Dr Mirjana Pović

Location: Ethiopia/Spain

Mirjana is an astrophysicist and assistant professor at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute who studies galaxy formation, and works to encourage secondary school girls in Ethiopia to choose STEM subjects. In 2018, she won the Nature Research Inspiring Science Award for not only her research on galaxies, but her efforts to promote STEM in Africa, including collaborating with the Society of Ethiopian Women in Science and Technology.

You can follow her work here:

Podcast: nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07412-y
Website: wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirjana_Povic

Further reading

• Shortlisted for the Inspiring Science Award: Mirjana Pović (video), Nature Research, 4 September 2018
• Meet the space researcher smoothing the path for women in science across Africa, Amber Dance, Nature, 30 October 2018
• Estée Lauder Honors Female Scientists, Happi, 14 November 2018
• These 10 Women In STEM Are Making History Right Now, JR Thorpe, Bustle, 20 March 2019

Waffle

Location: Japan

Waffle works to close the gender gap by empowering and educating women in technology, and challenging gender stereotypes about who can code. They hold an online camp that teaches web development and programming, hackathons and bootcamps for high school girls, and partner the Technovation Girls app contest. They also contribute to public policy on gender equality.

You can follow their work here:

Twitter: @Waffle_org
Facebook: facebook.com/Waffle.org
Website: waffle-waffle.org

Further reading

• SDGs x programming! 100 Japanese high school girls gather at a hackathon (original in Japanese), Sayaka Kano, Impress Watch, 14 January 2020
• This person: Sayaka Tanaka, Waffle CEO (original in Japanese), Japan Women’s Learning Foundation, February 2020
• The presence of familiar women becomes a role model. Aiming for a future in which high school girls contribute to society through IT (original in Japanese), Masao Niitsuma, Impress Watch, 7 August 2020
• Waffle submitted public comment to Minister Hashimoto on the 5th Basic Plan for Gender Equality, Jiji Press, October 2020

Sophia Njeri Murage

Location: Kenya/Netherlands

Sophia is a solutions engineer who is passionate about applying technology to geography. She was a designer and had responsibility for overseeing the development of the 1st Kenyan Nano-satellite, and in 2017, was a speaker at the Young Africa Space Engineers Global panel discussion. She is a co-founder and technical lead at Women in GIS Kenya, a network for women in geospatial science and technology.

You can follow her work here:

Twitter: @MurageSophia & @WiGISKe
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/snmurage
GitHub: SophiaNM
Website: wigis.co.ke

Further reading

• Sophia Njeri Murage, Storymaps
• For the rural farmer, does big data raise more questions than answers?, Sophia Murage, Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, 12 April 2018
• How small acts became big movements towards inclusivity, Morgan Crowley, Medium, 5 March 2020
• In conversation with Women in GIS Kenya, Caroline Akoth, Group on Earth Observations, 8 June 2020
• Women Data Scientists Created GPS-Driven App to Help Kenya Keep Covid-19 Numbers Low, Jacksonville Free Press, 14 September 2020

The Life of Science

Location: India

The Life of Science is a “lab hopping” interview project that profiles and celebrates the work of Indian women scientists. The project was started by freelance science writers Aashima Freidog and Nandita Jayaraj, and includes comics, podcasts, photo essays and articles. In 2019, they also published their illustrated book 31 Fantastic Adventures in Science: Women Scientists of India, about contemporary Indian women scientists.

You can follow their work here:

Twitter: @labhopping
Facebook: facebook.com/lifeofscience
Instagram: @labhopping
Website: thelifeofscience.com

Further reading

• The She in Science: Life and Work of Female Indian Scientists, Economic & Political Weekly, 28 May 2016
• Two Women Living The Life of Science by LabHopping Across India, Tara Khandelwal, SheThePeople.tv, 10 October 2016
• Where Are The Indian Women In Science?, Sheryl Sebastian, Feminism In India, 8 September 2016
• The lives of female scientists in India are being chronicled online, Harini Barath, Nature, 13 June 2018
• Two Indian journalists are bringing the women of science to life, Sandhya Ramesh, The Print, 1 July 2018
• This children’s book chronicles the fantastic work of 31 Indian women in science, Geetika Mantri, The News Minute, 22 August 2019

Chada El Islam Manel Benmahcene

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Chada is a senior technical product manager and co-leads the LeanIn Women in Tech Circle in Dubai supporting women in STEM. She was an organiser of WiDS Abu Dhabi and Dubai 2020, and led a panel on careers in data science for women.

You can follow her work here:

Twitter: @chadou20
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/benchada 
YouTube: Chada El Islam Manel Benmahcene
GitHub: benchada

Further reading

• Persistence of vision (video), TEDx Talks, 30 June 2015
• Interview: Chada El-Islam Manel Benmahcene, PetroPlus Magazine, 2020