March 8th is international women's day– Celebrate the achievements of women globally and make a clear call for gender equality. This year's theme is „Investing in women: accelerating progress”, focused on eradicating poverty, Gender-sensitive financingwill move to. Green economy and care society and funding feminist changemakers.
Vicky Fellini It embodies the concept of investing in women. She is a marine geophysicist, senior research scientist and geoinformatics expert. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, She is also the head of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Division at Nippon Foundation-GEBCO. Undersea 2030 The project aims to map the entire ocean floor by the end of the decade. But Fellini's contributions to her science extend beyond her own research, through her workshops mapping her new data. girls talk, Fellini wants to encourage girls, women and gender non-conforming people to pursue careers in marine science. In this workshop, students will focus on cartography and geospatial visualization through foundational knowledge while exploring career opportunities and a growing network of multi-generational women who are inspiring women in marine cartography. and enjoy a direct connection to culture.
![Girl Talk Workshop participants and leaders pose with Seabed 2030 flags.](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-with-Seabed-2030-Flag_1200x800-650x433.jpg)
Fellini has traveled the world mapping the ocean floor, from shallow to deep, using everything from ships and boats to submersibles and towed platforms. She hopes to use her position to open doors for women of all backgrounds. „She doesn't need to create a space just for women,“ Fellini says. „But we need to change the way we run meetings so that someone isn't hogging all the air in the room.“ State of the Planet talks about the origins of Girl Talk, which took part in the program, and We spoke to Fellini about why it's so important to decentralize the field of ocean mapping.
Why did you create Girls Talk?
I have long wanted to work with students to process and publish data used to map the global ocean floor. If you want to do the large-scale work of mapping the oceans, you need to decentralize the work. We need to share knowledge, tools, and data and grow a large community of collaborators. Equity and the practice of distributing and empowering large numbers of people are at the core of modern feminism and the foundation of Girls Talk. That's how I run my research group. Fellini Data Collaborationand this is a common theme in all my other projects.
our funders, Fundamentals of all pageshelped bring focus to Girl Talk by encouraging additional efforts to recruit and involve diverse women. Every Page Foundation is committed to advancing gender equality in the arts and sciences by prioritizing both the health and safety, educational opportunities and career development of women and girls. Their vision of a gender-equal world is one in which women and girls are included in “every page” of society.
![Girls Talk Workshop leader presents to participants](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-In-Person-Workshop-650x488.jpg)
![Girls Talk Workshop leader presents to participants](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-In-Person-Workshop-650x488.jpg)
Why is it called Girls Talk?
In the early 1950s, Marie Tharp Lamont's geologists were working on mapping the ocean floor, which at the time was thought to be mostly flat. Tharp's map revealed that the ocean floor was covered with canyons, ridges, and mountains, but this called into question scientific authority, so her discovery was initially dismissed as „girl talk“ it was done. Her work with Tharp has since been credited with being the spark that sparked the plate tectonics revolution and our understanding of how almost everything on Earth works. We are reclaiming and redefining this term to empower women and gender nonconforming generations to explore and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
![Marie Tharp and one of her maps from the early 1950s](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Marie-Tharp-50s_1200x900-650x488.jpg)
![Marie Tharp and one of her maps from the early 1950s](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Marie-Tharp-50s_1200x900-650x488.jpg)
Who are the female leaders you brought together for Girl Talk?
Our workshop speakers were women responsible for various aspects of ocean mapping, from acquiring the data, to using the data as scientists, to developing the software that makes the data accessible. We convened federal officials, academics, industry representatives, independent contractors, and people who have been on ocean research vessels around the world. Everyone was passionate about their work and demonstrated the opportunity to travel and explore the world while working, taking participants on an amazing journey. Speakers shared their stories of winding career paths, including successes and failures, in the most vulnerable and raw ways. They dug deep and revealed everything, and this honest and open conversation set the stage for a great in-person experience.
In the first session, Marie Tharp-ophile dawn lightThe principal scientist at Esri, a company that makes geographic information systems (GIS) software, set the tone by telling attendees that they were now part of a family of women who worked with them. Dawn is incredibly busy, but she took the time during the workshop to respond to many emails from participants.
![Girl Talk Workshop Leader and Marie Tharp](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Leaders-with-Marie-Tharp_1200x800-650x433.png)
![Girl Talk Workshop Leader and Marie Tharp](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Leaders-with-Marie-Tharp_1200x800-650x433.png)
Who were the participants?
We wanted to engage as diverse a community as possible, including people who have never been exposed to marine science as a career path. Specifically, we focused on undergraduate institutions in the New York City area, such as the City University of New York. Queens College, New York; and New York City College of Technology (CityTech). Through our network of women in the field, we were eventually able to include undergraduate students, graduate students, and even those who already had master's degrees as participants.
![Girls Talk participants and leaders in a face-to-face workshop.](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Group-Portrait_1200x800-1-650x433.jpg)
![Girls Talk participants and leaders in a face-to-face workshop.](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Group-Portrait_1200x800-1-650x433.jpg)
What did participants learn?
As an introduction, participants learned about Marie Tharp, what ocean mapping is, how ocean maps are created, and why it is important.
Next, you learned how to use industry standard tools to process marine mapping data and contribute to global mapping efforts while gaining basic knowledge of GIS. they again, Geographic map app and GMRT, these are tools and techniques developed at Lamont to improve access to marine geoscience data. This has provided us with an extensive toolkit to approach vast amounts of complementary data and investigate different aspects of the global ocean.
Participants processed selected data from two research cruises in the Pacific Ocean, covering a total area of 91,599 square kilometers. They shared their work in two of his citable data publications while contributing to his Seabed 2030. interactive story map Share what you learned during the program.
![Data mapping software on laptop screen](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Its-Girl-Talk-by-Naeema-Haque-Jan-2024-650x490.png)
![Data mapping software on laptop screen](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Its-Girl-Talk-by-Naeema-Haque-Jan-2024-650x490.png)
The program also connected participants with amazing women leaders to learn about their work, career path stories, and opportunities in the field. Participants gained inspiration and confidence whether or not they want to pursue a career in marine science.
This program exceeded all our expectations and we hope to not only repeat it locally, but also scale it up to include more groups and locations.
How do you connect Girls Talk to this year's International Women's Day theme: Investing in Women: Accelerating Progress?
Creating spaces where women feel confident and feel safe not being silenced or questioned is essential to accelerating progress in gender equality. That's the essence of Girl Talk and what we strive for in all our work.
![Two Girl Talk Workshop participants working on laptops](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Participants-Working-on-Projects-650x433.jpg)
![Two Girl Talk Workshop participants working on laptops](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Girl-Talk-Participants-Working-on-Projects-650x433.jpg)