Left Brain — Mareena Robinson Snowden

For many Black scientists and researchers, working in academia means weathering systemic bias, micro-aggressions, and isolation. Dr. Shardé M. Davis, a communications researcher at the University of Connecticut, created #BlackInTheIvory as a platform for discussing the experiences of Black academics.

On December 3, 2020, Dr. Davis joined Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, a nuclear engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, and Dr. James Mickens, a computer scientist at Harvard University, to examine academia's role in perpetuating institutional racism and efforts to change those systems. Tanya Ballard Brown, an editor at National Public Radio (NPR), moderated.

PanelMareena RobinsonDecember 11, 2020Academia, DEI, STEM, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, MIT, Panel, Webinar, Advocacy

Project on Managing the Atom holds panel discussion on racial injustice in the nuclear field

The recent killings of unarmed Black Americans and the ensuing protests have yet again highlighted the racial injustices and structural inequalities that remain a major part of life in the United States. Institutions across the U.S. nuclear community—including the Project on Managing the Atom—have issued statements condemning systemic racism and recognizing the need to counter racial injustices. To further these discussions, this panel focused on often-overlooked issues of racial inequalities in the nuclear field. Contributors to the panel discussed race in the context of global nuclear governance, the nuclear disarmament movement, and nuclear weapons testing.

PanelMareena RobinsonOctober 29, 2020Nuclear Security, Harvard, Racism, STEM, Nuclear Engineering

RESPONSIBLE DISRUPTION: Women’s Participation, Perspectives and Power

The Ploughshares Fund Women’s Initiative held an energizing conversation via Zoom, Responsible Disruption: Women’s Participation, Perspectives and Power, Tuesday, October 20. Guest speakers were: Ambassador Laura Holgate, Mareena Robinson Snowden and Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, and the event was moderated by Ploughshares Fund president, Emma Belcher. We explored how responsible disruption leads to changing the world for the better – and how to do so in a way that is fair, responsible, safe and trustworthy.

PanelMareena RobinsonOctober 21, 2020Nuclear Engineering, Advocacy, Nuclear Security, Women in STEM, STEM, Nuclear Weapons

How to Avoid the Nuclear Apocalypse - 2019 SXSW Panel hosted by Women’s Actions for New Directions

Last month, I had the honor of participating on a panel about the history and future of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons policy, hosted by the Women’s Action for New Directions. Alongside my fellow participants - Beatrice Fihn, Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons & Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, former coordinator for threat reduction programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation - we discussed the changing geopolitical landscape, the decline of international cooperation on arms reduction and other tools of strategic stability, and our views on the best paths forward with respect to US and international nuclear weapons policy.

PanelMareena RobinsonMarch 8, 2019Nuclear, STEM, Nuclear Security, Panel, SXSW, Austin, Nuclear Engineering, Policy

MIT community engages in dialogue on race

Reif said the ongoing pursuit of racial equality and social justice “is one of the world’s great challenges. … Recent events have shown us, again, that terrible fault lines of race are still a major issue in our society. It would be naïve to think that we at MIT are somehow immune to these problems: MIT is a microcosm of our broader society. It shares many of its flaws, as well as its virtues.”

Reif noted that the protesters “are asking us to listen, to collaborate, and to act.”

PanelMareena RobinsonDecember 11, 2014Black Lives Matter, STEM, MIT, Panel, Protest, Nuclear Engineering, Black in STEM