Author: Leticia Nani Silva

How do you say goodbye to your biggest achievement? For three years, Frontiers’ Women in Science blog has been my pride and joy, my biggest accomplishment, my success story. It’s now time to pass it to the next coordinators, who have been here since day one, Carolina Capelo Garcia and Thimedi Hetti.

The Women in Science blog was born from a spontaneous idea back in 2019, when life was very different, and Zoom was still practically unheard of within our company. As a young, recent graduate woman figuring out my place in the company and in the world of science, I was determined to make a mark and work collaboratively with other like-minded scientists to drive more women into STEM.

The idea turned into a long-term project, and in 2021, we produced 18 articles showcasing the work and experiences of these brilliant women and sponsored the HBA Women of the Year Conference. Harnessing the success of the year before, we built on our expertise. In 2022, we grew the team of writers to 16 and set out to encourage more women to join our blog and share their story. We curated our interviews to align with specific United Nations days of observance in order to raise awareness and bring more women and girls into the world of scientific research. Not only did we exceed our expectations in terms of outreach, but we also managed to highlight how incredibly important women in science really are.

When we thought we had reached the peak of our success, we broke a whole new barrier in 2023. This year, our mission has been to focus on the contribution women make to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Each post features a specific one of the 17 UN SDGs and the work the interviewee is doing to achieve that goal. The results have been incredible and the outreach even better. Our team has managed to interview 11 women so far, and we have more to come before the end of the year.

While it gives me great sadness to say goodbye, I am filled with joy that the blog will continue to thrive under Carolina and Thimedi, two scientists themselves who have a plethora of ideas for the blog from 2024 onwards. Readers can expect to learn more about the work, accomplishments, challenges, and advice of women researchers working across various disciplines. Under new guidance, the blog will continue to showcase these great women as well as underline the importance of UN SDG Goal 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls across all fields of academia.

I have learned so much from my peers, from my team, and especially from all the women I have had the pleasure speaking to and learning what science means to them. It has been a powerful experience that I will take with me. As a female scientist myself, I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us. I look forward to continuing to make the world of science more diverse and inclusive, as well as paving the way to make female scientists feel more empowered. It is very true what Dr Baldino said in her interview in our most recent post, “one scientist is an island, many scientists make up a community.” We are stronger and can make a larger impact together. 

Thank you for this opportunity and all the memories.

Thimedi and Carolina, keep the success going, and to everyone else, watch this space!

Frontiers is a signatory of the United Nations Publishers COMPACT. This piece has been published in support of United Nations Sustainable Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.