Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi Quotes

I stayed to work in Niger Delta, because my mission is to make my country great.

We want solutions that are green and based on nature. We aim to do no harm in everything we do.

From pilot studies, we have reached 75% to 80% of heavy metals removal and this biological process can be repeated several times over until desired results are achieved.

Mother nature called on me to be a steward.

We also learn from them. They have planting techniques that we don't know - they teach us how to make the solution work in their area.

Increase the intensity of advocacy for gender equality in our society. Develop the confidence of mid-career and advanced women scientists to be mentors, as younger female scientists are more motivated when accomplished women scientists serve as mentors, speakers, and leaders in their field.

I was a curious child of educated parents who thought I was a scientist in the making. They sent me to a specialised Science High School and my interest grew stronger and here I am today.

If you don't engage with people properly, you run the risk of being kidnapped. First I meet the community chief, the women's leader, the youth leaders.

Science is the bedrock of development. The way we live is a biological process. Young girls should be interested in science. Man can crack it; woman can crack it! We have to work hard for what we believe in.

When people push for a quota for a woman among invited speakers for example, I feel terrible as it is a conscious bias. In joint grant application preparation, many investigators think women should not be the Principal Investigators, citing society-assigned roles to women to manage welfare issues and not be a chief planner.

Some professional colleagues have shoved aside some of my position papers because they come from a ‘women’. We, as women scientists, often get a ‘second-citizen role’ in science events, activities, and jobs. When people push for a quota for a woman among invited speakers for example, I feel terrible as it is a conscious bias.

The power of science is that people can prove that this wasn't done based on bias or someone's personal interests.

Crude oil has many components. In the soil, it leaves high concentration of heavy metals, which are inorganic and cannot be degraded by micro-organisms. The current practice by polluters is to use excavations, but that is only shifting the goal post. The goal is to reduce the contaminants to the barest minimum. Polluted land can become viable for agriculture again. I will study a similar process in Poland.

I have a peaceful home and I am known in my field of phytoremediation and in community engagement.

The environment needs to be protected. The degradation has gone beyond what you can sweep under the carpet. I discovered the indigenes are part of the pollution. They tap into the pipeline and do illegal, artisanal refining, but without the technical know-how.