2 Female Nigerian scientists bag UNESCO-L’Oreal 2013 award

Two Nigerian female scientists have bagged the UNESCO-L’Oreal “Women in Science Partnership’’ award for their contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the country.

The awardees were recognised in the “Laureates and fellows’’ categories in Paris.

Prof. Francisca Okeke, the first female Head of Department, University of Nigeria Nsukka bagged the 2013 Laureate award for her significant contributions to the scientific study climate change.

She was the only recipient in that category from Africa and the Arab nations and the third Nigerian Laureate since the UNESCO-L’Oreal partnership was established in 1998.

Four others also got awards in the Laureate category with each representing Europe, Latin America, North America and the Asia Pacific regions.

The second Nigerian award recipient, Dr Eucharia Nwaichi, an environmental bio-chemist from the University of Port Harcourt joined 15 other young scientists in the “International Fellows’’ category.

Okeke said that she would continue to encourage women to participate in the development of science and technology in the country.

She noted that cultural challenges were impeding on women’s participation in global innovations, stressing that “even though it is seen as a male dominated field, people like us inspire others’’.

Similarly, Nwaichi, who was recognised for her research on “scientific solution to environmental pollution’’, stressed the need for increased motivation to support women in the field. Vanguard