Funds are requested to cover gene expression analysis and to rent greenhouse space and buy supplies to grow tomato plants and rear insects. We will also use funds to cover for an undergraduate student researcher.

Additional Information

How does your project use the scientific method to address embodied observation, embedded context, and/or collective impact?

I grew up on the Kenyan Coast. At seven years, I gave farming a try. My father gave me a strip of land on the riverbank. I planted cabbages. The cabbages grew so well and every morning, I would go to my plot to take care of them and observe their growth. My cabbage patch became my happy place. Until one day. For three days, rains kept on pouring heavily. My cabbage patch became flooded. For almost a week the cabbages were flooded. After a week, when the floodwaters receded, my cabbages were dead. My happy place had been taken away by flooding. At the same time, growing up, my family and I also farmed other crops including corn and tomatoes. We worked very hard, but, halfway through the farming season, insects would come and eat our crops. What insects hadn't taken away, the drought would. All of these observations and firsthand experiences inspired me to pursue a career and research that would allow me to learn about these stresses and find solutions.

I later found out that the career I would need to pursue to allow me to generate solutions to these challenges was Entomology. Today, I am an Entomologist. My research is addressing these challenges. Because of climate change, the frequency and intensity of these stresses have increased. I am determined to keep finding the solutions. I will never tire. All the solutions ultimately allow us to sustainably grow our crops and -feed humanity sustainably.

And while I am happy that I am on the frontline addressing these challenges, my journey was not easy. Early on, while pursuing a Bachelor of Science, I noticed that women were few. And there were reasons. Right from childhood women in my native country, are considered to be less intelligent. They are further expected to be domestic household helpers and carry out the bulk of duties including fetching water, firewood, and cooking for the family. These constraints stress women, leading to high school dropout rates. As a result, few girls end up pursuing higher education with a focus on science. For those that decide to pursue science, we are faced with other constraints which include; poor quality of science training, shortage of good faculty, lack of modern laboratories, limited access to computers and internet, inadequate funds to sustain a good program, lack of senior women scientist mentors and network of female peers, making it hard to survive in a workplace that is characterized by discrimination and minority dynamics.

Throughout my science journey, I also saw firsthand how women of color science journeys were difficult. Faced with many biases and barriers, black women, women of color, and minorities are pushed away from science. Against all odds and barriers, I made it. Against all barriers, women of color and minorities are making it.

These lived experiences and observations have inspired me to persist. In addition, I am determined to continue discovering that what has not been discovered. Moreover, along my research journey, I strive to engage others-particularly women of color and minorities. I also strive to participate in outreach. Through my Science journey, I want to showcase that - -YES, indeed, black women are still in science, and they are making novel discoveries and breakthroughs, which ultimately contribute solutions to societal pressing challenges including climate change and rising food insecurity.