Women Scientists From Ethiopia

"That was the scariest thing."

"We aim to expose the harms of the current AI system, serving as an early warning system to stop their spread."

"We focus on where AI tools are being experimented with before they get to the rest of the society and uncover what happens to the people."

"My hope is that our work counteracts the drive to centralize power and disenfranchise human beings."

"AI tools that actually help people and not try to replace them."

"The primary motivation with all of these AI technologies is either to have more warfare or to have more profit."

"I want a different kind of root motivation for technology that puts human welfare first."

"That’s not the world I want to live in."

"I want to live in a world where we’re not trying to disenfranchise humans or devalue labor."

"Iwant to live in a world where instead of there being one company in one place in the world with one dominant model."

"We have many people who are each working to support their communities in some way and sharing profits back."

"Generative AI is not just about creating something new, but about capturing what was once impossible to express.”"

"What I’ve realized is that we can talk about the ethics and fairness of AI all we want, but if our institutions don’t allow for this kind of work to take place, then it won’t.”"

"Therefore, first a woman has to stand and feel comfortable in her own feet/skin and then when facing challenges she should take a wise decision. A woman should avoid dependency at any level, which does not mean she doesn’t have to request for support. What I mean is she needs to thrive and die trying so that she knows the thickness of her skin"

"Passion in my view is to do the best you can in whatever position you are in. Since childhood I used to do things only that feel comfortable to my soul and the biggest one was knowledge; knowledge about mathematics, the universe, science, nature and so on, therefore as a young girl I was confused which one to choose to pursue my education further, because everything seemed equally fascinating. However, as I grew up, I started to focus on one because I understood that I cannot be a master of all."

"I believe women not only here but all over the world face double and triple-fold challenges due to societal, cultural and other baggages."

"Ofcourse as part of the human element there are individual differences in pursuing goals, but I always tried to pursue the best in whatever that comes to my table which is an added value and a cumulative result to my success today."

"As the saying goes success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. This taught me that life is not always a straight-line and that challenges are the way to move forward in life as it would have been very boring otherwise"

"you can do it!” You are truly capable! You are going to accomplish it for sure! You are going to excel.” This was a great ingredient injected in my blood to motivate my soul in everything I do"

"Gender inequality is a global phenomenon, and I am not immune to that. I think in my case, race played more than gender and when the two are combined, they have a compounded effect. However, I worked very hard to make these “two issues” be eclipsed by my skills, strong work ethics, delivery and a strong track record. It is possible to overcome these through hard work and excellence."

"People can positively respond to skills, experience and knowledge, and anything else can be made irrelevant."

"Being back in my continent and working to solve production, environmental and health constraints facing my fellow Africans is very rewarding and fulfilling."

"I realized when I was in my first year of university that lifting people out of poverty first and foremost begins with modernizing agriculture and providing access to nutritious and adequate food to all. That is the basis and building block for any development and progress."

"Without enough food everything else slides down the priority list. That is why I chose to study agricultural sciences."

"It takes a village to raise a child, as our African sayings go... and it takes a global village to generate a successful scientist."

"Life is always a lesson Every day, I learn from everybody."

"I read a lot of biographies."

"I'm hyper, It's difficult for me to sit and relax."

"I consider myself very blessed and fortunate."

"They are there everywhere, small and big."

"Ask Africa—Can Agribiotech Make the Difference."

"While icipe generates high quality, world class knowledge, the Centre’s most authentic strength is the success in transforming livelihoods of numerous endusers including farmers."

"I have been continually inspired by the possibility of changing the lives of farmers, moving from a vicious cycle of struggle to a virtuous one of prosperity."

"Much of my scientific career has focussed on using molecular tools to address agricultural constraints."

"It is a great privilege to receive an award that combines two of my passions: science and agriculture."

"I am always aware that my personal efforts have been backed by immense support by researchers, graduate students, other staff, partners, my family, and global partners."

"I feel extremely fortunate to be recognised by many organisations from different parts of the world."

"It is a great honour for me to return to K-State, an institution where I benefited from, and learnt the value of partnerships in science."

"I witnessed the daily struggle of communities trying to eke a living from their land while fighting a losing battle with pests and other factors."

"The value of investment in science and the appreciation of scientists cannot be overemphasized for our well-being and that of our planet."

"I give advice all the time...Some of the advice includes: not to despair when experiments don’t work (that is why you do the experiment, to figure out how to do it and to find answers); that science is very rewarding; that you can create a fulfilling career in science and do the things you love to do and contribute to society; that science knowledge is empowering and uplifting; that women are meticulous scientists; that you can balance work-family demands; believe in yourself and in your capacity to be a brilliant scientist, be assertive..."

"We need to boost women's participation in graduate programs at MSc and PhD levels and provide support and well-planned strategies for a career path and growth."

"You can use science to solve the most critical problems faced by society. You save lives, you improve the quality of life, you tackle environmental issues and so on. What other profession can be more rewarding than this?"

"Careers in science can be taxing and highly demanding especially when you must raise all the funds you need to do the job. It requires dedicating long hours to work. However, it is exhilarating and rewarding."

"Ambiguity is a bug in mathematics. If I give you a proof and it’s vague, then it’s not complete. On the algorithmic side of things, it forces you to be very explicit about what your goals are and what the input is."

"Misrepresentation or underrepresentation in data sets can lead to invisibility which can perpetuate or even amplify social and economic disparities."

"I keep coming back to is poverty because ultimately, whether or not an individual lives in poverty determines their access to education, housing, healthcare, and is therefore a root cause of many issues in these areas."

"I keep coming back to education because it is an important test case for understanding the broader issues we have been talking about, such as deciding who gets to set the objective function and how it is set."

"I never thought of myself as someone who works in education but somehow I keep coming back to it so there’s got to be something there."

"Mechanism design is like if you had an algorithm designed, but you were aware that the input data is something that could be strategically manipulated. So you’re trying to create something that’s robust to that. This is a wonderful approach, incorporating robustness into the process of designing inputs."