San Juan, Puerto Rico:— “The world needs science and science needs women”. The Young Talents Caribbean Region L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science (FWIS) program is a partnership between L’Oréal Caribe, the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean, with the support of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Caribbean Division– seeking to connect the dots between Caribbean development challenges, scientific research, and female empowerment by recognizing and honoring two young scientists with an endowment of $10,000 USD to further develop their scientific endeavors.
The annual FWIS Awards Ceremony was held in October 25, at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus, during the 39th AAAS Caribbean Division Convention. The event attracted notable figures within the scientific community of the Caribbean, all to celebrate the achievements of two bright, accomplished, young women whose futures in STEM are still unfolding.
The 2024 FWIS recipients in the Caribbean specialize in the fields of agricultural science and sustainability.
• Mrs. Gillian Rowe, whose research focuses on the identification of causative agents for ginger rhizome rot at the University of West Indies, Mona in Jamaica, aims to enhance commercial ginger spice production. By profiling microbial communities, Mrs. Rowe seeks to develop eco-friendly agroproducts such as probiotics and bio stimulants to combat this disease. In the long term, this research will contribute to understanding local biodiversity, benefiting not only ginger but also other commercial crops and clinical microbiology in Jamaica. By tailoring agroproducts to local conditions, the work promises to lower production costs for farmers, reduce post-harvest losses, and support the livelihoods of many farmers, particularly women, as they restore their infected agriculture.
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