Local astronomer helped bring attention to issue of sexual harassment in science
Sarah Ballard first met renowned astronomer Geoffrey Marcy a decade ago when she was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. The professor taught her astronomy class and showed special interest in her career, she told NPR. But he also showed special interest in her, and several of his other students.
Last week, BuzzFeed News broke the story that Marcy, who has been mentioned as a potential Nobel laureate, violated campus sexual harassment policies between 2001 and 2010. The university conducted a six-month investigation into his behavior, and concluded in June that Marcy gave at least four students unwanted massages, as well as kissed and groped them, according to a report obtained by BuzzFeed News.
Ballard was one of these students. She’s now a postdoctoral fellow in astronomy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and decided to talk about her experience with Marcy once she realized other women were affected by his behavior.
Ballard said in 2005 Marcy drove her home and parked the car by her house. As Ballard started to get out of the car, Marcy “reached over and was rubbing the back of my neck,’’ Ballard told NPR. She left the car and, after that, stopped seeing Marcy outside of class. Marcy declined to comment to NPR and BuzzFeed News through his lawyer.
Ballard was ashamed of what had happened, but she told NPR she was initially afraid to report Marcy because she didn’t want to hurt her chances of going to graduate school.
NPR cited a survey by Katie Hinde, a biologist at Arizona State University, that showed many women feel the same way. The survey found that 70 percent of women doing fieldwork in a range of scientific areas had experienced sexual harassment, often from their mentors or supervisors.
After the findings of the BuzzFeed investigation were published, Marcy resigned.
You can read the full NPR story here.
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