of the first professional women chemists in the US – whose work led to better water-quality standards and understandings of environmental systems.

Frances Arnold – suggested by Robb Winter, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Co-inventor on over 40 patents, Frances Arnold is best known for using directed evolution to create enzymes with novel function. In 2018, she was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Virginia T. Norwood – suggested by Curtis V. Price, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Sometimes called the Mother of Landsat, Virginia T. Norwood – a physicist – was instrumental in designing the Landsat program that made modern Earth observation possible. She embraces the title “Mother of Landsat,” saying, “Yes. I like it, and it’s apt. I created it; I birthed it; and I fought for it.”

Winifred Goldring – one more suggestion from me (Christy Tidwell)

Winifred Golding was a paleontologist working in the early 20th century, best known for her work on Devonian crinoids . She was the first State Paleontologist of New York, and she used that position to design exhibits for educating visitors. These exhibits reflected a more modern and engaging approach to science communication at the time. She fascinates me not only because of her actual paleontological work but because she is said to have invented special pants for women to wear in the field and because this is one of the commonly shared pictures of her.