A scientist’s take on environmental issues and what women can do
“To be a woman is already hard enough, and to be working in the field of environment presents a number of challenges.”
This was according to Dr. Emilyn Q. Espiritu, Executive Director of Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering, during a presentation on” Women at the Frontline of Climate Change,” in the recent Women’s Month celebration by the Department of Science and Technology – Gender and Development (DOST-GAD), where Espiritu initially gave a rundown of the six challenges confronting the environment: over population, depleting water resources, soil erosion, solid waste management, loss of biodiversity, and the atmosphere.
Espiritu said that people are witnessing a tremendous leap in industrial development, economic growth, population increase, but unfortunately these developments came at a price.
One of the six challenges cited is the exponential increase in the population which has been exerting pressure on water resources, such that scientist have come up with a very grim scenario that future wars will no longer be fought over territories or land. It will be fought over access to clean, potable water.
(Photo credit: Lifted from Dr. Emilyn Espiritu’s presentation for DOST-GAD’s ”Women at the Frontline of Climate Change”) Espiritu said that scientists have come up with a very grim scenario that future wars will no longer be fought over territories or land. It will be fought over access to clean, potable water.
Espiritu cited the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report which showed that the past seven years have been the warmest on record. The situation is so critical that the IPCC made a statement that “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reduction in greenhouse emissions, it could take 20-30 years to see global temperatures stabilize.”
Addressing the younger audience, Espiritu said “Yung mga kabataan dyan, twenty to thirty years, mga ilang taon pa lang kayo noon, siguro kami, mga ano na kami noon, pa-exit na kami nun. So this is your generation, ladies and gentlemen. This report is a reality check. While it is not my intention to scare or discouraged you, the challenge for us now is: So, what do we do about it? In particular what is the role of women scientists in protecting the environment?”
The scientist’s journey as a woman in the field of science
Espiritu grew up in an era when women had to contend with gender bias. She shared how her grandfather would tell her aunts this: “Magturo na lang kayo kasi mag-aasawa din lang kayo.”
During her time, girls were always considered the last resort when it came to selecting contestants for science and math competitions because of the popular notion then, that girls can’t do math and that science was a man’s domain.
In the 80’s when she was starting out in her career, there were few leadership positions for women and the pay wasn’t great. She also recounted that there were some colleagues who experienced some form of inappropriate treatment pertaining to sexual behaviour. They were trapped in jobs which they felt had minimal opportunities for promotion and higher salaries.
Having graduated with a degree in Marine Science in the early ‘70s, Espiritu pursued a higher degree in Environmental Sanitation in the late ‘80s, and eventually a PhD in Applied Biological Science majoring in Environmental Technology in the mid-‘90s.
Espiritu specialized in a field called ecotoxicology, which was still in its infancy back then, when the researchers were just beginning to understand what is the significance of various substances on the health of plants, animals, communities, and so on.
Espiritu’s work was mostly focused on generating baseline data because that was what was needed at the time. Until she realized that generating data is not enough. It is important as well. But it is not enough.
This realization came with the statement by Sara Parkin in 1991, the former spokesperson of the British Green Party: “Our numbness, our silence, our lack of courage could mean that we end up the only species to have minutely monitored our own extinction. What a measly epitaph that would make – they saw it coming but didn’t have the wit to stop it happening.”
(Photo credit: Lifted from Dr. Emilyn Espiritu’s presentation for DOST-GAD’s ”Women at the Frontline of Climate Change”)
“I told myself there has to be a better way of doing things in order to preserve what remains of our resources, and to ensure a more sustainable future for everyone,” Espiritu said.
That signaled the beginning of her journey, not just into monitoring and assessment and providing baseline data, but into capacity building, environmental policy, environmental advocacy, and so on.
She was doing researches on projects related to environmental monitoring, assessments, a job which allowed her to do field work in Manila Bay, in various lakes, rivers, mining sites, and others. Later, she also got involved in more management-related types of projects, capacity building, providing training programs on environmental management for various institutions, eco labeling, environmental policy, etc.
She is currently doing research on plastics, specifically microplastics in various aquatic habitats like rivers and lakes.
(Photo credit: Lifted from Dr. Emilyn Espiritu’s presentation for DOST-GAD’s ”Women at the Frontline of Climate Change”) Dr. Espiritu during her environmental field work at various sites in the Philippines.
Espiritu, addressing the audience said: “Let us be reminded that women hold up “half of the sky.” Half the Sky is a book written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, about turning oppression into opportunities for women.
Advice to the younger generation on science career
“The fact is, a science background serves as a good training for a variety of professions, not just in the field of environment,” Espiritu said, encouraging the younger generation to find out more about the women scientists, both locally and abroad who contributed in the field.
She added that other than a background in science, one also needs luck, need passion, perseverance, and hard work to be successful in whatever it is they plan to do.
She added that a successful career in science, in the environment in particular, will require them to achieve a certain level of competency or a certain level of expertise.
She advised: “You have to be focused on your goals. And do not be afraid to take risks. Sabi ko sa mga estudyante ko, yung sa environment, eto yung mga hindi takot na madumihan ang mga kamay at paa.”
She also encouraged young people to develop and strengthen their communication skills because there are different kinds of people that they’ll have to address to in order to help them understand what the problems are.
Her other pointers are for them to be confident about who they are and what they know, but at the same time to be open to change, and more importantly to publish their work to obtain affirmation from their colleagues in the profession, and enhance your reputation at the same time.
“It allows you to contribute to the knowledge in the field, for after all, we do science not just for the fun of it. Science is fun, yes. But we do science more importantly, to be of service to society.” (By Geraldine Bulaon-Ducusin, DOST-STII)
(Photo credit: Lifted from Dr. Emilyn Espiritu’s presentation for DOST-GAD’s ”Women at the Frontline of Climate Change”) Women scientists influential in the field of environment: Carson, Goodall, Maathai. Shiva, Watt-Cloutier and Thunberg.
(Photo credit: Lifted from Dr. Emilyn Espiritu’s presentation for DOST-GAD’s ”Women at the Frontline of Climate Change”) Dr. Espiritu encouraged the young people to check out inspiring women scientists.
