astronomy

Margaret Werner-Washburne

Margaret Werner-Washburne is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Margaret Werner-Washburne rather than just read about it. In short: Margaret (Maggie) Werner-Washburne is a molecular biologist and Regents' Professor Emeritus of Biology. at the University of New Mexico. She was previously the president (2013–2015) of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which holds the largest broadly multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference in the U.S.

Key takeaways

Margaret Werner-Washburne belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Margaret Werner-Washburne to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Margaret Werner-Washburne from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Margaret (Maggie) Werner-Washburne is a molecular biologist and Regents' Professor Emeritus of Biology. at the University of New Mexico. She was previously the president (2013–2015) of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which holds the largest broadly multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference in the U.S. A pioneer in the genomics of the stationary phase of yeast, she is known for her innovative programs to attract and retain underrepresented minorities in STEM. Werner-Washburne has made great strides in the field of Genetics. She has done gene sequencing with organisms that are disease vectors, which allows a greater understanding of genetics in general.

Early life and education Werner-Washburne grew up near a Mexican village within Fort Madison. Her father, Harold Theodore Werner, was a general practitioner and volunteer prison doctor. Her mother, Marta Lucia (née Brown y Morales), was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Werner-Washburne's mother and her mother's family fled Mexico for the United States during the Mexican Revolution. Werner-Washbune's mother was a prison reformer and community activist. Werner-Washburne earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English studying poetry at Stanford University. After graduation, she traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Central and South America, Alaska, Samoa, and New Zealand. She subsequently obtained a master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with Sanford Siegel, a PhD in botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Kenneth Keegstra, and did postdoctoral work with National Academy of Sciences Member Elizabeth Craig.

Career Werner-Washburne joined the University of New Mexico as a faculty member in 1988. In addition to running a research lab, Werner-Washburne served as a program director at the National Science Foundation (1998–1999), for which she was given the Director's Special Service Award (1999). Werner-Washburne created the Initiative to Maximize Student Diversity (IMSD) at the University of New Mexico. More than 300 students participated in the initiative, with >70% entering PhD programs. In 2009 she was recognized with a SAGE Women Making a Difference Award for her role in creating IMSD. She has mentored more than 100 underrepresented students who have received their PhDs or who are enrolled in PhD programs. She has been a member of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute since 2009. She has been the subject of a documentary, "The Mystery of an Ancient Gene", which described her discovery of the role of a gene called SNZ in a cell's metabolic pathway. She has written about the importance of psychosocial mentors in diversifying science and technology and institutional barriers to retaining underrepresented students in STEM. Margaret has mentored students such as Esteban Abeyta for awards including the Goldwater Scholarship that is for students in the field of mathematics, engineering, and science.

Awards and honors Werner-Washburne has received numerous honors and awards. These include: the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990), the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) (2003), the SACNAS Distinguished Scientist Award (2005), the Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year (2011), and the AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement (2017). She is an American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS Fellow (2006). In 2017, in the first session of the fifty-third legislature, the House of Representatives of the New Mexico Legislature recognized her contributions to science and to the mentoring of underrepresented minorities. Also in 2017, Werner-Washburne received the AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

Scientific research As a postdoc in Elizabeth Craig's lab, Werner-Washburne was part of a team that discovered that a group of heat-shock proteins were chaperones. Werner-Washburne began studying the stationary phase of yeast when she moved to the University of New Mexico. She found new cell types in yeast stationary phase cultures (quiescent and non-quiescent). As a part of her research with quiescent and non-quiescent phase cultures, researchers were able to gain a greater understanding of the cells life cycle, structural components, and their reproductive abilities. In further studies, they were able to isolate the two cells, which gave them the ability to track these cells systems, gaining a greater understanding of the cells and its cycles. As part of her genomics research, she developed hyperspectral imaging to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of microarrays.

Personal life Werner-Washburne plays in the band Holy Water and Whiskey, which has won three New Mexico Music Awards: Best Vocal for "Mary Had A Baby" and Best Western for "Fancy Red Boots" in 2011 and Best Vocal Performance for "Night Hymn" in 2016.

References

External links Margaret Werner-Washburne publications indexed by Google Scholar Why Did You Become a Scientist? New Mexico PBS Interview Margaret Werner-Washburne [1] "5 Things About Me: Biologist Maggie Werner-Washburne". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2019-03-29.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret Werner-Washburne

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Margaret Werner-Washburne claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Margaret Werner-Washburne before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Margaret Werner-Washburne ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Margaret Werner-Washburne

In research: Margaret Werner-Washburne appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Margaret Werner-Washburne in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Margaret Werner-Washburne is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American Association for the Advancement of Science, Hispanic and Latino American scientists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Margaret Werner-Washburne outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Margaret Werner-Washburne in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Margaret Werner-Washburne means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Margaret Werner-Washburne out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret Werner-Washburne in simple terms?

Why does Margaret Werner-Washburne matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Margaret Werner-Washburne?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Margaret Werner-Washburne.