Dr Demilade Fayemiwo
Currently a Senior Climate Policy Advisor at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Dr Fayemiwo focuses on environmental and economic goals to achieve net-zero commitments. She served as a fellow on the World Economic Forum’s global future council on fragility and resilience and studied an MPP (Public Policy) at the University of Cambridge. She has extensive experience across various fields such as climate change adaptation, waste management, sustainable water systems and the circular economy.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
Demilade is a recipient of the prestigious 2017 Sub-Saharan Africa L’Oreal-UNESCO Foundation Fellowship, a TEDx Speaker, a Project Kuongoza mentor and an MPhil Candidate in Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.
BLURB:
“Believe in your ability. Commit to learning and excellence, focus on asking the right questions” – Dr Demilade Fayemiwo
A multi-faceted person with a knack for learning and doing, Dr Fayemiwo has many irons in the fire; she is a highly experienced and versatile researcher with cross-disciplinary experience in environmental engineering, policy-related issues and project management. Demilade won the prestigious sub-Saharan Africa L’Oreal-UNESCO Foundation Fellowship in 2017 and the University of Johannesburg’s three-minute thesis in 2018.
This chameleon of talent effortlessly adapts to any situation, including lending her experience to a non-profit leadership academy in Johannesburg; mentoring a science research programme for young people across Africa, developing their leadership skills and equipping them to address the unique problems Africa faces. Currently, she leads on climate and energy policy, facilitating collaborations between international governments and businesses to achieve net zero goals, and supporting the necessary inclusion of diverse talents in the net zero mission. Last year, in Canada, she spoke to a network of public sector officials on the importance of addressing the issues women in STEM face. Earlier this year, she led a UK-Canada campaign showcasing women in the nuclear energy sector and reinforcing the message that women belong in male-dominated fields.
Dr Demi’s Early Years
Her journey to satisfy her enquiring mind, started at a young age and she was fortunate to have a father who guided her with a series of Teach Yourself books. Demilade taught herself scientific facts which suited her hunger for knowledge; electricity and calculus and various other aspects of science that fascinated her. Born and raised in Nigeria to a lower middle-income household, Demilade attended public schools in Lagos until the age of sixteen. She recalls with laughter that her high school did not provide chairs, so each student brought a wooden chair from home. Sometimes the chairs broke during the course of the school term with little financial leeway to replace them. Demilade recalls, with much joy and laughter, how she once spent part of the school term sitting on a three-legged chair propped up against the wall for stability! It is clear she recalled that time as truly special.
Following the completion of her high school education in Nigeria, Demilade moved to South Africa where she studied an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology and Microbiology at the University of Stellenbosch. Her parents, despite their financial situation, were big advocates of education and supported her with loans and contributions to rotating savings groups (stokvels). As her education at Stellenbosch was mostly in Afrikaans, the skills she had developed as a young girl teaching herself difficult concepts kicked into gear and enabled her to succeed. She went on to receive a partial scholarship for her master’s degree in environmental engineering at the University of Pretoria (which she completed with distinction), and full scholarships at the University of Johannesburg, including the Global Excellence Stature Awards and the National Research Foundation Innovation and Scarce Skills bursary for her PhD in Chemical Engineering. Her research earned her local and international recognition, including poster awards, conference speaker invitations and an award from the L’Oreal-UNESCO foundation. She also collaborated with the University of Johannesburg’s Postgraduate School to facilitate research mentorship workshops for new graduate students and gave a TEDx talk on completion of her PhD about the issues women in science face.
The Challenges
Reiterating the same challenges as other African female scientists, Demilade hopes to see changes in scientific teaching, proving that the subject is not abstract. She says many believe medicine and computer science are the only degrees worth studying because they cannot comprehend the application and potential far-reaching impacts of other aspects of science. Her wish is to work on a programme to change how African educators teach science to increase female representation in Africa’s science education sector. One of her projects during the pandemic was to start a Biology YouTube Channel for high school students, breaking down the concepts of the subjects for students to easily understand. Many students attest that using the videos on the channel, they understand better and are scoring higher in their exams. Watch the video on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClsOGeGmUG6FMuWrAGSJnUg.
Demilade, as every female scientist Women in Science (WINS) interviewed, said gender-based barriers for African girls in STEM is a major challenge. It is a male-dominated field and due to a lack of representation, young women are unable to envisage themselves in STEM careers.
Considering herself fortunate to have many role models, it remains a tough task to find these women in science as they are often in the background and very little information about their work is available. If she had to choose just one outstanding female scientist, it would be Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim (see article on Prof Abdool Karim in this issue).
Her Journey towards Her Dream
Despite not always being positive, she says it has been enlightening and that she gained key transferrable STEM skills despite being treated with condescension and suffering harassment. She highlighted these constant challenges in one of her TEDx talks. With her can do attitude and a vision for her future, Dr Fayemiwo stood her ground and dealt with these obstacles immediately. She is not yet married and does not have children, but watch this space. A smart, supportive man could be important in the future.
Science is not smarter than you and it is not out of your grasp
– Dr Demilade Fayemiwo
She agrees that women are breaking barriers and despite the challenges, are forging ahead. However, there is no denying that women are still considered as less important than their male peers in science and have to make huge sacrifices and work twice as hard to reach the top. She speaks of being a woman in science as constantly feeling watched and scared to make mistakes because she worries about how that will impact other scientists. Her success has come at the cost of navigating stress and burnout, and sometimes struggling to keep up with the demands of friendships and relationships. Despite that, Demilade says she is blessed with an amazing network of family and friends who support her and encourage her to do more. She considers herself to be in a much better position now that she works on science-related policy, doing the groundwork for large-scale changes needed to address climate change and environmental degradation.
Her message for Women’s Month is “to give it your all. Do not be afraid to speak up and take good care of yourself. Do not allow others to suppress the authentic you. Live with joy and hope, believing that you too, deserve success.”
(Main Image: World Economic Forum)
