February 11 marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a United Nations initiative to both celebrate groundbreaking talent in their respective fields and to recognize ongoing gender-based challenges.
While we've come a long way since the days when Beatrix Potter was denied a career as a pioneering mycologist, and there are now more women and girls undertaking studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), they're still hugely underrepresented. Women generally receive smaller grants than male colleagues, and while they make up 33% of all researchers, they represent only 12% of the members of national science academies. In new tech fields, such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman. According to the United Nations (UN), the statistics are far worse for "marginalized women and girls, including indigenous and Afro-descendant women, women with disabilities, those living in rural areas or who identify as LGBTIQ+."
“On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we highlight a simple equation: More women and girls in science equals better science,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Women and girls bring diversity to research, expand the pool of science professionals, and provide fresh perspectives to science and technology, benefiting everyone.”
With that in mind, here, on February 11, are 11 women across a broad field that are changing the world of science for the better.
Professor Anamaría Font, string-theory physicist
The 2023 L'Oréal Women In Science 2023 Laureate for Latin America and the Caribbean, Venezuelan physicist Anamaría Font has furthered the science world's understanding of the superstrings theory, which has huge implications in unraveling the structure of matter and quantum gravity. Her introduction of the notion of S-duality was a pivotal moment in the developments that led to the second-string revolution in 1995.
“I would like to solve unanswered questions such as the origin of the pattern of masses of elementary particles, as well as the nature of the dark matter and energy that make up most of the universe – and ultimately, to develop a theory that underlies all physical phenomena," she said on her L'Oréal win. "I am convinced of the value of this research and its potential to lead to future applications.
“The greatest accomplishment will hopefully be made by a young girl, somewhere out there, who is now getting ready to become a brilliant scientist despite the hardships inherent in her journey,” she added.
Dr Hortense Le Ferrand, materials engineer
Assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Dr Hortense Le Ferrand heads a research team in the fields of materials science, mechanics and engineering, looking to create sustainable materials and structures. She has developed, published and patented 3D printing technologies that make high-performance multifunctional materials. She also won Nature journal's 2023 award for Inspiring Women in Science – Scientific Achievement.
"I want to further explore ideas that are tangential to my current research and that often appear as 'exotic' for someone working in engineering (and for which it is very difficult to get funding)," she said upon her win. "I would like to question the environmental, social, and maybe philosophical implications of the technologies I am developing with my team which are essentially bioinspired processes and bioinspired solutions."
Atinuke Chineme, sustainable wast management pioneer
University of Calgary's Atinuke Chineme won the Walls Falling Women Breakthrough Award 2023 in the Innovation category, along with Marwa Shumo, for their work on a project that uses black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) in biowaste conversion and animal feed production. Nigeria-born Chineme's own PhD research in environmental design, focusing on sustainability in waste management. She is recognized for having a unique gender-sensitive approach to waste management.
“The black soldier fly consumes waste that would have been thrown out, then they lay these eggs on the waste which hatch into larvae that consume the waste to mature," she said of her and Shumo's groundbreaking work. "Once the larvae have grown, the women use them as livestock feed and also gather the leftover compost and use it as fertilizer for their crops. Nothing is wasted from this process."
Alie Ward, science podcaster extraordinaire
The ability to communicate complex science to audiences outside the world of research is an undervalued skill, and American writer Alie Ward does it better than most. Ward's prize-winning podcast Ologies – which looks into a diverse and fascinating area of all things 'ology'-based – is an entertaining and expertly narrated series, which also gives a platform to diverse voices in the science community. From Testudinology (tortoises) to Somnology (sleep), the episodes may be packed with knowledge, but they're packaged up with excellent narration that appeals to everyone from professional biologists to the science-curious. Ward also has a spinoff Smologies series, made for curious kids.
Dr Anna Trigos, computational biologist and researcher of cancer ecosystems
Venezuela native Dr Anna Trigos, with a passion for biology and informatics, has become a leading researcher in unraveling the dynamics within cancer ecosystems. Now head of the Multi-omic Evolution and Ecosystems Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, Trigos followed her 2020 Lea Medal win by claiming the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship in November 2023.
“Every day at work I, alongside my incredible team, am actively contributing to breaking down the stereotype of women in science," she said. "Whether you are wanting to manage a team in a lab, research, or play an active role in an experiment, STEM is all about narrowing in on what your strengths are and matching the person with the right role. I’m so grateful to receive this Fellowship to help make a difference to the lives of future cancer patients and the people around them."
Dr Sue-Ann Watson, marine biology and communicator
Senior Lecturer at James Cook University, Australia, and senior scientist and curator of marine invertebrates at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Dr Sue-Ann Watson earned the 2023 Queensland Women in STEM Prize – Judges’ Award for her groundbreaking research into marine environments in the face of climate change.
"I research how marine animals are responding to environmental change, including climate change," she said. "I focus on marine invertebrates (animals without backbones), which form critical lower levels in the ocean food web, and include commercially important or threatened species, like giant clams."
Watson is also committed to communicating STEM to non-science audiences, in order to grow public understanding of science, and is passionate about reaching people through initiatives such as citizen science projects and museum exhibitions. She's developed new understandings of organisms including bivalve and gastropod molluscs (oysters, giant clams, jumping snails, cone snails, pteropods), crown-of-thorns starfish, hard and soft corals, crustaceans, sea urchins, fish (coral reef fish, kingfish, barramundi), brachiopods and sea cucumbers.
Find out more about her lab here. Watson speaks about her field of interests and award win in the video below.
Dr Pimpa Limthongkul, sustainable energy scientist
In 2023, the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) with US Agency for International Development (USAID) presented Dr Pimpa Limthongkul with the 2023 Underwriters Laboratories-ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. She also won the Women in Power Award at the IEEE PES Dinner Talk in Thailand last year.
A principal researcher at the National Energy Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency in Thailand, Limthongkul has been widely recognized for her groundbreaking work in renewable energy and energy storage for electric vehicles.
She discusses her work in this video.
Suzanne Gildert, AI engineer and visionary
Co-founder of sanctuary.ai, the British physicist oversees the design and engineering of the company's human-like robots. She's pivotal in the development of ground-breaking "cognitive architectures" that drive how this new technology learns. And, yes, she is one of the 22% of women currently in AI development. She's also an accomplished digital artist and poet.
Sanctuary aims to "understand the human mind well enough to build one in a machine," which Gildert states is "perhaps the most complex technical challenge in front of humankind: how to build a human-like brain and body capable of executing almost any task in the same way that a person would."
You can see her discuss the challenges of building the robotic future in this episode of the company's podcast series below.
Kat Arney, scientist, science writer, broadcaster and public speaker
With a background in developmental genetics, British geneticist Kat Arney quickly found that her most valued asset was her talent as a science communicator. She's the voice behind the lauded Genetics Society podcast series Genetics Unzipped, which does the nearly impossible task of making complex topics – epigenetics, evolutionary biology, microbiology and genetic engineering – fit for a casual science audience.
She has a long history of work in cancer genetics, and wrote the award-winning 2020 book, Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life, which underpinned her talent as a 'science storyteller.'
While a few years old, you can watch Arney's TEDx Talk here.
Professor Aviv Regev, computational biologist and Human Cell Atlas founder
The L'Oréal Women In Science 2023 Laureate for North America, Aviv Regev is recognized for her groundbreaking work in using mathematics and computer science to revolutionize cell biology. In particular, she's at the forefront of work in uncovering unknown cellular mechanisms behind disease, with the hope of this understanding leading to life-saving treatment and diagnostic tools.
Her laboratory has discovered previously unknown cells involved in cancer, ulcerative colitis, Alzheimer’s disease, cystic fibrosis and COVID-19. In 2016, she co-founded the Human Cell Atlas, a global open initiative that aims to map every cell in the human body.
In accepting her award, she noted that she was "optimistic" for the future of women in the field, but that "a lot remains to be done and we cannot take anything for granted."
“It’s important to feel empowered to what you think is best, even if it seems unorthodox – you can be your own role model," she said, in her advice to young women thinking about a career in science. "And don’t feel obliged to constrain yourself to one discipline – combining all the areas that inspire you is incredibly fun and rewarding.”
See Regev discuss her work in the video below.
Dr Georgia Grant, geologist and sedimentologist
In 2023, New Zealand scientist Dr Georgia Grant was awarded the prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship for research into past periods of climate change.
“Studying Geology at university I was immediately taken by the lesson in Earth’s history and how it came to be the world we know today," she said, in a statement. "I loved the patterns and cycles that are imprinted on the chaos of time and change, particularly in regard to climate and the climate system."
With a PhD on climate cycles revealed through marine mud found in Whanganui Basin on New Zealand's North Island, Grant now travels the globe doing vital climate change research, linking the past to the present to help us plan for the future. As a sedimentologist, Grant is an integral part of GNS Science, researching geological processes in order to find ways to boost the planet's resilience to a changing climate.