Katharine (Kay) Fowler-Billings (1902–December 17, 1997) was an American naturalist and geologist, born and raised in Boston. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Bryn Mawr College (1925), after which she became a GeoBadger, completing her master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin (1926). She received her doctorate at Columbia University in 1930.
When Fowler-Billings began her career, the field of geology predominantly consisted of men, and the sexism she faced often prevented her from conducting research. Because of this, she would occasionally disguise herself as a man to access geological sites and continue her research.*
The UW–Madison Department of Geosciences established the Kay Fowler-Billings Exercise in 2020 to provide an opportunity for any member of the department to propose an activity, event, or other purchase that breaks down barriers and improves department climate, diversity, and inclusiveness.
How your gifts make an impact
So far, the Kay Fowler-Billings Exercise has created community spaces for collaboration and camaraderie, eliminated barriers to conducting field work and becoming comfortable camping and being outdoors, shown students how to make their research relevant to society, and determined scientific names for two new Late Triassic genera in the Shoshone language. (This list is not exhaustive.)
Why we need your support
Our goal is to endow and grow the Geoscience Special Projects Fund in Kay Fowler-Billings’s honor to enable us to provide funding for community-based, grass-roots activities that promote well-being and equity in the department for years to come.
Gifts made in support of the Department of Geosciences will be contributed to Geoscience Special Projects Fund at the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
* (“Fowler-Billings, Katharine, 1902–. Katharine Fowler-Billings lantern slide collection, 1937: an inventory.” https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/7002.)