OWSD Secretariat

Tonya is responsible for the overall management of the fellowships, awards and networking programmes. She works with the OWSD executive board to develop strategic plans, fundraise and provide reports for OWSD members, donors and partners. 

Tonya has a PhD in Women and Gender from the University of Warwick, a Masters in World Literatures in English from Marlboro College in the USA, and a BSocSc in Sociology and Social Administration from Warwick. She has over twenty years experience as a teacher and writer, including as Lecturer in English Literature at Oxford Brookes University and Royal Holloway College, UK, before running her own creative writing business in London. 

Since 2009, Tonya has lived in Trieste where she has developed science communication courses for PhD students in neuroscience, biology, physics and mathematics. Before joining OWSD in 2013, Tonya was staff writer at TWAS, editing the newsletter and website and contributing numerous articles on science in developing countries.

Erin Johnson graduated from the Master's programme in International Affairs at the New School in New York City, specialising in development. She has a degree in Microbiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and has long been interested in the intersection of science and policy, particularly in the context of the developing world, and in the role of women in science and technology. 

Erin has written about these subjects as editor and community manager of ScienceBlogs.com and more recently worked on international science policy and science diplomacy as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Science & Technology Cooperation at the U.S. Department of State. 

Before coming to OWSD in 2018, Erin worked on the GenderInSITE programme, an international initiative which applies a gender lens to science, innovation, technology and engineering for development.

Zabeeh Ullah Sahil joined OWSD in 2017 as a Fellowship Assistant. Currently, he is responsible for OWSD PhD fellowships. He earned his Masters degree in Business administration (Finance) with honors in 2010 from Pakistan. 

He worked as an international affairs coordinator at Khurasan University in Afghanistan (2010 to 2013), and in 2014 he moved to Kabul, Afghanistan where he worked as a managing director of a US-funded project for the development of the agricultural sector of Afghanistan. He brings a keen interest and experience in coordinating international affairs and student mobility to his work on OWSD's programmes.

Giulia joined OWSD in 2025 to provide support and oversight on OWSD's programmes - specifically the OWSD WISDOM (Women in Science Displacement Outreach Master’s). 

Giulia holds a Master’s in Global Refugee Studies, Development and International Relations where she focussed on a community-based participatory approach to development. She has worked in various capacities across NGOs dedicated to serving vulnerable individuals and communities including two years with Mono Donna Onlus in Bologna and the Brushstrokes Community Project in Sandwell, UK. 

Working in dynamic, resource-constrained environments has enabled Giulia to refine her expertise in team leadership, stakeholder engagement, operational coordination and budget management. In her role with OWSD, she brings together strategic oversight, compassionate leadership and disciplined project management.

Giulia Signori joined OWSD in 2022. She holds a Master's in Law from the University of Pavia, Italy, and has specialised in Parliamentary Law and Public Policy Analysis, attending postgraduate courses at the University of Florence, Italy, and the London School of Economics (LSE). 

Previously, she worked in various capacities in several Latin American countries, including as a UN DESA Fellow at the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Cuba and Colombia, a Graduate Trainee at the Delegation of the European Union to Chile, and an Advocacy and Research Officer in international NGOs in Guatemala and Mexico. 

Giulia is passionate about bringing her expertise in communications and advocacy to international development and gender justice initiatives at a global level.