There is an effort to improve women’s ability to access technological advancements, knowledge, scientific literacy, and technology-related training, as well as to uplift the stature of female researchers and technologists at the international, national, and local levels. Ensuring all women have equitable access to scientific and technical knowledge is essential. The priority should be to strengthen women’s roles as scientists, researchers,  and technologists.  There should be increased contribution and participation of women in meteorological and climatic decision-making.

Professional women working in meteorological and atmospheric sciences can serve as an inspiration to young girls and women to seek professions in science, particularly in meteorology, climatology, and hydrology.

Executive Summary

Women have significantly influenced worldwide environmental analysis and global warming research and policy. Many female scientists, decision-makers, and campaigners are among them. Women scientists have contributed significantly to important scientific assessments like the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and they are largely represented at significant international transformation committee meetings of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the US National Academy of Sciences. International climate policy has seen significant leadership contributions from women. For instance, former Irish President Mary Robinson is the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and Christiana Figueres is the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which oversees international climate discussions.

Reasons in Favor of Women in Science and the Environment

Women may also take more participatory processes, especially in deliberations, and may pay more attention to marginalized people and the natural environment. It is argued that when women are underrepresented in academia and decision-making, the world fails to utilize its full human capabilities, which is needed for issues as urgent as climate change.

Women play crucial responsibilities in managing resources like water, forests, and energy, and they take the lead in campaigns to conserve the environment, which has made gender a problem.

In order to promote gender equality, social justice, and the inspiration of young women to pursue professions in science, there has been a broad concern about the need to emphasize the work of women as well as include more women on significant committees. This echoes broader discussions about the obstacles to women’s involvement and the requirement for women to “Flex in” positions of leadership.

International Climate Policy and Women

The Future We Want, the final report of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, acknowledged the necessity of removing obstacles to women’s full and equal participation in management and decision-making, as well as the need to increase the number of women in positions of leadership. In a report produced by UN Women, the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, the Global Gender and Climate Alliance, and the UNFCCC, it is acknowledged that structural disparities prevent women from being represented in climate science, negotiations, and policies. It also calls for more gender equality in the UNFCCC and national delegations.

Image Of female weather researchers generated via Stability-AI

Let’s have a look at some of the outstanding achievers in the fields of  meteorological and atmospheric sciences: 

June Bacon-Bercey 

June is a pioneer with a long list of “firsts” to her credit. She boasts the accolades of being the first African-American woman meteorological scientist and the first female television meteorologist in the US, according to Physics Today. She is also the first woman of African descent to get the esteemed Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Bacon-Bercey graduated with a master’s degree from UCLA after earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas. Bacon-Bercey, who has also held positions with the National Weather Service, NOAA, and the private sector, assisted in founding the American Meteorological Society Board on Women and Minorities, which she presided over more than two decades ago. She was also crucial in establishing a meteorology laboratory at Jackson State University, an exceptional historically black college or university (HBCU).

Dr. Joanne Simpson 

Joanne, a world-famous atmospheric scientist and one of NASA’s top weather experts during the past 30 years, passed away on March 4, 2010, at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington.

At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Simpson served as Chief Scientist Emeritus for Meteorology, Earth-Sun Exploration Division, until her retirement. She examined hurricanes and collaborated with a scientific team on clouds and mesoscale modeling. Around 190 scientific articles, she has written or co-written.

Ada Monzon

The first Puerto Rican woman meteorologist is Ada Monzon. She currently serves as WIPR TV and Univision Radio’s Chief Meteorologist for the Commonwealth. Ada joined the U.S. NWS Forecast Office in San Juan after receiving her M.S. in meteorology from Florida State University. There, she worked as a weather forecaster and a warning and preparedness meteorologist. Ada is the first woman in Puerto Rico to be an AMS Fellow and a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist.

Kathy Sullivan

As the first American woman to walk in space part of NASA, Kathy Sullivan managed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and, in 2020, conducted an illustrious dive to the bottom of the ocean.

Sue Barrell

Sue Barrell holds an Astronomy Ph.D. from National Australian University. Sue pursued BSc in Physics from Canterbury University in New Zealand. She is a Meteorology Graduate Diploma as well from Meteorology Bureau. Sue is also a graduate of the Institute of Company Directors, Australia. 

She is a member  Council of Space Industry Innovation in Australia.  Sue also represents Australia as the Earth Observation Group’s principal delegate. (GEO). Finding the ideal balance between personal life and work has been her toughest problem. Her greatest accomplishments, in her opinion, were being selected as an Academy of Engineering and Technological Sciences Fellow in Australia and receiving a little portion of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC. She advises young women to pursue a profession in meteorology because it is rewarding and potentially takes them abroad.

Barbara Tapia

Barbara Tapia is a Chilean Meteorological Service Senior Meteorologist. Barbara has headed the South American Climate Services Working Group. She has also coordinated the opening procedures of 2 WMO South American Regional Climate Centres. Her determination and desire to “do more” than what others have done led to her success. She urges young female scientists to maintain an open mind and pursue careers in meteorology.

Dr. Sri Woro Budiati Harijono 

The first female Geophysics and Meteorology Climatology Agency Director General was Dr. Sri Woro Budiati Harijono (BMKG). She now serves as a consultant to the Indonesian Republic’s Minister of Transportation. She considers the creation of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center and the Early Tsunami Warning System in Indonesia to be her greatest accomplishments. She urges young women pursuing scientific careers to be lifelong learners and balance their personal and professional lives since she is most pleased with her children, who are also medical professionals.

Nadia Pinardi, a professor, is dedicated to science and how it can benefit people. She is a Bologna University associate Oceanography Professor and a Harvard University graduate in physics. She is co-president of the Joint Committee for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology She received the Fridtjof Nansen Prize for Oceanography from the European Geophysical Union in 2007 and the Roger Revelle Unesco Award in 2008. She thinks perseverance and good fortune are the keys to success.

Federica Rossi is a veteran researcher at the Institute of Biometeorology (IBIMET) of the National Research Council of Italy.  She is in charge of the working group on Ecophysiology, Micrometeorology,  and the  Productivity of Agricultural and Natural Systems. At the International Society of Horticultural Science Federica Rossi also represents Italy. She serves on the managing committees of Cost Actions 734, and Cost Actions 18. She has served as vice president of the WMO Committee for  Meteorology in the Agricultural sector.

Young women are strongly encouraged to seek out Vida Auguliene, She completed her diploma work at Vilnius University prior to having a number of affiliations at the LHS’s forerunner. She has coordinated numerous international and domestic initiatives and programs in addition to publishing a number of publications on meteorological and surrounding air quality-related topics. Her greatest contributions to both services and infrastructure of Lithuanian hydrometeorology, as well as her conviction that success comes from loving what you do, are her greatest accomplishments.

Agnes Kijazi was elected to the WMO Executive Council after rising through the ranks at the   Meteorological Service of Tanzania to become a Director General and the first female to hold this position from the Eastern  African Region. She enrolled in a meteorology undergraduate program in Nairobi in  1996, received her bachelor’s degree in the year 2000, and graduated with her Doctor of Meteorology in 2008. Although her profession has given her personal fulfillment, she is most pleased that she has helped to advance women in the field of science. She highlights the value of hard effort and encouragement from loved ones and relatives. 

Within the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Laura Furgione holds the position of second in command as the  Assistant Administrator at the Weather Services and Deputy Director at the NWS.  She is in charge of overseeing civilian weather activities on a routine basis for the USA, its dominions, bordering waterways, and ocean regions. In 2011 and 2013, she received two NOAA Administrator’s Awards, and in 2013, she was chosen to serve as the WMO’s permanent representative for the USA. She raises plenty of queries and participates in events extensively since she is enthusiastic and inquisitive about everything she does.

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References: 

1. Women in Meteorology. (2018, January 17). World Meteorological Organization. https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/women-meteorology 
2. Bolinger, B., & Jeromin, K. (2021, March 8). On International Women’s Day, these atmospheric scientists inspire us. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/08/women-atmospheric-science/ 
3. Shepherd, M. (2019, March 3). Four Women Who Changed The Field Of Meteorology. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/03/03/four-women-who-changed-the-field-of-meteorology/ 
4. MacPhee, D., & Canetto, S. S. (2015). Women in Academic Atmospheric Sciences. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 96(1), 59–67. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-12-00215.1