Nathasia Muwanigwa, a scientist originally from Zimbabwe is now helping scientists, engineering and mathematicians from across African continent to give them visibility and inspire future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter high school, I moved to Cyprus for a Bachelor\u2019s in science in Human Biology, with the idea that the degree would be a pre-med degree,\u201d she said, \u201cBut in my final year, I got to do my own research project at a leukemia research institute \u2013 and discovered my love for being in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was then able to study her master\u2019s degree in a highly competitive program in the Netherlands, on a full scholarship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe financial support came at the perfect time because the economic situation in Zimbabwe was getting pretty dire and it would have been challenging if my parents had to pay the tuition,\u201d she said, \u201cI battled a lot of impostor syndrome during my Master\u2019s because my colleagues were all incredibly bright and many of them knew the ins and outs of how research in academia work, and I was still rather clueless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, she is based in Luxembourg, doing a PhD where she studies the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson\u2019s disease using human stem cell derived brain organoids (aka \u201cminibrains\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u201cA young girl from Zimbabwe should not feel that being a neuroscientist isn\u2019t for her because of where she is from, her gender or her ethnicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muwanigwa says Africans are one of the least represented on the global STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) landscape, despite making up 16% of the world population.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica needs more youth to be interested in STEM fields, because these fields are crucial to the development of the continent,\u201d she said, \u201cWe need people with the expertise to solve problems that are specific and relevant to the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
In order to improve the visibility of African researchers, Muwanigwa has helped create the site Visibility STEM Africa (VSA) and the Twitter handle @ViSTEM_Africa.<\/p>\n
Muwanigwa says what they are trying to show is that representation and visibility matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent years, we have been hearing about the importance of representation in mainstream media, in the fashion and beauty industry \u2013STEM fields are no different,\u201d she said \u201dWe are providing Africans in STEM across many different disciplines a platform where they can network with one another and create new connections.\u201d
\nMuwanigwa says the initiative will also show new opportunities for collaboration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest opportunity I see is the potential for collaborations: In science, it has become increasingly apparent that collaborations are necessary for pushing the needle forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not the only benefit to the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do we highlight Africans in STEM fields, we also have an Opportunities page on our website, where we link people to organizations or funding bodies that can help them find scholarships, funding etc,\u201d she said, \u201cWe want to be able to empower Africans pursing STEM fields with information that could be useful for them to move forward in their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are already thousands of scientists and other STEM workers doing great work across the continent and around the globe.<\/p>\n
Just one of these young researchers is Charles Emogor, who has a passion for Pangolins, an endangered, scaly mammal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nathasia Muwanigwa, a scientist originally from Zimbabwe is now helping scientists, engineering and mathematicians from across African continent to give them visibility and inspire future generations. \u201cAfter high school, I moved to Cyprus for a Bachelor\u2019s in science in Human Biology, with the idea that the degree would be a pre-med degree,\u201d she said, \u201cBut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[1299,1300],"class_list":{"0":"post-18953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-muwanigwa","10":"tag-stem"},"yoast_head":"\n