Google recently launched a Women in Culture hub aimed at celebrating notable achievements by women in the civil rights struggle, sports, arts to fashion, and in space exploration to medicine. Among the heroines celebrated include two Kenyans, Climate Change and Health Research Scientist, Dr. Esther Onyango and Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, the late Professor Wangari Maathai.
The launch of the Google Women in Culture hub commemorates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The launch further looks at major exploits by women in discoveries, research, and broken barriers that ushered in increased women’s participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the past 174 years.
The hub has many women and girls in science with inspirational stories. Users can browse Google Arts and Culture to explore other fields beyond science in which female trailblazers, among them Kenya’s Dr. Onyango and the late Prof Mathai exploited.
Prof Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy, receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi. In 1977, Prof Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization that focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights.
She is remembered for converting Kenyan ecological debate into mass action for reforestation, an initiative that saw her being awarded the Right Livelihood Award. Prof. Maathai was an elected member of the Parliament of Kenya and served as assistant minister for environment and natural resources between January 2003 and November 2005 in the government of former President Mwai Kibaki. She was also an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council.
On the other hand, Dr. Esther Onyango is a Climate Change and Health Research Scientist at Griffith University. Dr. Onyango has advocated for women’s inclusion at key decision-making bodies on matters of climate change action at national, regional, and global forums. She observes that the patriarchal nature of many societies exposes women to climate risks. Through her work and activities, she aims to inspire and mentor women to increase their participation in STEM careers.
Other success stories in the archive include Ms. Ada Lovelace, hailed as the world’s first computer programmer, Margherita Hack, an astrophysicist, Dr. Asima Chatterjee a NASA Astronaut, engineer and physician. The Women in Culture hub is available on Google Arts and Culture, iOS and Android Apps and helps uncover and highlight the many roles women have played in science over more than 174 years of history.