|
|
| Dear Friends,
We have so much to celebrate this year: Our 20th anniversary year supporting women explorers AND our 100th Woman of Discovery AND our 100th Flag Carrier!
This kind of staying power and momentum is only possible because of you, our amazing friends and supporters. Since joining WINGS last fall, I have been reminded over and over of how much we can accomplish together when mission, extraordinary people and bold thinking converge with purpose, passion and positive energy. I am deeply grateful for your notes and calls, which give me a fresh perspective on the power of our community.
In the next few weeks, we will be announcing the 2023 Women of Discovery cohort - five trailblazers who are pushing the boundaries of discovery with innovative ideas and brilliant initiatives. In the meantime, save the date of October 12, 2023, for our next Women of Discovery Awards Gala in New York City.
We want to see you! We have exciting events coming up, including the WINGS Junior Board's "Sweat for Science" on February 25th, and a WINGS Exclusive Book Launch with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka on April 20th. Dr. Gladys will be joining us in-person to talk about her incredible work with Uganda's endangered mountain gorillas and read an excerpt from her new book, Walking With Gorillas. Scroll down for more information and links to purchase tickets. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve soon!
Thank you for being a partner in discovery and solutions. Your support is bringing real progress and hope to women on the front lines of science and exploration who are proving that when they lead, they bring transformative change to their fields, their communities, and the world at large.
| |
Meredith Ayan
Executive Director
| |
|  |
Photo courtesy of Arita Baaijens
| |  |
Photo courtesy of Jill Heinerth
| |  |
Photo courtesy of Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
| |
| | |
| In this issue:
- WINGS Upcoming Events
- February 25th WINGS Junior Board Sweat for Science Fundraiser
- April 20th WINGS Explorer Book Launch (NYC): Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
- Flag Carrier Launch: Anna Knochel Under the Raydar
- Blog Post: 2008 Fellow Dr. Birgit Sattler on Life in the Ice
- More news from Fellow Dr. Rosaly Lopes and Flag Carriers Susan Eaton, Kellie Gerardi and Kiera Rumbough.
| |
| Upcoming "Sweat for Science" Fundraiser with WINGS Junior Board
February 25th, 5:00pm at [solidcore] Upper East Side in NYC
The WINGS Junior Board is partnering with [solidcore] for their annual Fitness Fundraiser!
| |
WINGS Exclusive Explorer Book Launch
April 20th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, NYC
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, 2011 Humanity Award
Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet
Uganda’s 1st wildlife vet and founder of Conservation Through Public Health, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, will share her remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to a career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals.
Walking with Gorillas takes the reader on Dr. Gladys’s personal journey, from her early days as a student in Uganda, enduring the assassination of her father during civil war, to her veterinarian education in England, to establishing the first veterinary department for the Ugandan government, to founding one of the first organizations in the world that enables people to coexist with wildlife through improving the health and wellbeing of both. Her award-winning approach greatly reduced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on critically endangered mountain gorillas. In the face of discrimination, one woman’s passion and determination to build a brighter future for the local wildlife and human community offers inspiration and insights into what is truly possible for our planet.
| |
New Flag Carrier Expedition Launch:
Anna Knochel: Under the Raydar - Revealing the Enigmatic Lives of Oceanic Manta Rays in the Galapagos
| |
|  |
Photo courtesy of Anna Knochel
| |
| | |
Flag Carrier and marine ecologist Anna Knochel (Flag #34) set off this month to collect data in the Galapagos that combines acoustic tagging, satellite tagging, and isotope analyses to identify movement corridors and seasonal distribution patterns as well as answer questions about manta rays’ site fidelity to the islands, their large-scale movements, the possible drivers of these movements, and their foraging ecology. This data will be key for local stakeholders to develop responsible ecotourism and sustainable management strategies, such as implementing speed restrictions, establishing boating routes that avoid critical habitats, and limiting the number of tourist vessels at each aggregation site. The coast of Ecuador boasts the largest identified population in the world of oceanic manta rays, which can move distances up to 1300km.
| |
New Blog Post
2008 Fellow Dr. Birgit Sattler: Life In the Ice
Courtesy of www.whiteframe-foto.com, Christine Foreman
We caught up with 2008 Fellow Dr. Birgit Sattler recently for our “Where Is She Now” series. Learn more about her polar research on the Living Cryosphere and visit her website at the University of Innsbruck to read about her work to understand the health risks of climate change and the natural antibiotic resistances occurring in frozen realms. Her current project, PlasticAlps, part of the Sparkling Science citizen science project, focuses on the threat of microplastic contamination in extremely vulnerable environments, polar or high-altitude areas.
| |
|
WINGS Women in The News
2009 Fellow Rosaly Lopes
Photo: Ralph B. White
Dr. Rosaly Lopes, 2009 Air & Space Fellow, planetary geologist, volcano expert, and senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was interviewed here about the Netflix documentary, The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, the story of the tragic 2019 volcanic eruption. Rosaly has discovered 71 active volcanoes on the surface of Jupiter's moon, for which she was honored in the Guinness World Records as the discoverer of the most active volcanoes anywhere. She is currently studying the geology and potential habitability of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, as a Principal Investigator in NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, leading an international team.
| |
Flag Carrier Susan R. Eaton
Photo courtesy of Susan Eaton
Susan R. Eaton, Flag Carrier, geoscientist, and Sea Women Expeditions Leader, embarks next month on a reconnaissance expedition to the Mackenzie River-Arctic Ocean. She'll drive the 117-kilometre ice road across the Mackenzie Delta from Inuvik to Aklavik and engage with Indigenous women and girls living in remote communities in the Western Canadian Arctic. Susan lives on the shores of Great Slave Lake in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, where she works with the Canadian Wildlife Service on conservation and climate change issues across the North—Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In Nov-Dec 2022, she led the Sea Women Expeditions’ team of 34 Indigenous and non-Indigenous sea women—ages 20 to 70 years—on a three-week ocean research and snorkel expedition during the winter herring run. Her Flag Report will be available soon on our website.
| |
Flag Carrier Kellie Gerardi
Photo courtesy of Kellie Gerardi
WINGS Flag Carrier and bioastronautics researcher Kellie Gerardi flies to space this year as a payload specialist on a dedicated research mission with Virgin Galactic. A researcher for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), she will conduct experiments and test new healthcare technologies while she is in space. During the spaceflight, Kellie will unbuckle from her seat and undertake the actions necessary to complete each experiment during several minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic will provide bespoke training and preparation so that Kellie is fully equipped to carry out her job as a researcher on this flight and provide on-site pre-flight support for each of the payload experiments. Watch this Range Rover “Space Mission” TV spot featuring Kellie narrating her book, Luna Muna, for young aspiring astronauts, and her daughter Delta, who is excited about her mother’s upcoming journey to a new frontier.
| |
Flag Carrier Kiera Rumbough
| |
|  |
Photo courtesy of Kiera Rumbough
| |
| | |
Flag Carrier and marine biologist Kiera Rumbough is the resident biologist and research coordinator of the Apparent Winds team. Apparent Winds, a 10-year science, cultural research and storytelling expedition aboard the sailing research vessel “Resilience," is dedicated to collecting and sharing stories of hope with a focus on environmental and cultural preservation. They operate a sailing research vessel which, in addition to being available for charter by various scientific groups, acts as a platform for their in-house data collection, headquarters, and means of sustainable travel. Thei mission is to share these stories through film, educational outreach, and the written word. They share updates from their expedition via youtube: Watch the most recent episode #5 - Sailing Through the Alaskan Wilderness.
| |
|
|
|
|
