Women Scientists From Ghana

"You must put in the work. Do not expect a free pass just because you have special needs. You need to be exceptionally good at what you are doing but institutions also need to put up an enabling environment that lets people with special needs be as productive as they can be."

"Ironic that the largest minority group which cuts across race, religion and sexual orientation is (one of) the most discriminated against."

"Universities served local and international communities and a criterion for the successful establishment of universities is to have the local support,which had been manifested by the region."

"Enforcing rules that ensure that no one throws any form of waste into our water bodies, will prevent them from getting polluted"

"Years back when certain cultural believes were upheld, people were for instance banned from some water bodies on certain days or during specific periods, and this naturally helped to protect these bodies and the environment as a whole,"

"ARISE’s investment did not stop at infrastructure. It provided the resources and mentorship needed to scale my research and collaborate with peers across Africa. Today, my lab serves as a hub for researchers from Ghana and neighbouring countries like Nigeria, fostering regional collaboration and advancing marine science on the continent."

"In 2020, my career took a transformative turn when I became one of the principal investigators supported by ARISE. The programme provided funding that allowed me to establish Ghana’s first isotope ratio mass spectrometer laboratory—a groundbreaking achievement for marine science in the region. This state-of-the-art facility has enabled me to conduct advanced research, such as reconstructing climate history and assessing human impacts on marine ecosystems."

"As an early-career scientist, I faced significant challenges, particularly the lack of infrastructure for advanced research. Before ARISE, I often had to ship samples abroad for analysis, a process fraught with delays and high costs. This hampered my ability to conduct timely and impactful research."

"I promised myself to excel in my field and demonstrate to the several young students I teach and mentor that aside medicine, there are several STEM fields such as oceanography that are promising in Africa if one looks beyond boundaries"

"Currently, there is no scientific information on mother-daughter physical activity programs in African-Americans"

"My long-term goal is to build resilience in oyster fisheries in the sub-region to enhance the livelihoods of artisanal communities while enhancing other ecological benefits such as water quality and biodiversity."

"I have always loved nature, especially the marine world! However, I come from a region where marine science was not recognized as a career promising field. Therefore, to me, that passion for water could become a lifelong hobby while I pursue an academic programme that guarantees a job."

"International recognition will lead to national recognition. Giving up due to a lack of capacity and infrastructure should not be in your books. Study your system to understand the barriers to progress and work hard to develop skills that can help you break those barriers and achieve success."

"To become a successful marine scientist in Africa, you must be prepared to work harder than you would in other fields. Make no room for naysayers! Look beyond boundaries, oceanography is a global science! You may not be recognized or even relevant to people at the onset of your career in your country, but your work may attract international attention."

"Increasing physical activity has been shown to improve children's academic performance, how they feel, their classroom behavior, and their risk of obesity and diabetes."

"The reason we are dividing it into two years is that we do not have the resources to complete the entire sample in one year."

"I am also trying to partner up with local organizations to get food donations so that we can provide dinner for mom and daughter, so that mom does not have to go home after the program to make dinner."

"We are trying to recruit moms and daughters now because we have to get their baseline measures"

"Being an African-American woman, I am very passionate about improving the levels of our African-American children. For this program we are defining 'mother' as the primary female role model living with the girl"

"My lab has become a regional resource, hosting researchers and fostering partnerships with institutions across Africa. This collaborative approach is key to addressing shared challenges such as marine pollution, food security, and climate adaptation."

"With ARISE support, I have advanced research into the ecological and human health risks of heavy metal pollution in Ghana’s coastal waters. My work has informed policy discussions on environmental protection and sustainable development."

"Together with my predecessors, we were able to solve most of the Hall's problem before I was inducted, and we had a pending project called the "The Volta Hall's Women Resource Centre" but run out of funds."

"My role was equivalent to that of an Executive Director and I was charged with many responsibilities including ensuring the maintenance of the Hall to give students a serene environment for studies."

"I call on all-and-sundry especially the Alumni of the Hall to come to our aid because the facility when completed would not only be an asset for the Hall but for the entire University."

"If you were my year group person,1990, and afterwards, this is our time. Please let's come on board and support the works of Volta Hall. I'm sure there are things that we can use to encourage the young people."

"I mean a lot of African countries cannot meet the AU requirement of 15% of your GDP"

"Basically, it means that we can reach out to the vulnerable community to provide them with basic health care; and on our high agenda is also dealing with malaria, tuberculosis, HIV. So, these are some of the critical areas that the ministry is dealing with; and of course, public health. And when we talk about public health, we are talking about prevention, we’re talking about information and also we’re talking about immunization and then also dealing with epidemics our readiness to combat epidemics as it surfaces."

"In Ghana, we have some priority; we’re looking at access to quality health care and then we’re also looking at maternal and child health care; we’re looking at providing skilled medical personnel, doctors, nurses, midwives, to support maternal and child care. Then we’re also looking at strengthening community health centres across the country which we call the chip compounds."

"Well, I think, yes, he will still achieve his zero level tolerance towards corruption. I think it’s something that happened about two to three years ago. And the Ministry of Health, we have instituted an enquiry into the importation into the country of these fake condoms, the culprits are going to be dealt with and we’ll make sure that the policies regarding inspection and importation of, not only condoms but medicines, and any medical logistics would be strengthened."

"We must work together as a team – both developing countries and the developed countries. And I think that the issue of knowledge sharing is very, very important because these days, viruses, bacteria, they don’t know whether you’re a developing country, or you’re a developed country. Looking at the various epidemics, that, we’re experiencing all over the world. So, this is the time that we need to forge together, work together, share our knowledge and then also help regional institutions with common focus to enable us fight the disease burden."

"Climate change" affects more than just a change in the weather; it refers to seasonal changes over a long period of time"

"Climate change is a phenomenon that has come to stay with the world, so the public needs to be educated on the nature and how to cope with the situation"

"I think that, my expectations from this conference, is that, we must be able to have a good leverage when it comes to health issues"

"It is a call to duty to play a role in mentoring the next generation. Because science is not an easy field and most people get discouraged along the way. I’m really passionate about doing that."

"I want to inspire girls in STEM to believe that it is possible to pursue a fulfilling career in any scientific discipline."

"It doesn’t necessarily have to be medicine. You know how our parents and the society at large expect that once you are a science student, then the best career option is to be a medical doctor. I respect the medical field a lot but I think this pressure we put on our children to become medical doctors has negative impact on our kids especially when they are not able to make the cut to the medical school. You don’t have to be a medical doctor to become the best that you can be as a science student."

"I did not know whether I would be in the culinary industry or be in marketing of foods. But as a General Science student at Wesley Girl’s High School, I discovered from my interaction with a nutritionist, that food could be studied as a science. So, I could better appreciate food because it goes beyond the aesthetics. There is science to it."

"I have had to jump many hurdles to get to where I am now and it hasn’t been easy as a professional, wife and mother but what keeps me going are the success stories of the food processors and farmers I engage on a day to day basis. They are my inspiration—I love the practical solutions I offer which potentially improves their businesses and livelihoods."

"We as scientists tend to focus a lot more on our research work but we need to figure out a way to promote the outputs of our research. This requires branding and effective communication to consumers and key stakeholders."

"I developed the solar dryer using available materials to process fresh tomato to high-quality tomato powder that can be reconstituted to tomato paste and used in the formulation of food."

"We can begin by feeding our families especially children with some locally processed cereals and snacks such as "asana", "nkati cake", kube toffee", and "adakoa" which is made from maize, ground nuts and spices and highly nutritious than some processed snacks imported into the country (Ghana)."

"Vitamin C quickly breaks down in the heat and evaporates easily out of the fruit. What is orange without Vitamin C."

"Ghana’s religious adherence to the rules of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not allow her to make the investments in the form of subsidy to guarantee market or export subsidies to her farmers. More so, she cannot protect Ghanaian farmers from the onslaught of cheap imports by way of tariffs and quotas imposition. So the best way to support these farmers is promoting local domestic processing."

"To cut down on the importation, we need to invest in processing facilities. Alternative, inexpensive but efficient small-scale tomato processing methods are needed: 1) to absorb excess supply and enhance the value chain; 2) Reduce the country’s dependence on imported tomato paste and provide employment opportunities."

"As tomato imports continue to rise in volumes, about 1,250 Ghanaian tomato farmers stand the risk of being pushed out of employment. According to The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), over 700 tomato farmers have already been rendered unemployed as a result of the imports."

"Yes, while consumers are enjoying their imported pastes, our local tomato farmers struggle to make a living. And it gets worse, our dependence on imported paste plays a role in rendering our farmers unemployed."

"These challenges are creating enormous problems for farmers who are the suppliers of the raw materials. This problem is not only affecting farmers but the country as a whole. Ghana is ranked the second-largest importer of tomato paste in the world, we consume an average of 25,000 tonnes of tomato paste every year and that costs us about $25 million."

"It is very important for us to support scientists here in Ghana. Science, Research, Technology and innovation demands a lot of funding. That is one thing we very much lose sight of because we feel that it takes a long time to get a product or solution so we do not want to invest. But these are core to our development."

"We have what it takes as Ghanaians and scientists to provide solutions that are tailored towards our needs in Ghana. We do not always need to import ideas and technologies that may not even work out for us. It seems that we are good at importing solutions that we feel we need. This is also because we have not been able to look for them ourselves. We are just importing. Sometimes they are even dumped on us. And when we try to apply them on the field or farmers try to adopt them, it does not work. So, it is important for us to develop our own solutions."

"Tiredness is a luxury most people can't afford."