STEMinists of Neuroscience

Every night, just before I go to sleep,

I love to dream of what I'll one day be.

A brilliant neuroscientist who makes discoveries,

My name alongside all the brightest minds in history [sigh].

But why, when I look inside my books,

do I see no one else who looks like me?

I think it's time to shed a little light

on some of the women who inspire me.

I want to be like Marian Diamond. 

She showed the world that our environments are key.

She grew the brains of rats just by enriching their little homes and living spaces

and showed the world the wonders of neuroplasticity.

Or maybe I'll be the next May-Britt Moser.

She helped reveal human navigational memory,

found grid cells in the brain that mapped out locations and spaces

a genuinely groundbreaking discovery.

Standing tall with all of the women who came before

STEMinist in neuroscience, I'm walking through the door!

Elizabeth Gould found that brain cells can grow anew,

While Brenda Milner unlocked our memory.

Harris showed how learning made synaptic structural changes,

While Barbara McClintock found jumping genes.

Tsukamoto helped find a key cell for blood cancer.

Bolte-Taylor studied her stroke recovery.

Levi-Montalcini discovered nerve growth factor

and Bathe was laser cataract surgery.

So many names that I'd never known,

Too many women that I haven't shown.

Like first Black woman Canady in U.S. neurosurgery,

or Marder, Warrington, or Goldman-Rakic.

They paved the path for girls like me.

Now, I know I'll find my way.

I'm gonna be a neuroscientist one day.