March is women's history month and the Life Science Department at the University of Wisconsin is celebrating some of its most influential women scientists.

Caroline Schneider, a science writer for the University of Wisconsin – Madison, researched and wrote an article about influential women scientists in the university's history for Grow, the UW's magazine for life sciences.

“There were quite a few that we could have featured,” Schneider said.

One three most highlighted women was Elizabeth McCoy. During World War Two she isolated a strain of penicillin that could be produced quicker and at a much cheaper cost.

“It was a pretty major discovery that really pushed penicillin production forward,” Schneider said.

Schneider said McCoy's work helped produce more penicillin and make it a cheaper cost which was crucial during World War Two.

Another woman highlighted was Esther Lederberg. She had several discoveries in genetic research.

Lederberg and her husband discovered Bacteriophage Lambda.

“Which is a virus of bacteria, and it's something that is used as a modern organism still to this day immensely in genetics research so she really paved the way for that whole field that some people base their entire careers on,” Schneider said.

The discovery was awarded a Nobel Prize. Schneider said even though Lederberg and her husband had an equal role, only her husband was recognized at the time for it. Schneider said he barely mentioned Lederberg in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize.

Another women featured was Margurite Davis, she worked in the early 1900's with a colleague on controlled diets for animals.

They turned milk fat into something called fat soluble A, or just Vitamin A. Effectively the two discovered vitamins.

“She was actually in an unpaid position, for six years,” Schneider said. “She was just kind of doing this out of pure curiosity and wanting to help.”

Davis working for free, or Lederberg working in the shadows of her husband were common at the time according to UW professor of medical history Nicole Nelson.

Nelson said that women often weren't given official titles in the 1900's or allowed to official receive science degrees from many institutions.

While the scientific contributions they were making were influential, their ability to work through the hurdles set in place to block women in science was crucial as well.

“Their mere presence there, even if they were unpaid or were in a job title that didn't really align with what they were doing was still an encouragement to other women scientists who were seeking training or seeking careers,” Nelson said.

Now Nelson says there are still barriers for women in science, but they are in different spots than before...

“The barriers are really today not about actually getting the PhD or getting the job, it's about keeping the job and advancing in the job,” Nelson said.

Nelson said knowing about the important scientific contributions from the Wisconsin women is important. Particularly because without titles or recognitions, many historians have left out their contributions.

“I think one of the main things that we really should take away from this story is a little bit of self reflection about why it is that we don't know those stories,” Nelson said.

Which is why Scneider was happy to write about the work of several important women scientists.

“It was just really rewarding to write this story and be able to feature them and give them at least a small part of the recognition hat they deserved,” Schneider said.

You can learn more about these women and other influential women scientists in the online version of the story here: https://grow.cals.wisc.edu/departments/features/the-sweeping-landscape-of-her-work

Or from an accompanying story highlighting several other women here: https://grow.cals.wisc.edu/departments/features/groundbreaking-women-scholars-of-cals