I was thrilled to find out about this pledge by being named in Rachel Chalmer‘s post. She is definitely one of the geeky grrls who inspired me in the early days, when we were the difficult, smart women in computer journalism in Sydney before the Internet was a big deal. And of course, Rosie X, who even made Geekgrrl T-shirts (I still have mine).
I think one of my geek heroes would have to be Rosalind Franklin, who even today is under-celebrated. I also have to name my wonderful friends with their science PhDs who inspire me daily: Dr Christina Flann, systemic taxonomist, running a worldwide project cataloguing daisies; Dr Krystal Evans, working in York on malaria; Dr Lizz Kopecny, working on HIV epidemiology; Dr Hilary Hoare, working on immunology; Kate Conroy, working on her cognitive science PhD concerning memory; Bonnie Alexander, working towards her neuropsych PhD. I’m sure there are others. I love you all.
Also, Sandy Stone, who inspired me to write theory again and who complicates this by challenging the category "women". Here’s to a future where it’s no longer relevant.