The blog “Women in science at CDF” will feature stories of varied women working in science, within diverse disciplines and within different teams and areas at the CDF. The great capacity and talent of these women are applying to conduct their work is abundant and greatly contributes to the successful achievement of the research objectives we pursue, together with our male colleagues. Along with these achievements, the CDF is proud to be one Galapagos based institution where the equal involvement of professionals, is an institutional regular practice, to ensure the gender balance.
The last years, the CDF has been also promoting the professional career development of young women-Galapagos permanent residents who will start their graduate studies program, thanks to scholarships obtained at participating in CDF research projects. CDF has also been fostering, within girls and young women generations in the archipelago, the idea that, regardless whether women or men every person is able to pursue their dreams. This requires a paradigm shift at educating and teaching children, by parents, families and educators. When demonstrating that science careers are for anyone who wants to pursue them. The key message is to motivate girls to be included in science fields and to make visible women referential models, working in varied and diverse disciplines, for all of us to live in an equitable, fair and inclusive environment.
As a recent Biological Sciences graduate wanting to make her mark on the world, I asked myself: where should I go? Silly question. Obviously, the Galapagos Islands. Having grown up only seeing the Galapagos through a TV screen, often accompanied by the voice of Sir David Attenborough, I didn’t know what to expect. Surely it can’t be as picturesque as it is on the TV. But it is!
Read more: Starting my scientific career in the Galapagos Islands
Hypathia, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Jane Goodal, Elinor Orstrom, and more recently Sylvia Earle, are names who resonate in the scientific community as major characters in the scientific development, around the world. These women have been figures for decades, even centuries. The role women play in science, however, has not always been as prominent as it is today. Early in XX Century, women were not allowed, neither promoted or valued at scientific environments where the dominance of male scientists, was the standard. In Ecuador, Matilde Hidalgo was the first woman to finish her high school in 1913, graduating from university and receiving a Doctoral Degree in Medicine (she specialized in pediatric, neurology and dietetics in 1921. Matilde, was also was the first woman who got the right to vote in Latin America (1924).
Read more: Women in science – underrepresented minority? Not at CDF!