Fearless climate change researcher Ndoni Mcunu believes that black women scientists are the ones who will bring much-needed innovation to the science field.
Today marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and the 32-year-old Wits PhD student had a candid conversation with Sowetan about the future for women in science.
"I had a lot of encouragement to get into science. I wasn't an A-student at all, it was really scraping it by the skin of my teeth; so that's exactly why I'm so passionate about supporting and exposing people into the science industry because I think sometimes it becomes too cutthroat," she said.
In her own research, Mcunu is particularly interested in food and agriculture and how climate change affects us in SA. She said people who live in rural areas feel the effects of climate change the most.
"There is little knowledge when it comes to African expertise when it comes to food production and such little exposure to African knowledge in these kind of fields. I wanted to know more about these challenges and what climate change means for locals," she said.
"I'm hoping that I will have an influence in decision making; it's very important to have diversity. I think a lot of the time we underestimate the influence and impact our background and surroundings and the uniqueness we have as African researchers," she said.
Mcunu is the bilateral engagement lead for the Adaptation Research Alliance SouthSouthNorth and the founder of NGO Black Women in Science, which aims to support and provide mentorship for black women.
"The NGO was a personal journey. I saw the gaps in the industry and I wanted to support black women who do not know if they should continue doing research, go into the corporate world or start a business," she said.
The NGO has helped more than 300 black women gain extra skills in entrepreneurship, science, communication and scientific writing to help them with their goals. She said one of the main challenges black women face is a lack of funding and support.
"The support given to postgrad students is not sufficient. Most of the time you are the first person in your family to do these programmes, so there is also a mental impact. A lot of women suffer from imposter syndrome because they are the first black woman in a lot of these fields," she said.
Mcunu is confident that black women will be the disrupters in the science industry and that we will see more of an intersection between science innovation and business.
"There will be a high visibility of black women scientists. Black women will be telling us about black women," she said.
