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Women in Science: Spotlighting 9 African women in climate research

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Women in Science: Spotlighting 9 African women in climate research

In science-related disciplines, professions, and discussions, women have been, more often than not, discriminated against and heavily underrepresented.

According to recent data from UNESCO, only 28% of researchers employed in research and development (R&D) globally are women and this level differs across regions.

This persisting gender inequality in science often hinders women from achieving their potential and effectively contributing to solving challenges.

As the world battles with climate change and its resultant effects (extreme weather events in form of drought, flooding, extreme heat, and tropical cyclones), the role of women scientists cannot be swept under the carpet.

This is because women have made, and continue to make major contributions to climate change research (making significant contributions to major scientific assessments) and wider analysis of global environmental issues.

However, in the little percentage of women in science, African women still remain underrepresented.

For that reason, to promote women’s participation and leadership in science, we’ll be spotlighting 15 amazing African women in science who have made and are making a significant impact in Africa’s climate science sector through research.

Aïda Diongue-Niang

Aïda Diongue-Niang is Adviser, National Agency for Civil Aviation and Meteorology, Senegal.

She has more than 20 years of experience in interacting with a wide range of stakeholders at all levels and has expertise in numerical weather prediction, atmospheric physics, climate, monsoon, and extreme events.

She is a lead author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Working Group I.

Mary Scholes

Mary Scholes is a Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

She studies plant physiology and biology, especially nutrient cycling, sustainable agroforestry, and soil biology.

She has served on several international global change committees, and she is a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.

Ibidun Adelekan

Ibidun Adelekan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Her research focuses on climate-society interactions, human dimensions of global environmental change, vulnerability, and resilience of human-environment systems to climate change.

She is a lead author of the IPCC AR6 and a contributing author to the IPCC AR5 – Africa Chapter.

Grace Ngaruiya

Grace Ngaruiya is Head of the Ecology and Conservation Biology Section and a Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences at Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Her research is focused on the relationship between climate change and Africa’s heritage.

She is also an IPCC AR6 lead author.

Fatima Driouech

Fatima Driouech is an Associate Professor and the Executive Coordinator of the Adaptation Metrics and Techniques Cluster at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco.

Her research interests include climate variability, regional climate modeling, and climate science.

Previously, she was the Head of the Meteorological Research Center of the Moroccan Meteorology and the National Climate Centre. She was also Vice-Chair of Working Group I of the IPCC and she was lead author of the fifth IPCC report.

For the recent IPCC AR6, she serves as a review editor.

Nana Ama Browne Klutse

Nana Ama Browne Klutse is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Physics, University of Ghana.

Her research focuses on understanding climate dynamics and variability from observations, mainly of West Africa and the African Monsoon.

Previously she worked at the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission as a senior research scientist.

She currently serves as a lead author of the IPCC AR6.

Isabelle Niang

Isabelle Niang was a Professor at the University of Chiekh Anta Diop in Dakar.

She was an expert in coastal erosion and climate change; coordinating lead author of the chapters on ‘Afrique du Groupe de travail II’ for IPCC, in the 4th and 5th reports.

Since 2008, she had been coordinating regional project ACCC (Adaptation au Changements Climatiques et Côtiers en Afrique de l’Ouest) and is based in BREDA/UNESCO.

She was also Chair of the Pan-African Regional Committee for START (PACOM) through the Pan-African START Secretariat (PASS) based at the Institute for Resource Assessment (IRA) of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Sasha Naidoo

Sasha Naidoo is a Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa.

Her expertise lies in forest, wood anatomy, silviculture, wood science, climate change, and environmental science.

She is a lead author of the IPCC AR6 report.

Elham Ali

Elham Ali is a Professor of Oceanography at the University of Suez, Egypt where she is the head of the Department of Aquatic Environment Sciences and Director of Suez University International Relations Office.

Her expertise includes aquatic ecology, marine biodiversity, coastal ecology, and water quality assessment and monitoring.

She is the lead author of the IPCC AR6 and the coordinating lead author of the Mediterranean cross chapter.

 

Source: Wikipedia

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