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| The OWSD newsletter brings you the latest news and announcements from the Secretariat and from our international network. In this edition, we meet the newly awarded 2023 OWSD Early Career fellows, introduce the two newest National Chapters of OWSD, and more. | |
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| Introducing the 2023 OWSD Early Career Fellows
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OWSD is pleased to announce the 28 women who have been granted the 2023 Early Career Fellowship. These scientists will receive up to USD 50,000 to lead research projects and establish research groups at their home institutes in 16 countries in the developing world. They are working on subjects ranging from the recycling of household biowaste into biogas, to development of fortified snacks to address iron and folic acid deficiency in pregnant women, to patenting new strains of bacteria to block arbovirus transmission in Africa. They include the first fellows awarded in Eswatini, El Salvador, and Côte d'Ivoire.
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| | In Nature: Study shows OWSD PhD fellows contribute to capacity building in home countries | |
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| A new article published in Nature Index calls attention to the study recently published in Organization Science by researchers Caroline Fry and Jeffrey Furman, which found that colleagues at OWSD PhD fellows' home institutes had 10% more publications on average when compared to colleagues of women who applied for but did not receive the fellowship - but only when they moved between countries with relatively high gender equality. The study underlines the importance of international mobility and networks to scientists in developing countries. |
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 | | Meet the OWSD Fellows: Mary Adjepong | | | |
Nutrition scientist Mary Adjepong, a 2022 OWSD Early Career Fellow, is helping to improve the growth and development of Ghanaian children through innovative food-based approaches, as well as to make nutritional information more simplified and accessible to the public by way of her popular YouTube channel. | |
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In this corner we highlight some of the most exciting recent achievements of our fellows, alumnae, and awardees. Way to go, ladies!
- Susana Arrechea, a 2020 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation awardee, won the National Innovation Award for development in Guatemala from the National Secretary of Science and Technology, for her organization New Sun Road's, project, 'Digital Community Centers'.
- Olubukola Oluranti Babalola, OWSD Vice President for the Africa region and a 1999 PhD fellow from Nigeria, received the 2023 Research Excellence Award from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciencs at North-West University, and was named a 2023 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in the cross-field category.
- Chioma Blaise Chikere, a 2005 PhD fellow from Nigeria, was interviewed by the Association of African Universities (AAU) Television team in October 2023 at the AAU headquarters in Accra, Ghana during the AAU Talks programme, speaking on ‘Breaking Barriers: Advancing Women Education and Mentorship in Science Across Africa’.
- Ossénatou Mamadou, a 2019 Early Career fellow from Benin, published a new paper on her research at the regional level in Meteorological Applications, ‘Testing the Suitability of Marginal Distribution Sampling as a Gap-Filling Method Using Some Meteorological Data from Seven Sites in West Africa,’ with coauthors Djidjoho Renaud Roméo Koukoui, Miriam Hounsinou, and Basile Kounouhéwa.
- Raquel Matavele Chissumba, a 2020 Early Career fellow, was as appointed Director General of the Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Etnobotânica (CIDE) (Center for Research and Development in Ethnobotany) of Mozambique, a public institution for plant research and development.
- Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, a 2016 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation awardee, had her work on culturally appropriate evidence-based group support psychotherapy recognized and featured in the December 2023 newsletter of the World Federation of Psychotherapy. Her work uses group psychotherapy to address depression among people living with HIV in Uganda.
- Priscilla Nyadoi, a 2001 PhD fellow from Uganda, was appointed Deputy Director of the Directorate of Graduate Studies, Research and Enterprise at Uganda Martyrs University, effective 1 January 2024.
- Paola Rocabado, a 2019 PhD fellow from Bolivia, published the first chapter of her thesis, ‘Restoration of montane forest on degraded soils: Early fertilization fivefolds post-plantation growth of Polylepis australis’ [Spanish] in Ecología Austral. She also presented her research on ‘Exploring the potential of early fertilization in degraded soils for the restoration of native mountain forests’ at the International Symposium of Ecological Restoration Practices and National Meeting in Ecological Restoration in Argentina.
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OWSD Around the World
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Here are a few recent highlights from our network of 54 active National Chapters.
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New National Chapters
launched in Burundi and Lesotho
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The OWSD Cameroon National Chapter organized a two-day 'OWSD Nanodays' training workshop in November on the theme 'Nanomaterials, new multidisciplinary approaches in applied sciences in Africa'. The workshop was led by PhD alumna and Early Career fellow Linda Nyamen and was held at the Faculty of Science of the University of Yaoundé I. It was attended by the university's Dean of the Faculty of Science, Vice Dean of Student Affairs, and Head of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, among other invited speakers and participants. The event was covered by the Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) media.
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The OWSD Sri Lanka National Chapter hosted an 'Executive Edge' event on 19 October with Kshanika Hiruburegama, Senior Professor of Botany and Former Vice Chancellor at the University of Colombo and former Sri Lankan ambassador to France. The evening was designed to give an insight into the country's specific development in STEM fields and scientists' role in the economic development of the country. The Sri Lanka chapter also hosted its first Women Beyond Boundaries (WBB) event on October 23 with Indian neuroscientist Asha Gopinathan, who works on issues of gender and STEM in India and the U.S. The event was held at the Open University of Sri Lanka.
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 Members of the OWSD Sri Lanka National Chapter at the 'Executive Edge' event in October. |
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| That's it for this edition - if you like this newsletter, please share it. |
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| Copyright © 2021 The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World
All rights reserved. |
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