Day 3 of #artAdventCalendar: another new portrait - geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi (1920-2007) who created tools that allowed her to make 1st measurements of CO2 in seawater, raised the alarm about nuclear fallout, tracing it in oceans & researched peaceful uses of nuclear power. A supporter of women in science, she established the Society of Japanese Women Scientists & the Saruhashi Prize for 🧵
#printmaking #sciart #womenInSTEM #climateChange #oceanography #linocut #mastoArt
Japanese women researchers for excellence in science & mentoring women scientists.
The story goes that her interest was sparked in science watching raindrops in primary school, wondering about the source of rain. Her parents believed in education, but she had to make a case to leave a secure insurance job at 21 to study #chemistry. Her family witnessed how women struggled to support themselves without husbands or fathers in wartime. So her mother thought science might be a good way to ensure 🧵2
financial independence. After completing her undergrad degree at Women’s College of Science (now Toho U) in ‘43 she worked at the Geochemical Laboratory at the Meteorological Research Institute (now the Japan Meteorological Agency) with her mentor, marine chemist & lab director Miyake Yasuo, who had a strict policy against gender discrimination. She developed the first tool to measure CO2 in the oceans using pH & chlorinity, called Saruhashi’s Table. She enrolled in the PhD program 🧵3
