Moriarty Science Seminar: Gender in Mineral Names
January 13, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Hybrid: Online and At the Museum
Gender in Mineral Names: A Record of Past and Ongoing Diversity Challenges in the Earth Sciences
Speaker: Chris Emproto, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
When: Monday, January 13, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Where: Earth Theater at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and online via Zoom
Tickets: This lecture is free. Museum admission is not required.
Learn about scientific discoveries directly from the experts in the field. Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s scientific research staff and invited speakers discuss their latest findings on numerous scientific topics at the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar series.
Click here to register to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration is not necessary to attend in person. Museum admission is not included with the lecture. Visitor Services staff can direct you to Earth Theater on arrival.
Talk Abstract
There are currently more than 6,000 unique mineral species recognized by the global mineralogical community. Proposals describing potentially new minerals are submitted to the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification for review and approval. The Commission also votes on the name suggested by the authors. Common ways to name minerals include references to distinct chemical or physical properties, the location where the mineral was found, or after a person involved in the discovery or who is prominent in the field of mineralogy. For this reason, mineral names encode aspects of scientific and cultural history. But can mineral names also tell us about the future? By tracking the demographics of mineral eponyms over time, Chris Emproto and colleagues were able to see changes in who is represented among mineral names and how eponym demographics have evolved, with an emphasis on gender. Contrary to expectation, their results indicated that women’s representation among eponyms has not increased significantly in the last two decades but remains stalled at around 11%. This trend contrasts with educational data that instead show improvements in women’s representation. The results emphasize the ongoing need for more intentional recruitment of underrepresented groups in the Earth sciences.
