Secretariat

OWSD General Secretariat

Tonya Blowers is the OWSD Programme Coordinator, and is responsible for the overall management of the fellowships, awards and networking programmes as well as working with the OWSD executive board to develop strategic plans, fundraise and provide reports for OWSD members, donors and partners. Tonya has a PhD in Women and Gender from the University of Warwick, UK (one of only 30 students to receive a full scholarship from the university). She has a Masters in World Literatures in English from Marlboro College in the USA and a BSocSc in Sociology and Social Administration from Warwick. She has over twenty years experience as a teacher and writer, including as Lecturer in English Literature at Oxford Brookes University and at Royal Holloway College, UK, before running her own creative writing business in London. In Trieste since 2009, Tonya has developed science communication courses for PhD students in neuroscience, biology, physics and mathematics. Before joining OWSD in 2013, Tonya was staff writer at TWAS, editing the newsletter and website and contributing many articles on science in developing countries.

OWSD Fellowships 

Erin Johnson joined OWSD in January 2018, after previously working on the GenderInSITE programme since 2015. Erin graduated from the Master's programme in international affairs at the New School in New York City, specialising in development, and has a degree in microbiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. She has long been interested in the intersection of science and policy, particularly in the context of the developing world, and in the role of women in science and technology. She has written about these subjects as editor and community manager of ScienceBlogs.com and more recently has worked on international science policy and science diplomacy as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Science & Technology Cooperation at the U.S. Department of State.

Zabeeh Ullah Sahil joined OWSD in 2017 as a Fellowship Assistant. Currently, he is responsible for OWSD PhD fellowships. He earned his Masters degree in Business administration (Finance) with honors in 2010 from Pakistan.  He worked as an international affairs coordinator at Khurasan University in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2013. In 2014 he moved to Kabul, Afghanistan where he worked as a managing director of a US-funded project for the development of the agricultural sector of Afghanistan. He brings a keen interest and experience in coordinating international affairs and students mobility programs to his work with OWSD programmes.
 

OWSD National Chapters

Giulia Signori joined OWSD in 2022. She holds a Master's degree in Law from the University of Pavia, Italy, and has specialized in Parliamentary Law and Public Policy Analysis, attending postgraduate courses at the University of Florence, Italy, and the London School of Economics (LSE). Previously, she worked in various capacities in several Latin American countries, including as a UN DESA Fellow at the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Cuba and Colombia, a Graduate Trainee at the Delegation of the European Union to Chile, and an Advocacy and Research Officer in international NGOs in Guatemala and Mexico. Passionate about bringing her expertise in communications and advocacy to international development and gender justice initiatives at a global level, Giulia Signori is dedicated to making a positive impact in the organization and propose innovative solutions to challenges.