List of women climate scientists and activists

Costa Rican climate change diplomat
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2022)

The following is a list of women climate scientists and activists by nationality – women who are well known for their work in the field of climatology.

Introduction

Women have made major contributions to climate change research and policy and to broader analysis of global environmental issues.[1] They include many women scientists as well as policy makers and activists. Women researchers have made significant contributions to major scientific assessments such as those of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and are reasonably well represented on key global change committees of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and US National Academy of Sciences. They have played important leadership roles in international climate policy. For example, Christiana Figueres leads the international climate negotiations as the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and former Irish President Mary Robinson is the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change. Susan Solomon chaired the climate science working group 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment in 2007.[2] Since 1990, women have been playing an increasingly important role on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a key international forum.[3]

Afghanistan

  • Zuhal Atmar, pioneering environmentalist who ran a recycling plant
  • Faiza Darkhani (born 1992), environmentalist, climate change scholar, and women's rights activist

Argentina

  • Inés Camilloni (born 1964), climatologist studying climate change in South America

Australia

  • Nerilie Abram (born 1977), researcher in climate change and paleoclimatology
  • Tracy Ainsworth, marine biologist working on coral reefs
  • Lisa Alexander, international expert on heatwaves
  • Julie Arblaster, climate change researcher, contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  • Sue Barrell, meteorologist active in climate monitoring and ocean-earth observations
  • Kirsten Benkendorff (born 1973), marine scientist working on molluscs
  • Wendy Bowman (born c.1934), environmental activist
  • Wendy Craik (born 1949), scientist working for the Climate Change Authority
  • Adriana Dutkiewicz, sedimentologist at the University of Sydney
  • Ann Henderson-Sellers (1952-), climate change risk evaluation
  • Taryn Lane, renewable energy expert
  • Judith Lean, Australian-American solar and climate scientist
  • India Logan-Riley, Māori climate activist
  • Janice Lough, climate scientist researching coral reefs
  • Amanda Lynch, Professor at Brown University researching atmospheric and climate change science, and environmental policy and Indigenous knowledge
  • Cara Augustenborg (1938–2017), Slovene-American artist and environmental activist
  • Ann Henderson-Sellers (born 1952), earth systems scientist focusing on climatic impacts
  • Jane McAdam (born 1974), legal expert on climate change and refugees
  • Helen McGregor, geologist and climate change researcher, Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University
  • Amanda McKenzie, commentator on climate change
  • Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, marine ecologist and ecosystem modeller
  • Sam Mostyn (born c.1964), businesswoman active in climate change
  • Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick (born 1983), heatwave research
  • Anjali Sharma (born 2004), child climate activist
  • Kate Trinajstic, paleontologist and evolutionary biologist
  • Jo Vallentine (born 1946), anti-nuclear activist
  • Carden Wallace, marine biologist and museum director, expert on corals
  • Shemara Wikramanayake (born 1962), businesswoman striving for low carbon emissions and renewable energy production
  • Penny Whetton (1958–2019), regional climate change projections for Australia
  • Katherine Woodthorpe, executive involved in bushfire and natural hazards

Belgium

Bolivia

Brazil

  • Rosaly Lopes (born 1957), geologist specializing in volcanology
  • Antônia Melo (born 1949), environmentalist and human rights activist

Cameroon

Canada

Chad

Chile

  • Adriana Hoffmann (1940–2022), environmentalist involved in the sustainable management of Chilean forests
  • Sara Larraín (born 1962), politician and environmental activist
  • Veronica Vallejos (born c. 1967), marine biologist and Antarctic researcher

China

  • Chai Jing (born 1976), journalist and environmental activist producing a documentary, later banned, on pollution and environmental policy
  • Howey Ou (born c.2003), young activist inspired by Greta Thunberg

Colombia

Costa Rica

  • Christiana Figueres (born 1956), diplomat specializing in international climate change negotiations

Denmark

Inger Andersen, Danish environmentalist (2010)
  • Inger Andersen (born 1958), economist and environmentalist working with international organizations
  • Lone Drøscher Nielsen (born 1984), wildlife conservationist active in Borneo
  • Inge Lehmann (1888–1993), seismologist and geophysicist
  • Signe Normand, biologist researching vegetation in the arctic tundra

Dominican Republic

  • Idelisa Bonnelly (1931–2022), marine biologist who created first sanctuary in the North Atlantic for humpback whales

Ecuador

Fiji

  • Kavita Naidu, lawyer working on international climate change law

Finland

France

Germany

Ghana

Guatemala

Guinea-Bissau

Honduras

  • Berta Cáceres (1971–2016), environmental activist and indigenous leader

Iceland

  • Sigríður Tómasdóttir (1871–1957), environmentalist active in saving the Gullfoss waterfalls from industrialization

India

Indian climate change activist Sunita Narain (2009)
  • Sulochana Gadgil (born 1944), meteorologist studying monsoons
  • Paramjit Khurana (born 1956), biologist specializing in plant biotechnology
  • Sunita Narain (born 1961), environmentalist, clean energy advocate and political activist
  • Medha Patkar (born 1964), politician, rights activist and environmentalist

Indonesia

Ireland

Irish environmental scientist Tara Shine (2019)
  • Anna Kernahan, climate activist, founder of Fridays For Future Northern Ireland
  • Cara Augustenborg (born 1978), environmental scientist, also has US citizenship
  • Karin Dubsky (born 1954), German-born marine ecologist and environmental activist
  • Tara Shine, environmental scientist, policy advisor and science communicator

Italy

  • Simona Bordoni (born 1972), climatologist studying atmospheric dynamics in California
  • Nicola Scafetta (born 1975), astronomer and climate scientist

Kenya

Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai (2001)
  • Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), environmental activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Laos

Madagascar

Marshall Islands

Mexico

Netherlands

  • Elisabeth Gottschalk (1912–1989), investigated storm surges and river floods
  • Saskia Ozinga (born 1960), environmental and social activist involved in forest conservation

New Zealand

Gillian Wratt, New Zealand Arctic researcher

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Papua New Guinea

Peru

Chicaje of Peru

Philippines

  • Joan Carling (born 1963), human rights activist and environmentalist
  • Gemma Narisma (1972–2021), climate scientist focusing on assessment

Poland


Russia

  • Maria Klenova (1898–1976), pioneering Russian marine scientist
  • Olga Zolina (born 1975), climatologist, modeling of extreme precipitation

Rwanda

  • Rose Mukankomeje, politician and environmental activist addressing forest conservation

South Africa

South Korea

  • June-Yi Lee, atmospheric scientist investigating future climate scenarios

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Sweden

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg (March 2020)
  • Isabelle Axelsson (born 2001), young climate activist
  • Inger Holmlund (1927–2019), environmentalist active in tree-planting and craft projects for women in Kenya
  • Greta Thunberg (born 2003), climate change activist beginning school climate strikes in 2018

Switzerland

  • Martine Rebetez (born 1961), climatologist working on the consequences of climate change in Switzerland
  • Sonja Wipf (born 1973), plant ecologist studying climate change
  • Anita Studer (born 1944), conservationist and ecologist

Thailand

  • Kotchakorn Voraakhom (born 1981), landscape architect contributing to projects addressing climate change

Trinidad and Tobago

United Kingdom

Emily Shuckburgh, British climate science communicator (2017)

United States

Rachel Carson, American marine biologist and conservationist

Uganda

Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate (2020)

Uruguay

Vanuatu

Vietnam

References

  1. ^ Sachs, Carolyn (2014). Women Working In The Environment: Resourceful Natures. Taylor and Francis.
  2. ^ "Women scientists on the forefront of climate action". United Nations. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  3. ^ Gay-Antaki, Miriam (17 January 2018). "Climate for women in climate science: Women scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (9). PNAS: 2060–2065. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115.2060G. doi:10.1073/pnas.1710271115. PMC 5834669. PMID 29440422.

See also