Women In Science Hub

FameLab Eminence

Referred to as the “Pop Idols of Science”, the British Council’s FameLab is one of the biggest science communication competitions in the world! I had been seeing this competition on social media for a few months since last year (2016). At first, I had very little information about what it was, but I knew it had…

Big Wins for Dr. Sarah Fawcett

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Fawcett on being one of Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans. She also received the prestigious SANCOR Young Researchers Award at this year’s Southern African Marine Science Symposium (SAMSS). You inspire me and many others! Photo credit: Raquel Flynn

LAB WORK SEASON

My Ph.D. research is part of broader research by the Swiss Polar Institute’s Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE). ACE is made up of 22 different projects bringing together research teams from six continents. The projects focus on different areas of study with the aim to understand and answer questions about the Antarctic ecosystem. My work is a…

Meet Sandra Phoma an inspirational #blackwomanscientist

Sandra Boitumelo Phoma is a final year Ph.D. candidate at the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics (CMEG), University of Pretoria (UP), currently working on surveying the microbial diversity and function in the Southern Ocean. The research involves analyses of the 16S rRNA, metagenomes, meta proteomes and metabolomes datasets generated from sampling trips on board the Agulhas II…

#YouthDay’s significance in South African education

On this day in 1976, black learners in #SouthAfrica protested against #BantuEducation and the then enforced Afrikaans (medium of instruction) in our schools. The apartheid government responded with violence and brutality. Hundreds of school kids were murdered, hundreds more injured, some are paralysed today! Those student’s actions changed the sociopolitical landscape in this country. Their…

Marion Island was magical

With me and a number of other researchers from various South African universities onboard, the second generation icebreaker, SA Agulhas II set sail on a research expedition to Marion Island. Marion Island is one of the two Prince Edward Islands, Prince Edward Island being the other. These are South African volcanic islands situated south of…

#PhDLife

Ph.D. was never really part of my plans until 2011 when I conducted my very first independent scientific project as an Honours student in the Botany Department at Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The project was biotechnology-based, with the aim of producing bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. After completing that degree I felt the urge…

Dr Sarah Fawcett- The Majestic Mentor

Dr Sarah Fawcett is a young woman making strides in the world of science through her research, publications, university teaching and with outstanding supervision/mentorship. She is a Harvard and Princeton graduate who holds a number of accolades under her belt, including the Claude Leon Merit Award for Early-Career Researchers, in April. Sarah Fawcett was born…

A day in Clare Coughlan Eayrs’ life

Today we celebrate women. We celebrate the art of womanhood, the spirit that embodies being a woman. Today we honour women, internationally. The Women In Science Hub would like to introduce you to one of our own in the world of science, Dr Clare Eayrs, a marine ecosystem modeller based in Abu Dhabi- UAE. She…

A Preface

The blog is a bridge between women in the field of science and the rest of the world. We share groundbreaking stories from interviews with women who are making significant developments in the continuously evolving world of science. The ultimate goals are to expose the challenges and strengths of women scientists, to inspire- the young and…