Clementina Sasso is a researcher in solar physics at the INAF-Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory, Naples. She is part of the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter space mission team, which launched on February 10th, 2020, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, where she serves as: Co-Investigator of the Metis coronagraph, part of the scientific payload aboard the mission and responsible for the planning software and communication; Co-Chair of the Modeling and Data Analysis Working Group (MADAWG), set up by ESA for the mission; and ESA spokesperson for the press during the launch campaign.

Clementina is a member of the Organizing Committee of the working group "Professional-Amateur Relations in Astronomy" of the International Astronomical Union. She graduated with honors in Physics at the "Federico II" University of Naples and earned a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the "Georg-August-Universität" of Göttingen, Germany, with a thesis carried out at the Max Planck for Solar System Research. She is the author of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed journals in the research field of solar and stellar physics and has attended numerous invited and non-invited scientific conferences.

IVLP Impact Award Project: The Fight Against Gender Stereotypes Begins in the Classroom

This project supported Italian teachers in recognizing and deconstructing gender stereotypes (GS) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and enabled them to make more informed choices that are free from prejudices. Over six meetings, participants developed specific teaching activities and materials to incorporate into classrooms and support students in recognizing and deconstructing GS in STEM. The project also aimed to reduce the influence of GS in school contexts by sharing good educational practices between teachers.

The project engaged 74 volunteer teachers in 32 primary, middle, and high schools, and indirectly impacted at least 1500 students. The participants developed two card games based on storytelling methodology and launched a website to share the materials with the larger community of educators involved in reducing the gender gap in STEM. Upon evaluation, the project measured a reduction of approximately 10% in teachers' and students' endorsement of GS using scales validated in Science Education research field.

Check out the Project's Website

"I plan to support individuals in recognizing and understanding how their choices are affected by gender stereotypes in order to enable them to make more informed choices, free from prejudices without any scientific foundation." - Clementina Sasso

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Clementina was a participant in the IVLP Project Hidden No More: Empowering Women Leaders in STEM, organized by the U.S. Department of State and FHI 360.

Her exchange experience led her to develop her IVLP Impact Award Project: "I learned a lot about techniques and methods to address the problem of underrepresentation of women in STEM fields."

U.S. Communities Visited

Huntsville, AL; Los Angeles, CA; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL

"During my IVLP project, I visited four different cities in the United States, engaging with many STEM companies and STEM-oriented high schools that work in different ways to increase the number of girls and women in these fields." - Clementina Sasso

Country: Italy

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