“Due to social and political reasons, there are too few women in science. We hope that more women will become scientists in spite of the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) resistance from the establishment. People should be evaluated according to their abilities and contributions, and not on the basis of their gender.”

Our paper presents the easiest correct method for researchers to incorporate the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) three-year data into their own analysis. Consequently, our results have been widely used by others.

  Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or synthesis of knowledge?

Our paper describes a new methodology to synthesize cosmological knowledge.

  Would you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

Before our paper was published, WMAP results were widely misused by researchers who simply took cosmological constraints from the publications of the WMAP team. This is inappropriate since those constraints were derived under specific assumptions about the cosmological model (a universe dominated by a cosmological constant). Our paper presents cosmological constraints derived from the WMAP data that are independent of such model assumptions.

  How did you become involved in this research and were any particular problems encountered along the way?

We have become involved in this line of research because cosmology is driven by observational data today, and we enjoy exploring the best ways to interpret data. We did not encounter any particular problems in our work, because the expertise of the two of us is complementary.

  Where do you see your research leading in the future?

We are both involved with advancing the search for dark energy—the unknown cause for the observed cosmic acceleration observed today.

  Are there any social or political implications for your research?

We are both women. Due to social and political reasons, there are too few women in science. We hope that more women will become scientists despite the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, resistance from the establishment. People should be evaluated according to their abilities and contributions, and not on the basis of their gender.