On 11 February, we observe the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This awareness day seeks to promote gender equality in scientific professions. It also aims to connect the international community to women and girls in science, strengthening ties between science, policy and society.  

Working at the interface of these sectors has always been integral to our work at UNEP-WCMC, and we are proud to support and benefit from women at all stages of their career, within many specialist fields. Here, we speak to three women from the Centre who have followed very different career paths, to find out more about their experiences and learn what advice they would pass on. 

Dr Susana Baena 

Susana is the Lead Remote Sensing Specialist within the Science team. She provides expert advice on earth observation data products and remote sensing methods throughout the Centre, with special focus on climate change impacts to biodiversity. 

Daniela Guarás 

Dani is a Senior Technical Specialist in the Policy team. She leads and contributes to the work of the Centre on intergovernmental processes such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Dani uses her prior experience working in national government to ensure the Centre's science and expertise is directly relevant to supporting decision makers at both global and national levels. 

Dr Najma Mohamed 

Najma is Head of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) at the Centre. She leads our NbS impact area to develop knowledge and evidence, tools and data to highlight nature’s contribution in addressing multiple societal challenges. With partner institutions, the team seeks to enhance understanding of nature’s contribution to people, and position NbS among the transformative actions that work for people and for nature. 

Tell us a little about your path into the field of conservation. 

Najma: I really loved nature and outdoors from a very young age. But I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, so my first interaction with nature was being excluded from some areas. 

My parents raised us with the understanding that we were obliged to take action against the injustice that we were facing, and we really wanted to work towards making our country better. Out of that pain emerged these possibilities, and I think I've carried that resilience and tenacity throughout my career.  

I studied biology and geography, and then took quite an interesting pathway focusing on the intersection of climate, nature and development. My work has always been very interdisciplinary. I started out working at the community level, engaging local communities in policy and decision-making processes. Then as my career developed, I worked a lot more in the international space. One role was at the Green Economy Coalition, where I led a programme of work on how we can integrate nature into planning and economic decision-making processes. This focus on nature-based solutions kept on emerging, which looks at how we can work better with nature to deliver integrated societal outcomes. And it really seemed to me an exciting area of policy and practical innovation. 

Susana: My background is in forestry science. For a few years I worked in forest management and during the summer worked on forest fire-fighting campaigns (which I found extremely stressful!). The aspect of the work that I enjoyed the most was working with maps and fire models and the more analytical side of it. So, I decided to go back to university to focus on these aspects, completing a master’s in Geographical Information Sciences and Remote Sensing.  

While writing my dissertation, I started working with Kew Gardens on a project looking at deforestation patterns in an area of Cameroon that is of high interest for bird populations. I really enjoyed the project, travelling to the country to undertake field work. Afterwards, I was offered a contract to continue working with Kew and I stayed with them for over 15 years, working on fantastic projects all over the world: wild coffee and climate change risks in Ethiopia, agroforestry systems in Peru, then Zambia, Guinea, Mozambique, Malaysia, Thailand…the list goes on! 

When my son was born I couldn’t really travel that much anymore, so I decided to move on to a consultancy role. I worked in the space sector for a while, but I missed the conservation world very much, so I applied for the Lead Remote Sensing Specialist role at UNEP-WCMC. 

Dani: When I was at university studying International Relations, I really discovered a passion for geopolitics and the key role that natural resources have in understanding relationships among countries. At the time it was more at a higher level, more thinking around power dynamics and so on. But then I had the opportunity to start working at the interface between environment and development, and that's when I realised that this was the area I wanted to specialize in. I later completed a master’s in Environment and International Development. 

At the very beginning of my career, I supported the work of the team that was leading on multilateral agricultural negotiations at the Ministry of Agriculture in Argentina. This experience was quite eye-opening for me because I was really experiencing for the first time in my life how international relations work in practice. Seeing these amazing, experienced negotiators and technical experts bringing their knowledge to these global processes was super enlightening. I then had the opportunity to start working on trade and environment myself, and something that for a long time I thought was a dream actually became reality.  

Since I joined UNEP-WCMC nearly ten years ago, I have kept working on environmental negotiations but from a different perspective: no longer for the interest of one country, but focusing on biodiversity and shared goals at the global level. 

What have been some of the highlights of your career so far? 

Susana: Definitely working internationally. I worked for many years in Madagascar on vegetation mapping of the island – it was an amazing experience where I got to work in the field, shoulder to shoulder with our Malagasy colleagues. The nature, the unique flora and fauna, the landscapes – from the spiny forest in the south to the Tsingy plateaux in the north-west and the rainforest in the east. Unbelievable beauty. 

Najma: While working at the International Labour Organization, I was part of the team preparing a Just Transition plan for Small Island Developing States. It was the first time that I had been able to listen to communities on the front lines and to understand what the climate crisis means for them, to understand that they were facing imminent dangers to their lifestyles and their food and water security, and it really opened my eyes. I think sometimes we understand climate vulnerability in a theoretical sense, but to understand climate vulnerability when you can physically see the challenges that countries and communities are facing – I felt very privileged to hear these stories first-hand. 

Have you faced any challenges as a woman in your particular field? 

Susana: I have always tried to remain as oblivious as possible to the fact that I was a woman working in a male-dominated field, but the hardest part was definitely working as a forest manager when I was younger. Part of my role consisted of working with rangers and telling them what to do, where to plant, how to approach a forest fire… I found that it’s not very easy to be taken seriously by middle-aged, confident male workers when you are a woman in your twenties. 

Najma: The early years of my career were very challenging, but I think it perhaps had less to do with my identity as a woman and more to do with the multiple identities I was carrying in post-apartheid South Africa. I remember when I was making my career choice when I was in school and someone said to me, “You do realise that there's not many people in conservation or the environment sector that look like you?”  

We often think about the challenges that women face as similar challenges. But when we start looking at women not as a monolithic group, but as people that sometimes hold multiple identities, it's a lot more complex. If you're looking at women who are facing far worse discrimination with intersecting inequalities like gender, race, ethnicity and location, it's much tougher. 

Why do you think it’s important to have diverse workforces within conservation?

Dani: I've been working with diverse interdisciplinary teams for my whole career. Something I've learned is that the drive and sensitivity that we have as women are so needed at every step of the way. The task we have is so huge – we need to find ways to really create a future that is sustainable, that provides the necessary space for people and for nature – that I cannot think of anyone that would not be needed in that huge task. 

Najma: I've always had an appreciation for the multiple roles that we all have in contributing towards bigger change, from the local community to the civil society organizations that really hold the world to account, to the scientific and research and evidence organizations that give us the knowledge and understanding to make better decisions. Collectively we're all working towards sound social, environmental and climate outcomes, but we're going to take different pathways.  

How have you been helped or supported by other women in your field? 

Dani: For me, there was one particular meeting where I realised, wow, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And that was during one of the climate negotiations. The head of our delegation was a woman, a very experienced diplomat, and she let me be in a high-level bilateral meeting with another female-led delegation, where something really tricky was being discussed. Having the opportunity to be there, to see the way in which these two women led the unfolding of the meeting and to observe their skills, was something I will never forget. In the same way in which my bosses at the time always trusted me, regardless of my gender or age, to go and represent the country in meetings, it was the type of thing that I hope I can do and continue doing, which is to give people opportunities so that they realise nothing is really unachievable. 

Najma: I've had people on my pathway who have recognized the skills and the capabilities that I had, and gave me the opportunity to broaden my career path. As I advanced in my career, it became so important for me to say, OK, I can consider this next step because there's so many people who are in that position or at that level, they are women, they are from the global south, they bring quite a different experience and insight to the sector. Sometimes where I wouldn't have even imagined a door, someone would say, “Well, what about that door?” And so it's just having people broadening your mind as to what's possible. There's a lot of joy for me in connecting people, in opening up the possibilities for young women entering into the sector. I think it's so important to pass the baton, and don't close the door that you've just come through, keep it open. 

What do you think could be done to encourage more women into scientific careers? 

Susana: I think we should continue to create a supportive environment for women. The main challenge remains the balance between work and career and family life. Family-friendly benefits such as help with childcare, ideally in the working environment, would be an amazing incentive. Also promoting women as role models, showing how you can be successful at work and still care for your family.  

Conservation remains a badly paid field and that can be challenging when you start thinking about having a family. There is also a lot to do around ensuring transparency in the recruiting process, and promoting clear progression opportunities for women. 

Najma: I really love to interact with students at university level, but I think we need to go earlier, at the school level when young people are thinking about their career choices. I found my inspiration on some of the high school field trips that I was able to go on where I’d say to myself, I really love being in nature, I'm really curious about how natural systems work and how we can find ways for people to live in harmony with nature. And so that exposure to outdoor education, integrating that into the curriculum, that was some of the inspiration. 

Dani: I’ve always been into teaching – letting people have a one-to-one exchange when they want to. I think that has huge potential in terms of sharing what we have learned, but also what we do. It’s that opportunity to really be there for others when they are thinking about what to do next. 

What would be your advice to girls and women considering a future in conservation? 

Dani: Just go for it! There is space for everyone. The world needs all of us. And I think it's so rewarding to work alongside passionate individuals, inspiring people that really want to genuinely make a difference, that why wouldn't we all try to do it? 

Najma: Don't be discouraged, but also understand the barriers and the challenges. I think if you don't face the challenges you might come up against, they can hit you quite hard. 

I also know that sometimes the day-to-day or the month-to-month work on projects and partnership development can move one away from understanding and connecting with your purpose and your passion. But I'd always say keep that as your anchor.