October 30, 2024

This week, I gave a talk closer to home, at the University of Maryland. I participated in a fireside chat for MomentUMD Live with the Dean of the Agriculture and Natural resources College, Crag Beyrouty. I greatly enjoyed our discussion, as well as the lively Q&A that followed. At a reception afterward, I signed books […]

October 29, 2024

Hands down, the best part of my job is getting to explore new places, including college campuses. I loved being a guest lecturer at the beautiful Bowdoin College this week, talking about Women in Science Now (which just had it’s 1 year book anniversary!) and then exploring coastal Maine a bit. I met up with […]

October 12, 2024

A story in STAT News related to the Nobel Prizes in science going to men in 2024 noted: “Unfortunately there is still a surprising amount of work to do just to convince men in senior scientific positions that these barriers exist at all.”  It’s not just to convince men. The barriers facing women in science […]

September 19, 2024

“Picture a Scientist,” a documentary featuring stories and research about bias in STEM, reached a large international audience. Yet, the extent to which this type of engaging media can impact gender bias remains unclear. In a unique collaboration between film creators and researchers, the current large-scale field studies explored whether “Picture a Scientist” functioned as […]

September 12, 2024

I just returned from Cambridge, UK, where I filmed some impressive bioscience undergrad students for the Amgen Scholars Program at their European symposium. While there, I led a couple of round table discussions about science communications, publishing, and perceptions of scientists in society. To kick things off, I did a quick and pared back “Draw […]

June 7, 2024

I am back home in States after 2 weeks in Europe, the last part of which was spent engaging with international researchers in Lausanne and Hamburg about ways to create more inclusive and equitable environments for scientists. At the University of Hamburg, I was pleased to see the commitment of leadership at the highest levels, […]

May 30, 2024

Women in Science Now has received a prestigious Nautilus Book Award, a Silver Medal in Social Change and Justice. The mission of the Nautilus Book Awards is to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living and green values, wellness, social change, social justice, and spiritual growth.

May 1, 2024

It was wonderful to connect with students, faculty, and staff this week in two talks on the Caltech campus. I enjoyed discussing my book, including the themes of #WomeninSTEM, representation, and why public perceptions of scientists in society matter. I also loved seeing my colleagues from the Amgen Scholars Program, Candace Rypisi and Maria Manzanares […]

March 16, 2024

I spent most of this week in Colorado, where I gave talks to faculty and students at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado, Boulder. The discussions on both #womeninstem and #scicomm were rich and continue to propel me to advocate for change. I am more optimistic change is possible after seeing […]

March 8, 2024

This day just keeps getting better! Not only did I have the honor of presenting to a groups of hundreds of federal scientists at the U.S. Geological Service and National Park Service, but I the audio-version of my book was also released. For me International Women’s Day is one like any other to spend of […]

March 7, 2024

In the book and television series Lessons in Chemistry, when asked to name a female scientist, one of the characters can only think of Marie Curie. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, as the story is set in the 1960s, when gender norms prevented most women from pursuing science. But fast forward to today, and in some respects, […]

February 19, 2024

I remember arriving at Cornell in the mid-1990s, thrilled at being part of the Cornell Tradition community and eager to dive into my classes in the College of Engineering. I had no worries about fitting in or whether I could “cut it”; I had been at the top of my class in high school, taking advanced math […]

February 11, 2024

I had an amazing experience presenting in San Diego at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting and discussing Women in Science Now at a local science writers book club through the San Diego Science Writers Association. And happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! See the full LinkedIn post here.

February 2, 2024

In selecting Women in Science Now as a top book choice in Nature, Andrew Robinson writes: In this practical analysis, complementing it with female scientists’ vivid career stories. ‘No single intervention, policy, or law is enough,’ [Munoz] rightly notes. Read the full story here.

December 3, 2023

I ended my “book tour” events for 2023 with a fun book signing at Because Science in Washington, D.C., reconnecting with the D.C. Science Writers Association, a group I’ve long belonged to but haven’t been as active with in the last few years, and getting in some holiday shopping. I am looking forward to resuming […]

November 21, 2023

This is an excerpt of a debrief of my reflections that I wrote after a few weeks straight of talks and meeting about After a few weeks straight of talks about equity and inclusion in STEM fields at Cornell, Duke, NC State, Research Triangle Park, and the Society for Neuroscience, as well as for other […]

November 17, 2023

That’s a wrap on my visit to the Research Triangle in NC! Gave talks to 120+ undergrad and grad STEM students at Duke and NC State , met some 70+ professional scientists and faculty, and chatted with everyone from students interested in science communications and startup researchers to the mayor of Morrisville and STEM educators. […]

November 9, 2023

In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively ended race-conscious admissions, many universities and other institutions are looking at new ways to ensure their campuses and workplaces are diverse, equitable, and inclusive. These efforts are still necessary — especially in science fields — with women, and especially women of color, experiencing bias, discrimination, and harassment […]

I ended my time at my alma Cornell University talking with graduate students over dinner last night about gender equity in STEM fields. It aas wonderful to have so many 1:1 discussions. Coupled with lectures to undergrad students about science communications and new ways to think of themselves as future scientists, as well as my […]

November 4, 2023

This week, I had a terrific conversation with Professor Vanessa Bohns (Cornell) as part of the Family Action Network speaker series. We talked about why both stories and data matter in communicating about inequities and representation in science, hurdles women continue to face in their career paths, potential solutions to those barriers, why public perceptions […]

October 25, 2023

As featured in Inverse: Practitioners of science spend their lives conjuring questions and searching for answers. Despite the pursuit of truth, Lisa M. P. Munoz has found that the sciences are riddled with systemic biases in plain sight. Throughout her career, first as an engineer and later as a science communicator, she has experienced this firsthand and listened to […]

I shared a bit about the writing of my book for the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) Advance Copy : I started writing the book after working as the publicist for the Emmy-nominated documentary Picture a Scientist and deeply connecting to the topic of gender inequities in science. It made me reflect on my early experiences […]

October 21, 2023

I was overwhelmed with joy at the turnout and quality of the discussion about #WomeninSTEM at my local bookstore on Friday night. It was my first reading and bookshop visit for my new book and so grateful for the support of my community. You can support the book store, Bards Alley, here. See the full […]

October 13, 2023

If you had asked me to draw an engineer when I was in middle school, I would have drawn my big sister. I would go on to pursue engineering just like her. She chose that path after watching informational college videos, designed to recruit women into the profession, showing how much engineers could make a […]

October 11, 2023

When I was an engineering student at Cornell University, one of my first assignments in a science communications class was to analyze scientists in films to better understand public perception of science. Jurassic Park, Contact, Armageddon, Back to the Future—there were many to choose from. I went with the lesser-known Manhattan Project, which is about a secret plutonium refinement lab […]

August 31, 2023

Equity is about universal ideas of retention, fairness, well-being, and accountability in the workplace. That was the key message about which I spoke to some 300 economic geologists at the annual meeting of the Society of Economic Geologists in London this week. The organizers of the meeting invited me not only to give a talk […]

July 31, 2023

So excited to kick off this new blog with news about the upcoming launch of Women in Science Now: Stories and Strategies for Achieving Equity (Columbia University Press). In the the first of two book launch events, I will read from my book at Bards Alley in Northern Virginia, on October 20, 2023 at 6pm. […]

In March 2022, Lisa spoke with Rachel Morford, President of the Society of Women Engineers, about how women’s inequities for women in the STEM workforce have evolved over time, the potential causes for women being uncredited and underrepresented, and a few stories about forgotten women in science (including taking inspiration from one of her daughters, […]

In December 2021, Lisa spoke with Roberta Rincon, associate director of research for the Society of Women Engineers, about the upcoming book tentatively titled A New Picture of a Scientist: Creating a New Culture for Science That Overcomes Obstacles in Equity. In the new book, to be published by Columbia University Press, Lisa examines research-based […]

December 14, 2021

December 14, 2021 – Miranda Martin, Editor in Physical and Life Sciences for Columbia University Press, recently signed seasoned science writer Lisa M.P. Munoz to a contract for worldwide rights for her first book, tentatively titled A New Picture of a Scientist: Creating a New Culture for Science That Overcomes Obstacles in Equity. The signing includes […]