“The Bearded Lady Project” is a traveling exhibition composed of a series of 38 black-and-white portraits taken by art photographer Kelsey Vance. The photographs showcase female paleontologists conducting in the field, laboratories, offices, and museums. The paleontologists posed for the large-format camera wearing fake beards to challenge the public perception of what a scientist looks like.
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Look For
A black-and-white photograph of Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer in front of a diorama from the Museum’s old Fossil Hall
Photographs of scientists at work
In the photograph of Dr. Lisa Bouche, look for her “dog tags” from her Arctic research expedition
A photograph of the women of the National Museum of Natural History
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Things to Do
Watch a short video and meet a few of the amazing scientists featured in the exhibit. Travel with them into the field, into the lab, and into their museums, and hear their stories of overcoming challenges along the way to becoming scientists.
Consider the answers to challenging questions such as “Do women in the sciences have to work harder to stand out?” and “Have you ever been disrespected, overlooked, passed over, silenced, or rewarded differently because of your identity?"
Pledge to make a difference whatever we do, where we live or work or go to school, and whatever we look like.