Statue of CMU biology professor on display at Smithsonian - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

At the Smithsonian Institute in our nation’s capital stands the world’s largest-ever collection of statues of women to exist in one place.

The exhibit features 120 life-size statues of women in professional Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Colorado Mesa University Assistant Professor of Biology Johanna “Jo” Varner’s 3-D scanned and 3-D printed likeness is among them.

Varner’s a pika biologist who focuses her studies on the charming, small, mountain-dwelling mammals that are similar in both name and adorability to Pikachu of the Pokemon franchise. Her team has a study site where it backpacks and camps near pikas, studying their behaviors in their natural habitat. The team also collects samples to learn more about pikas and researches how climate change affects them.

Additionally, Varner is one of 120 ambassadors for the If/Then Initiative, which is funded by Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies to activate a culture shift among young people, particularly young girls, to open their eyes to STEM careers.

If/Then is responsible for creating and displaying the statues, which are on display at the Smithsonian as part of the institution’s recognition of Women’s History Month.

“They basically decided that they were going to try to activate a culture shift in the media about how scientists are portrayed and, in particular, trying to address the gap in the media of how most scientists are portrayed as white men and try to show a variety of other shapes and sizes and colors of female STEM role models, targeted toward middle school girls,” Varner said.

This isn’t the first time Varner has received national attention. In January 2021, she appeared on the CBS program “Mission Unstoppable”, another If/Then-related project meant to shine a spotlight on women in STEM.

“It was cool to see all these different outlets picking up on stories like this,” Varner said. “Seeing the breadth of the careers that are available and the women that are trailblazing the way for the next generation, I just think it’s really inspiring. I wish the TV show had existed when I was a kid.”

However, her statue, and the display of all the statues at the Smithsonian, has been even more significant to Varner.

Earlier in March, Varner and other If/Then ambassadors were on hand to see the unveiling of the statue collection. She paid special notice to the children in attendance who were learning about the multitude of STEM careers that could be achieved if they follow their dreams.

“I think beyond just my statue, the whole collection of them is really very powerful. It demonstrates the variety and breadth and depth of different careers that are available to people, including young women,” Varner said.

“We were there in D.C. a couple of weeks ago to see the unveiling of the exhibit and it was so cool to see all the kids walking around going, ‘Wow, I never knew that I could be a pika biologist and I could study cute little animals in nature,’ or, ‘I never knew that I could study fire or that I could develop multiple apps,’ or all these different careers that are featured altogether.”

In addition to the honor of having her recreation on display at perhaps the United States’ most famous museum until the display’s final day on March 27, Varner was recently honored by Colorado Mesa with the school’s Human Scale University Champion Award for representing the school in a positive light in the If/Then Initiative.

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https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/statue-of-cmu-biology-professor-on-display-at-smithsonian/article_cb0fad0e-a701-11ec-94bf-cf37c555fd8c.html

2022-03-20 06:15:00Z
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