Wow - it's the Cambridge Science Festival

In recognition of International Women’s Day and Cambridge’s WOW - Women of the World Festival, which takes place on the eve of this year’s two-week science extravaganza, Cambridge Science Festival turns the spotlight onto women.

Celebrating past and present achievements of women, there will be a host of thought-provoking and inspiring talks and debates throughout the Festivals.

As part of WOW, a joint discussion between panels in Cambridge and at Southbank Centre, London, The Education Emergency, will examine the difference education makes to women and girls worldwide. Mariam Khalique, the former teacher of Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who will take part in the discussion on 8 March, said: "Women have been a victim of injustice and discrimination for centuries in many parts of the world and they are being marginalised in the name of religion. In many cases, women are coerced in the name of culture and tradition. The only weapon women can fight with to have their freedom and dignity is education. My life experience tells me that a girl with a book is much stronger than one without.”

Another WOW event, Wonderwomen: Discoverers and Pioneers will investigate what difference women have made to the world. Challenging why female scientists have been denied their place in history are Professor Monica Grady of the Rosetta project, Deborah Jaffé, author of Ingenious Women, Aurelia Hibbert from Cambridge University’s Eco-Racing team and Dr Jenny Tillotson, Reader in Sensory Fashion at Central St Martin’s. This event will be hosted by Professor Tim Bussey from Science Grrl’s ‘She blinded me with science’ campaign.

One of the most topical events during the Science Festival will take place on Saturday 21 March. During the public debate, Gender and conservation: does it matter? a panel will tackle the issue of underrepresentation of women in environmental-science faculty positions and in conservation practice, particularly in positions of conservation leadership. This debate explores the ways in which biodiversity conservation could be improved if there was more gender equality amongst its leaders and explores how this might be achieved.

Dr Rosie Trevelyan, a British biologist and director of the Cambridge office of the Tropical Biology Association, who will be speaking at this event said: “Why do more men than women reach senior leadership positions? There are fewer senior women than men in conservation science – a pattern that mirrors business and politics.

“I am interested in debating how we create more gender-balanced leadership. Where does change need to take place and when?  How can more female voices be effectively heard?   What would our world be like if we had equal numbers of women leaders in conservation science?  Will it happen? And if so, when?”

Also on the panel will be Pamela Abbott from Nature England, who commented: “Women are under-represented in the leadership of many conservation organisations and academic institutions. It is vitally important for the future success of conservation that we nurture and benefit from the talents of everyone who aspires to move the conservation agenda forward. Understanding, challenging and removing barriers to career progression for women will bring about diversity in conservation leadership that reflects society as a whole.”

On Monday 9 March, Rachel McKendry, Professor of Biomedical Nanotechnology at University College London, will be giving the Annual WiSETI lecture: The Mobile Revolution: From M-Health to M-Powering Women. Professor McKendry will be speaking about her life and work. Her research lies at the cutting edge of infectious diseases, nanotechnology, telecommunications and Big Data. One of the aims of this lecture is to highlight the issues that particularly affect women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and maths (STEMM) and contribute to low retention rates in these subjects.

Also on Monday 9 March, Christine Bartram of the University of Cambridge herbarium will explore the role of women in 19th Century botany using historic sources from the herbarium and rare books from the Cory Library, during her talk Women in botany at the Botanic Garden.

Women working for the British Antarctic Survey will talk about their experiences on the ice at the Polar Museum on Tuesday 10 March. The panel discussion will end with a late-night opening of the Museum, during which visitors will be able to meet the women from the British Antarctic Survey who work at the Poles.