Dark skies: Astronomy’s sexual harassment scandal picks up more cases
Sexual harassment is everywhere - especially in the sciences. But astronomers are pushing back against the systemic problems in their field.
On Tuesday, two new cases of sexual harassment in the academic world of astronomy came to light, making for three high-profile outings in as many months.
In October, BuzzFeed News broke the story that Geoff Marcy - an astronomer frequently cited as a potential Nobel laureate - had been investigated by the University of California, Berkeley, for violating the school’s sexual harassment policy. The six-month-long investigation found several instances in which Marcy had been guilty of harassment, but he received only a warning - and students outside of the allegations were not informed of the investigation.
BuzzFeed reports that Sarah Gossan, a former student in Ott's lab, filed a complaint with Caltech's Title IX office when she “realised that her deteriorating relationship with Ott was harming her work and emotional well-being.” Ott had drawn Gossan into frequent, emotional online chats during which he confessed to her that he’d been in love with Io Kleiser, another of his students, who would eventually join Gossan in filing the complaint.
According to the school’s investigation and Ghorayshi’s reporting, Ott expressed distress over his love for Kleiser, even posting 86 poems about the researcher on Tumblr - though Kleiser herself was unaware of his feelings. Kleiser was fired suddenly when Ott claimed to be disappointed and personally hurt by her lack of commitment to the lab, forcing her to find another adviser with whom to finish her degree. He revealed to Gossan that he’d fired Kleiser because he worried that her sexual sway over him was allowing her to slack off, despite her being unaware of his feelings.