The project “Habla con Ellas: Mujeres en Astronomía” (Talk to Them: Women in Astronomy) of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) begins today its seventh edition in Spain as part of the celebrations of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Aimed at the Spanish educational community, it seeks to create new professional role models in science and technology, as well as to inspire new generations, especially girls, to follow in their footsteps.

In this edition, the project will feature 36 female astrophysicists, engineers and technologists from the IAC, the Canary Island Observatories and other collaborating institutions who will hold videoconferences with schools. In them, the speakers will explain their work, talk about their field of research and answer students' questions about scientific and technological careers, the Universe or the methods used to learn more about it. This initiative, organized and coordinated by the Outreach and Communication Unit of the IAC, is open to all levels of pre-university education, from kindergarten to high school and vocational training, and runs from February to June.

In the six editions carried out so far, a total of 56 collaborators from the IAC and 12 other institutions have participated, carrying out 250 activities with an impact on nearly 10,000 students from practically all regions of Spain. The surveys answered by the participating students and teachers show very positive evaluations of the activities and an increase in student interest in scientific and technological areas after the activity.

Inspired by the good results achieved by this project in Spain, the Institute of Physics of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in the Dominican Republic and Caribbean Astronomy for Inclusion (CAI) have launched the program "Habla con Ellas: Caribeñas en Astronomía" (Talk to Them: Caribbean Women in Astronomy). This initiative is also being inaugurated this week on the occasion of the February 11 celebrations and seeks to empower and highlight the participation of Caribbean women in astronomy and astrophysics. Through conferences conducted by leading professionals in the area in the Caribbean region, the program offers a platform to motivate future generations of women scientists, fostering an inclusive space for the exchange of ideas and the advancement of science in the region.

The Caribbean initiative arose as a result of collaboration between the National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAEC) in Spain and the Dominican Republic, linked to the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Project website: Habla con Ellas: Mujeres en Astronomía

Contact: Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio (nre [at] iac.es (nre[at]iac[dot]es)), Project Coordinator at the IAC, NAEC Spain.