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From studying water security to complex math problems and Indigenous knowledge, researchers at the University of Calgary show the value of women’s voices in science.

The is observed with the goal of closing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Globally, women represent fewer than one third of the world’s researchers in STEM. Barriers to participation still limit women’s opportunities to contribute to research and academia.

Post-secondary institutions such as UCalgary play a key role in advocating for gender equality. 

Here are some researchers from the with their experiences and thoughts on this important day:

Dr. Allyson Menzies, Department of Biological Sciences

, PhD, who is of mixed Métis and settler descent, fell in love with fieldwork and ecology during her undergraduate studies.

“I’m interested in what animals do, how they survive and how people can have better relationships with them,” she says.

Menzies, an assistant professor in the who explores and influences conservation policies, was recently named Research Chair in Community-based Monitoring of Culturally Important Species.

“Braiding knowledge is the idea that different ways of seeing and understanding the world run in parallel,” she explains. “To weave Western and Indigenous science isn’t about forcing them to fit one way or the other.”

Menzies says she wants to bring more Indigenous knowledge and support Indigenous students as a professor.

“I want to teach things I never got the chance to learn in university. It’s important that people and knowledge that were historically excluded from post-secondary institutions make their way back into them,” she says. “I was constantly surrounded by male scientists, and, as much as you don’t want it to matter, it really weighs on you, not seeing someone like you in academia.

“The goal is to make our systems better for everyone, and the work continues with us.”

In 2016, a survey conducted by showed the amount of Indigenous women with bachelor's degrees or higher in STEM fields was around five per cent; 10 years later, that statistic hovers around seven per cent.

Dr. Jo-Anne Brown, Department of Physics and Astronomy

For years, , PhD ‘02, saw herself as “one of the guys, with no need for special treatment — until I got pregnant.

“There was something unique and amazing that I could do and they couldn’t, and it really made me recognize I was different.”

Brown, a professor, and her research group . She was the first UCalgary researcher who used radio astronomy to study the magnetic field of the Milky Way.

“We don’t know much about the magnetic field of the galaxy, except that it’s there and it’s important in the formation of stars, and possibly galaxies themselves,” she says.

that only 20 per cent of physicists and astronomers in Canada are women.

“My graduating undergrad class was 25 per cent women,” Brown jokes. “There were four graduates in total, and I was the only woman.”

She joined ��ɫֱ�� as a faculty member in 2006. For a few years, she was the only female professor.

“Now there’s more of us, and I’m so happy to be part of a cohort of women in physics,” Brown says.

To Brown, celebrating the day is important “because you can’t be what you can’t see.

“I hope seeing women in higher-level positions will promote more women and girls to follow their dreams.”

Dr. Kristine Bauer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Despite the significance of textiles and the skill required to make them, technologies such as knitting have often been reduced to "women’s work," which typically refers to unpaid, stereotypically domestic labour.

, PhD, associate professor in the , uses it to study abstract shapes. 

“Last summer, I worked with a mathematical knitter named , who was interested in reversible knitting. That’s a type of pattern where you can’t tell the front from the back by looking at the end product,” says Bauer.

“Karen knew that, for a pattern to be reversible, it had to look a certain way. She asked us to develop an app where she could input a pattern, and the app would tell her if it was reversible.”

As it happens, that’s an applied math problem in algebraic topology, the study of shapes and surfaces, which Bauer’s group specializes in.

Using concepts from first-year linear algebra, two of Bauer’s researchers — Rosa Shah, a summer student in the ; and , BSc’16, PhD’21, a postdoctoral associate — found a way to detect reversible patterns and developed an algorithm for Little’s personal use. 

They continue to work closely together.

“Karen knitted something that mathematicians call a projective plane, but, for her, it’s just called a Möbius basket,” Bauer says, holding up a knitted pouch with a twist in the handle. “I can use the things she knits as models in my teaching to help students understand the concepts.”

Bauer admits it’s not always easy to be an academic.

“There are a lot of external forces trying to convince you that you don’t belong,” she says. “I have been so incredibly influenced by the role models who came before me, whose stories inspired me to stay.”

Dr. Fateme Rajabiyazdi, Department of Computer Science

, PhD ‘19, chose to work at the university after determining her passions were at the intersection of teaching and research.

“I design innovative data visualization systems for health-care settings," she says. "We address real-world problems encountered in health care.”

Rajabiyazdi, an assistant professor in the , leads the , which focuses on increasing patient engagement in their own medical care.

“Health-care systems have a lot of data,” she says. “We need to come up with actions based on that data to enhance patient health.”

As a transdisciplinary researcher in UCalgary’s , Rajabiyazdi sees her work as “making tools that will help solve society’s problems. To see my work have an impact on patients is really rewarding.”

Women have long been linked to computer science. wrote one of history’s earliest computer programs. Teams of women working on the calculations that sent astronauts to the moon and decrypted codes were known as “.”

Computer science was the fastest-growing college major for women in the 1970s and 1980s. However, that number has shrunk significantly.

While the number of women earning degrees in computer science is low, Rajabiyazdi highlights the growing accessibility of learning to code.

“I’m glad to see that programming is becoming more accessible to anyone who is curious about computer science,” Rajabiyazdi says.

She says the International Day is one of reflection.

“The women who came before us paved the way. It’s our turn now," Rajabiyazdi says. "How do we make an impact that will allow people to have a better life?”

Dr. Belinda Heyne, Department of Chemistry

, professor in the , works at the intersection of nanotechnology and photochemistry, which is the study of how light interacts with molecules.

“When we have results that don’t make sense, it’s our job to make sense of it. I think that’s so much fun because it’s challenging,” she says.

As the current Chemistry department head, Heyne approaches mentorship and collaboration by leading with empathy.

“Getting to do science is great, but the best part of my job is the relationships you build with your students and colleagues,” she says. 

“Fifteen years ago, leadership workshops for women and minorities were not structured to accommodate and celebrate our differences. The goal of those workshops was to transform me to think and act like a man.”

Prior to becoming department head, Heyne was associate head for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). During that time, she helped organized the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in 2022.

“The conference was fully accessible, and the materials we developed are still on the website for future conferences,” Heyne says.

She has also supported other EDI programs on campus, including a journal club and an annual .

Heyne says she's proud of next generation of students and notes it’s important to observe the day for their benefit.

“There are lots more girls choosing to take science degrees, but this doesn’t translate into professional programs and careers in science — that pipeline is still reduced," she says. “We need to continue the work. There’s more than one way to have a career in science. This is a field where you can do anything.”

Dr. Erin Nicholls, Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment

, PhD, an assistant professor and transdisciplinary researcher in water security, studies hydrology and plant-atmosphere interactions, specifically on mountains and in Northern Canada.

“I’m interested in how different types of vegetation interact with the atmosphere in cold regions, primarily the Yukon and Rockies,” says Nicholls, who is in ��ɫֱ�� .

To Nicholls, who grew up loving nature, being an academic made sense.

“I have this deep personal connection to the land, and I feel this need to protect it, so getting to work on scientific understandings that support this beautiful landscape is the most rewarding part of my job,” she says.

Nicholls brings that approach into her teaching and mentorship.

“I’m having the most fun when I’m interacting with students who care deeply about what they’re learning and doing," she says. "I love seeing that passion come through.”

Nicholls also works in the as an assistant professor.

“What motivates my research questions is to answer larger water security questions: How do we better manage our infrastructure in the face of water shortages or climate extremes?" she says.

“The climate crisis is a water crisis, and I look at how we can translate and apply what we know to public policy.”

To effectively answer those questions requires diverse thinking, Nicholls notes.

“What we really need are different perspectives. Having a space to bring them together and work as a team is super important," she says.

“Nobody can do it all, but I think, together, we can accomplish a lot.”