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

Sisterhood of Native American Coders (SONAC)

Location: USA

SONAC is a non-profit that aims to inspire girls into tech, by running computer science and coding programmes for Native American girls. They have over 81 girls currently registered in their summer course, from 24 states, representing 59 tribal affiliations. They have a guest speaker series, which features indigenous women in STEM, and hold weekly meetings on Zoom for mentoring and coding.

You can follow their work here:

Twitter: @SONAC_Official
YouTube: Sisterhood of Native American Coders
Website: sisterhoodofnativeamericancoders.org

Further reading

• Elisabeth Holm ’21 and the Sisterhood of Native American Coders, The Bishop’s School, 27 September 2020
• ‘It completely exploded’: La Jolla teen sees rapid growth in her Sisterhood of Native American Coders, Elisabeth Frausto, La Jolla Light, 9 Oct 2020

Dr Vidita Vaidya

Location: India

Vidita is a professor of neuroscience at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. She was featured in the Indian Academy of Sciences’ book Lilavati’s Daughters, which is a collection of biographical essays on Indian female scientists. In 2015, she won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in medical sciences, and in 2019, the Nature Mentoring in Science Award for her philosophy of putting people above productivity and nurturing students.

You can follow her work here:

Twitter: @ViditaVaidya
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vidita-vaidya-3346622
Website: tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/V_Vaidya.html

Further reading:

• Vidita Vaidya, Wikipedia
• How our brain changes with experience (video), TEDx Talks, 28 May 2015
• Vidita Vaidya Gets Into Your Head, Nandita Jayaraj, The Life of Science, 30 May 2016
• What the best mentors do, Amber Dance, Nature, 6 February 2020