From despair to repair: Empowering communities to restore their oceans

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Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson with Barbuda Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer.

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist and Executive Director of the Waitt Institute. Johnson’s mission is to collect, create, actualize and amplify the best ideas in ocean conservation. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, on her blog for National Geographic, in The Atlantic, and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a BA from Harvard University in Environmental Science and Public Policy, and has worked on ocean policy at both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Read more

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Citizen Science: In the Shadows of Volcán Tungurahua

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Jonathan Stone: “In volcanology a great deal of research is put into the prediction of specific hazards and the needs of those affected can often be overlooked." Image credit: (Richie Robertson)

Jonathan Stone is a PhD researcher at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, working in volcanology and disaster risk reduction.  His research focuses on the interactions between citizens, scientists and authorities around volcanoes, examining the effects of citizen science on these relationships. Although his background is in Geology, with an MSc in the Science of Natural Hazards, Jonathan went on to study for an MRes in Environmental Social Sciences before starting a PhD funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Geological Survey. This experience (expertise in) of both the natural and social sciences has lead him to work on the Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas (STREVA) project.  Read more

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Christina Lewis Halpern: The New York woman inspiring young men from minority backgrounds to code

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"It was an entirely new world, and IT opened my eyes to how few black and brown young men were active in the technology industry. " (Image courtesy of All Star Code)

In the last instalment of our series celebrating prominent women in science and technology across the world, we speak to Christina Lewis Halpern, the founder of All Star Code, a charity which aims to prepare talented young men from minority backgrounds for careers in science and technology.  Read more

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UNESCO Regional Chair on Women, Science & Technology, Dr Gloria Bonder, talks women in science and gender equality

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UNESCO Regional Chair on Women, Science & Technology, Dr Gloria Bonder, talks women in science and gender equality

In part four of our five features this week celebrating prominent women in science and technology across the world, we speak to Dr Gloria Bonder, the coordinator of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender and the UNESCO Regional Chair on Women, Science and Technology in Latin America. She talks about UNESCO’s latest global figures on women in science, changes that need to be made in both policy and education, and the necessity for more qualitative research on the women who are successfully developing careers in engineering, technology and science.  Read more

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Oreoluwa Somolu: The Nigerian woman empowering young women in Africa to engage with technology

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"Lots of the girls who attend the centre have never seen or met a woman who is a computer scientist or engineer, so the prospect of becoming one, is not within the realms of possibility."

In the third of our five features celebrating Ada Lovelace Day and prominent women in science and technology across the world, we speak to Oreoluwa Somolu about empowering young women in Africa to engage with technology and pursue careers in science and technology.  Read more

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Nature India Editor Subhra Priyadarshini on the Indian science boom and the role of journalism

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"India is now transitioning from a developing country into an emerging economic superpower and as a result many areas of development, including science, are catching up quickly."

In the second of our five features celebrating Ada Lovelace Day and prominent women in science and technology across the world, we speak to science journalist and Nature India Editor, Subhra Priyadarshini about the new resurgence of Indian science and the role science journalists play in narrating the country’s success stories.  Read more

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Distinguished South African Professor Tebello Nyokong on science, education and innovation

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“Science is not just part of our culture, it is part of our everyday life, and role models are crucial in promoting this." Image courtesy of Sophie Smith.

In the first of our five features celebrating Ada Lovelace Day and prominent women in science and technology across the world, we speak to Professor Tebello Nyokong, an internationally renowned Chemist, on African science, education and innovation.  Read more

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Roma Agrawal on bridging the diversity gap in engineering and inspiring a future generation

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Roma Agrawal: "We have to make sure stereotypes don’t get in the way of future choices.”

Roma is an Associate Structural Engineer at WSP where she spent six years working on The Shard. Roma has a BA in Physics from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Structural Engineering from Imperial College.  Read more

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Nature vs Nurture: Girls and STEM

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Image Courtesy of www.stemwomen.net

Dr. Zuleyka Zevallos is a research and social media consultant with a PhD in Sociology. Dr. Buddhini Samarasinghe is a molecular biologist specialising in cancer research. Professor Rajini Rao is a research scientist and graduate program director at Johns Hopkins University. Together they manage STEM Women, a website dedicated to highlighting the issues facing women in STEM. Follow them on Twitter and Google+.   … Read more

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Jon Spaihts: Hollywood’s go-to science fiction screenwriter on the importance of science in filmmaking

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Jon Spaihts: Hollywood’s go-to science fiction screenwriter on the importance of science in filmmaking

Jon Spaihts is the screenwriter of The Darkest Hour, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and the upcoming Passengers and The Mummy. The one-time physics student and science writer has become one of the go-to writers for hard science fiction and space epics in Hollywood. He is currently working on a remake of Disney’s classic, The Black Hole and is writing Marvel’s forthcoming movie Dr. Strange.  Read more

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