The OWSD newsletter brings you the latest news and announcements from the Secretariat and from our international network. In this edition, we share an exciting opportunity for women scientists working on water, sanitation and hygiene, meet an Early Career fellow with an inspiring personal story of resilience, and more.

Call for Applications: 2024 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards

in water, sanitation and hygiene

sicelo dube @SiceloSTEMLADY · Sep 13

At the core of my interests is seeing our scientists in Zimbabwe keeping up with the global trends. That is why we have come up with the initiative to train our technicians and researchers in industry and academia #STEMLady @MoPSEZim @mhtestd @UNOSAA1 @OwsdSecretariat

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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!

• Mary Adjepong, a 2022 OWSD Early Career fellow from Ghana, is one of 5 candidates shortlisted for the Nature ‘Inspiring Women in Science’ awards, in the Scientific Achievement category.


• Mariem Ahmed Baba, a 2019 PhD fellow from Mauritania, published an article on improving the performance of an electric vehicle in the presence of faults, in Sustainability.


• Olubukola Oluranti Babalola OWSD Vice President for Africa, gave an invited presentation on ‘Food Security and Safety in the Era of Genomics and Big Data’ at the University of Lincoln, UK in September 2023.


• Huda Basaleem, OWSD Vice President for the Arab region, was recognized as Certified Reviewer after successfully finished the first and second stages of the training program “Enhancement of Peer Reviewers Capacity in Higher Education in Arab Universities according to the International Standards”, held by the Council of Quality Assurance and Accreditation- Association of Arab Universities, August 2023. She was also selected in September 2023 as a member of the Council of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Yemen, the body responsible for developing the appropriate standard structure to ensure quality and academic accreditation in higher education institutions.


• Chioma Blaise Chikere, a 2005 PhD fellow from Nigeria, received an award of excellence for her accomplishments from the OWSD Nigeria National Chapter during their 6th biennial conference hosted by the University of Port Harcourt branch. She was also appointed as Senior Ambassador for Nigeria by the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME). She was additionally selected by the Times Higher Education to sit on the Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings Advisory Board.


• Christelle Noelle Dzesse Tekouo, a 2013 PhD fellow from Cameroon, was been awarded a Faculty for the Future postdoctoral fellowship from the Schlumberger Foundation, to be carried out in the US.


• Oluwabunmi Abosede Falebita, a 2013 PhD fellow from Nigeria, was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Center for Effective Global Action (Berkeley, USA) for a project on Digital Data Privacy Issues in Asia and Africa; she is the Principal Investigator on the project.


• Asmaul Husna, a 2017 PhD fellow from Bangladesh, presented a poster on her research paper ‘Fusarium and the emergence of Bakanae disease in Bangladesh’ at the 12th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP 2023) in Lyon, France in August.


• Evelyn Madoroba, a 2004 PhD fellow from Zimbabwe, was awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Award to undertake research in the USA from January to June 2023.


• Nathalie Ngalya, a 2014 PhD fellow from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was promoted Head of Department of Zootechnics at Institut Facultaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Yangambi (IFA Yangambi) and also promoted to rank of Associate Professor.


• Maryse Nkoua Ngavouka, a 2018 Early Career fellow from the Republic of Congo, was named Executive Director of a new Scientific Research Center on Renewable Energies coordinated by the Republic of Congo and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in August.


• Noor Shaila Sharmin, a 2012 PhD fellow from Bangladesh, attended the AAAS-TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy from 19-23 June 2023 in Trieste, Italy, and was featured in a TWAS article on the workshop.