Rochelle Anne "Shelley" Diamond is a research biologist, queer activist, and chair emeritus of Out to Innovate, formerly known as

National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals Out to Innovate, previously the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), is a professional society for professionals in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Each year, Out to Innovate g ...

. She is the Director of

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

's Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource Laboratory and the Lab Manager for Ellen Rothenberg's research lab.

Early life and education

Diamond grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

and was a tomboy as a child. After college, Diamond married a man who was a friend. Her husband was aware that she was lesbian, but was somewhat accepting. They divorced after 10 years of marriage. Diamond came out to her family as lesbian in her 20s. Diamond earned a dual bachelor’s degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology ...

and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and phys ...

from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

in 1974.

Career

Diamond is the applications specialist and Director of the

flow cytometry Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the fl ...

and

cell sorting Cell sorting is the process through which a particular cell type is separated from others contained in a sample on the basis of its physical or biological properties, such as size, morphological parameters, viability and both extracellular and intra ...

shared resource laboratory at the

in Pasadena, California. She also is the lab manager for

Ellen Rothenberg (scientist) Ellen V. Rothenberg (born 1952) is an American biologist who is a Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Technology. She investigates the molecular mechanisms that underpin lineage choice. She is an elected fellow of the American ...

's research lab. The lab studies immature cells in the immune system and the signals that influence what specialist roles the cells take on. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (elected 2008).

Activism

Diamond became interested in activism after experiencing homophobia in her personal and professional life. In 1981, she was forced out of City of Hope Research Institute where she worked because a coworker discovered she was gay and began sabotaging her lab experiments. Diamond helped start the ''National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals'' (NOGLSTP), now called Out to Innovate, an organization that enables young queer scientists to network with each other. She is now the chair emeritus of the organization. Diamond has devoted her work with NOGLSTP to empowering LGBTQ+ people in STEM and fighting against discrimination that LGBTQ+ individuals face in the workplace. She believes that "scientists and engineers are more productive when they can be themselves". Part of her work to increase the visibility of queer people in STEM includes keep a running list of "queer scientists of historical note" and supporting a mentoring program for young students and scientists to meet older people in their careers of choice.

Personal life

Diamond married chemist Barbara Belmont after they met in the queer activist community in Los Angeles. They have been married for more than 30 years.

External links

Queer Scientists of Historical Note list

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimond, Rochelle Living people American LGBT scientists American women biologists University of California, Santa Barbara alumni California Institute of Technology people American LGBT rights activists Lesbian academics Lesbian scientists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Biologists from Arizona