Impact Stories from Environmental Sustainability Policy Area
Mentor-conceived Climate Smart Women Energy Leaders program launches at Berkeley National Lab
Fellow(s): Mentor Reshma Singh
Country:
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Mentor-conceived Climate Smart Women Energy Leaders program launches at Berkeley National Lab
Mentor Reshma Singh recently took part in the formal launch of the Climate Smart Women Energy Leaders program (CS-WEL) as part of the Net Zero World (NZW) Initiative. Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where Reshma works as a Senior Advisor and Program Director, the new initiative serves to empower women leaders in the energy sector from partner countries through intensive training, peer learning and ongoing coaching and mentoring. The launch included leaders from seven countries, including India, for which Reshma serves as the Country Co-Coordinator for the NZW. The NZW initiative was launched in 2021 by DOE Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, with the aim of transitioning to net zero energy systems across multiple sectors, including transportation, industry, buildings, carbon capture and geologic storage, energy storage and the power grid. Berkeley Lab contributes leadership and technical expertise in the recently established NZW Action Center, which is part of a network that promotes global net zero emission energy systems that are inclusive, equitable and resilient.
Read More »Report Date...: 06/05/2023
Fellow(s): Sebay Momoh (Sierra Leone, 2018)
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Sebay spoke on behalf of Sierra Leone’s oil and gas sector during the Country Showcase at the Africa Energies Summit this May.
Fellow spoke at the Africa Energies Summit in London, GB this May, where she shared the stage with the heads of petroleum agencies from The Gambia, Liberia and Senegal. During the Country Showcase, she addressed the current investment prospects in the oil & gas industry of Sierra Leone, highlighting favorable fiscal terms that make the market competitive, the transparent legal and regulatory frameworks that support it, and the abundance of data available across the Sierre Leone basin. “These and much more are reasons why Sierra Leone is a great nation for energy investment,” she shared in a recent post. Sebay is a petroleum engineer at the Petroleum Directorate Sierra Leone, the regulating authority for all upstream oil and gas activities in Sierra Leone. The Africa Energies Summit curates stakeholder insights on the continent’s role in global energy.
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Report Date...: 06/05/2023
Mentor bestowed highest honorary doctorate from Universite de Rennes I
Fellow(s): Mentor Deb Agarwal
Country:
Policy Area(s): Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Mentor bestowed highest honorary doctorate from Universite de Rennes I
This spring, mentor Deb Agarwal received an honorary doctorate from the Université de Rennes I in France. She was awarded the insignia of Docteur Honoris Causa, the university’s highest academic distinction, for her extensive contributions to the field of data science as well as her advocacy for the inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. Deb currently serves as the interim Scientific Data Division Director and a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, where she has worked in various roles for nearly 30 years. She recently completed a long sabbatical as International Chair of the Inria Research Center of Rennes. On the day prior to the April 4 graduation, Deb gave a lecture on her lessons learned in data science research in physical and environmental science.
Read More »Report Date...: 05/22/2023
Team Pakistan launches seed grant-funded mobile app & campaign to address climate change
Fellow(s): Team Pakistan 2022
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Team Pakistan launches seed grant-funded mobile app & campaign to address climate change
Fall 2022 Team Pakistan, made up of fellows Amara Dar, Sadaf Gul, Ramla Hassan, Sadafi Shah, Anum Sadiq and Shehnaz Zakia, has recently launched their climate change awareness campaign as part of their TechWomen seed-grant winning initiative. The project, AGAHi, seeks to help people understand, prevent and protect themselves from the devastating effects of climate change following the catastrophic floods that took place in Pakistan last summer. The cornerstone of the campaign is the AGAHi SOS mobile application, available in the Google Play store. It provides real-time flood warning notifications, location risk tracking, local emergency and service contacts, safety tips, and the option to report floods, road blockages and other climate-based hazards. The campaign includes in-person events, such as a recent visit and clean-up project hosted at a girls’ middle school, the distribution of physical literature teaching how to take action and reduce one’s carbon footprint, and a social media push featuring photos of Pakistani women, men and children holding signs with messages such as, “global warming isn’t a prediction, it is happening,” and “the earth is what we have in common.”
Read More »Report Date...: 05/15/2023
Fellow podcast to be broadcast on VIU streaming
Fellow(s): Thulile Khanyile (South Africa, 2022)
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Fellow podcast to be broadcast on VIU streaming
“Let’s Talk Science with Thuli”, a podcast developed by fellow Thulile Khanyile (South Africa, 2022), is now available as a televised show on the VIU video streaming platform, which is available in 16 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. With a three season distribution deal, Thulile aims to communicate the relevance of STEM to mainstream society through relatable stories of the innovations and solutions of scientists, engineers and technologists. Season 2 of the show features TechWomen fellows Dilnoza Ibragimova (Uzbekistan, 2022) and Emna Harigua (Tunisia, 2022). The podcast version is also still available on most popular audio streaming platforms, with new episodes coming out this summer.
Read More »Report Date...: 05/15/2023
Fellow & founder of agritech company named Young Global Changemaker
Fellow(s): Chinwendu Nweke (Nigeria, 2022)
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Fellow & founder of agritech company named Young Global Changemaker
Fellow and CEO Chinwendu Nweke (Nigeria, 2022) and her Aladinn Project recently won first place out of 15 finalists among 50 semifinalists for the 2023 Young Global Changers (YGC) Recoupling Awards. The Aladinn Project is spearheaded by Bridge Merchant Enterprise, an agritech company founded by Chindwendu in 2019. It is based on a social impact model that works to eliminate post-harvest waste and promote food security with an online application connecting small holder farmers with local and international markets. Through Bridge Merchant Enterprise, Chinwendu hopes to “see hunger and poverty eradicated using technology and people-empowered solutions,” YGC related in a recent post. Chindwendu received her award at the Global Solutions Summit 2023 in Berlin, Germany from May 15 to 16, during one of many powerful networking and development opportunities afforded to annual winners. YGC is a project of the Global Solutions Initiative. Founded during the 2017 German G20 Presidency, it proposes policy responses to major global problems addressed by the G20, the G7 and other global governance assemblies.
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Report Date...: 05/08/2023
Fellow NGO collaborates with Riga TechGirls in Latvia
Fellow(s): Fellows: Elena Selezneva, Saida Yusupova
Country: Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow NGO collaborates with Riga TechGirls in Latvia
Tech4Iimpact, an NGO founded by fellows Elena Selezneva and Saida Yusupova (Uzbekistan, 2016) recently sent a delegation to the TechChill conference in Latvia, April 26 to 28, as part of their program, “Female Founders Across Borders (FFAB),” which was co-organized with Riga TechGirls and funded by the Ministry of foreign affairs of Latvia. The delegation of finalists from the FFAB program, including startup founders and mentors, participated in panel discussions, pitch sessions, master classes and networking opportunities with global contemporaries. A cornerstones of the trip was the “Women in Tech Community Networking” event, held in Riga Castle, the official residence of the President of Latvia, which was attended by the First Ladies of Latvia and Estonia, Andra Levite and Sirje Karisas. Tech4Impact was founded in 2019 to support innovation, IT entrepreneurship and green tech among youth and women in Uzbekistan and the Central Asian region.
Report Date...: 05/08/2023
Fellow energy co. hosts children’s solar training academy
Fellow(s): Fortunate Farirai (Zimbabwe, 2022)
Country: Zimbabwe
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow energy co. hosts children’s solar training academy
Sustenergy, of which fellow Fortunate Farirai (Zimbabwe, 2022) is Founder, Managing Director and CEO, conducted its two-day Solar for Kids program this spring. Under its training division, Sustenergy Training Academy, the company trained 26 kids from over 15 primary schools and high schools on how the solar power system works. “Our most [sic] gratitude goes to our kids,” Fortunate wrote in a recent post, “who were engaging and interactive in making the program successful.” Sustenergy is an energy company centered on developing renewable energy technologies that can deliver affordable, modern, safe and environmentally friendly energy on a global scale.
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Report Date...: 05/01/2023
Mentor publication calls for wide-scale net zero construction
Fellow(s): Mentor Reshma Singh
Country:
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
Mentor publication calls for wide-scale net zero construction
Mentor Reshma Singh recently guest authored the article “Buildings Belong at the Heart of Climate Action” for Environment+Energy Leader, a woman-owned online media publisher. In her article, Reshma discusses the central importance of green and SMART building design in the race to cut global greenhouse emissions, citing the Biden administration’s recent call for all new and substantially renovated buildings to attain carbon neutrality by 2030. With approximately 90% of the average human lifetime being spent indoors, Reshma explains, a serious impact on emissions can only occur through significant movement towards a net zero built environment. She goes on to discuss the growing, positive dialogue around net zero construction that is happening among business executives, academics and governments, pointing to the fruitful sentiments shared during a recent roundtable discussion she organized at this year’s Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh. “From where I stand,” she concludes, “the future is clear: first buildings, then neighborhoods, and then the whole world, running on clean energy that drives prosperity and benefits people and the planet.” Reshma is a Senior Advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office. She works at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a program lead implementing two DOE initiatives: IMPEL, a tech-to-market program focused on building technologies, and Cradle to Commerce, an equity-centered climate tech entrepreneurship accelerator.
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Report Date...: 04/03/2023
Fellow collabs with IEEE STEM on digital outreach
Fellow(s): Mistura Muibi-Tijani (Nigeria, 2022)
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow collabs with IEEE STEM on digital outreach
VertSTEM, founded by fellow Mistura Muibi-Tijani (Nigeria, 2022), recently collaborated with IEEE STEM to organize, “Bridging the Digital and the Economic Divide 2.0,” a well-received event designed to increase awareness of STEM opportunities and careers among students in rural communities. Hosted by Ibarapa central local government of Oyo state, the event engaged students, teachers, parents and community leaders from three local governments of Oyo, providing “practical knowledge on how to generate electricity from the sun and the roles technology can play in mitigating the effects of climate change,” Mistura explained in a recent post. Mistura founded VertSTEM in 2021 to develop and educate the next generation of tech-savvy scholars, with an emphasis on first generation rural college students. She also serves as an IEEE Young Professionals chair in Nigeria and works as a full-time research engineer.
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Report Date...: 04/23/2023