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Constance Walter

Ginger Kerrick dreamed of being an astronaut. When she failed the medical examination, she found another way to stay in the space program?she became a member of the flight control crew as a Capsule Communicator, or Capcomm. The Capcom communicates directly with the astronauts while they are in space.

On Friday, Kerrick shared her story with more than 1,400 students at the American Physical Society (APS) Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. Kerrick, speaking from San Antonio, was connected to eight sites around the country, including Black Hills State University (BHSU). Co-sponsored by BHSU and Sanford Lab, the conference is designed to support women who are seeking a career in physics. 

?Many university departments have few female faculty and students,? said Deputy Director of Education and Outreach Peggy Norris. ?The women who do go into physics often feel isolated. This conference offers them networking opportunies and a chance to meet role models.?

Students heard several speakers and participated in panel discussions. One panel in particular focused on gender equity. Often women say they ?lucked into? their jobs or graduate programs and begin to feel like imposters, said Brianna Mount, research assistant professor at BHSU. Panelists stressed that hard work and perseverance make the difference, not luck, and encouraged young women to think more positively about their abilities. 

The final panel of the conference featured four female graduate students: Elizabeth Boulton, Yale, Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment; Meg Millhouse, Montana State University, LIGO; Emily Dvorak, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, works on the IceCube Neutrino Experiment; and Megan Stark, SDSMT, works with LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ). The panelist focused on what students can expect from graduate school. ?The panelists are where the undergraduate students will be in three or four years,? Mount said. 

This year marks the first time the conference was encompassed a nine-state region?and the first time it was held at such a small university. ?We applied to get it here because our students who attended the conference in Utah two years ago were so excited and suggested BHSU should host one,? Norris said. 

The conference is so important to young women, said Mount, because they gain a broader understanding of the value of continuing to pursue a career in physics. ?We want them to understand that even though they might be the only woman in a physics department, there are lots of other women undergraduates around the country and women with established careers who can serve as positive role models.? 

The event was sponsored by several other organizations and institutions: SDSMT, the University of South Dakota, Dakota State University, the Board of Regents, EPSCoR, South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, GenPro Energy and the American Astronomical Society. Nationally, the conferences are supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy through a grant to the APS.