The Story Exchange, a nonprofit media platform that aims to elevate women’s voices, today announced the winners of its fourth annual Women In Science Incentive Prize, or WISIP.
The WISIP program, begun in 2021, is a $25,000 grant program that supports women scientists working to combat the devastating impacts of climate change. This year, the focus is on extreme events such as storms, wildfires, floods, droughts and heat waves. (Previous prizes focused on women working in water management, air quality and soil health.)
“WIthout question, climate change is increasingly impacting the intensity, frequency and duration of extreme events, yet many in leadership are choosing to take no action,” said Victoria Wang, co-founder of The Story Exchange. “We believe it’s mission-critical to be investing in innovative women scientists at a time when the world needs them the most.”
The National Science Foundation has noted that accelerated climate change can result in natural disasters and ”exact a heavy toll on natural and human systems.” Related to WISIP, The Story Exchange explored the dangers of extreme events in a 2-part podcast, Terrifying Weather Events That Shock Us Into Action.
The five winners were selected after a two-pronged application process, and following a rigorous scientific review by judges from several universities, as well as an assessment by The Story Exchange editors. To be eligible, applicants needed to have advanced degrees in physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, agronomy, environmental science, meteorology or closely related fields, and be working as researchers or entrepreneurs. Each will receive a $5,000 grant to continue her work.
“We began WISIP to specifically recognize the work of female scientists, who often face discrimination and feel isolated in their work,” said Sue Williams, co-founder of The Story Exchange. “In addition to funding, these women deserve to be in the spotlight for the tireless work they are doing, often on behalf of vulnerable communities.”
Here are the recipients of this year’s grants, in alphabetical order.
Valerisa Gaddy
Valerisa Gaddy
In Arizona, one of Valerisa Gaddy’s projects is Cool Tucson, which aims to reduce the city’s temperature by 5 degrees – average temperatures have increased 11 degrees in the past century due in part to the urban heat island effect. Gaddy, a PhD who grew up in Navajo Nation, also plans to work with the Pascua Yaqui Nation to develop rain gardens to reduce heat stress. “We teach people how to ‘plant the rain,’” she explains, “by first digging a basin and then incorporating the tree and plants within it.”
Heather Holmes
Heather Holmes
Heather Holmes at University of Utah is researching whether Salt Lake City’s extreme heat – now common in the summer – is linked to the depletion of the Great Salt Lake. Holmes also investigates smoke plumes, the tall columns of gases and particles released into the atmosphere during wildfires. “The way they move is driven by meteorology,” she says. “The combined impacts of extreme heat and smoke exposure on humans is understudied – and likely significant.”
Juliet Pilewskie
Juliet Pilewskie
At Columbia University, Juliet Pilewskie is studying the largest source of uncertainty in current climate models: how clouds contribute to climate change. That effect is not well understood because the ways in which clouds and the environment exchange energy are also largely a mystery. “I’m using observations to essentially get a quantifiable estimate of how clouds change with surface warming, in order to use that as a basis for evaluating climate models, to see how far off they are,” she says.
Onja Davidson Raoelison
Onja Davidson Raoelison
In California, Onja Davidson Raoelison is studying how extreme events like wildfires may spread pathogens through the water and air, a potential threat to human health. Scientists once assumed that smoke was too hot to sustain microorganisms. Raoelison is from Madagascar, notorious for its lack of clean drinking water – and that motivates her. “I was very interested in helping marginalized communities and low-income communities because I wanted to provide clean water to drink, and also clean air to breathe,” she says.
Danielle Touma
Danielle Touma
Danielle Touma, a research professor at University of Texas, Austin, has stepped out from the research lab and into the field – into Karuk territory, a tribe in Northern California. She plans to develop a climate projection framework that will empower the tribe to quantify future wildfire, drought and extreme rainfall risks. Touma hopes the partnership will create a blueprint for other scientists to work with Indigenous populations. “Co-creating research with scientists and tribal communities is really what we need to be doing to address extreme weather risks.”