Storm Jocelyn has been named by the Irish weather service Met Éireann after Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell, an astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsating radio stars, or pulsars, in 1967.
Meanwhile, the real Dame Jocelyn returned to her former school in York in 2022 to speak to pupils on International Women’s Day.
She spoke to pupils at The Mount School in York and said she would love to see young girls being given more opportunities to play with STEM-inspiring toys and encouraged to take leadership roles.
Professor Bell Burnell’s comments came in answer to questions posed during a live, in-person Q&A in celebration of International Women’s Day, hosted by The Mount and attended by pupils from Queen Mary’s School and Terrington Hall.
Each school had prepared a short list of questions for Professor Bell Burnell, which were read out and answered in turn, before the hosting panel College Leaders opened the floor for general questions.
Professor Bell Burnell, who is a former pupil of The Mount School, explained how she strives “to be a voice for women, particularly younger women.”
She said: “As you get older you can be more outrageous and be more blunt. Sometimes you need people to say, ‘no that’s not right’ – it tends to be useful for older women to say that.”
She went on to speak candidly about her experiences of being a woman in STEM, including smashing stereotypes at university, being overlooked for the Nobel Prize for Physics, moving to different locations as a result of her husband’s career, her Quaker faith and being the second-only woman to be awarded the Copley medal, which began in 1731.
