L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Fellows announced for ANZ

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship program, which seeks to champion equality and visibility for women in STEMM, has announced four exceptional female scientists from Australia and New Zealand as part of its 2025 cohort.

The program awards each Fellow $25,000 to further their research, with the flexibility to use the funding in ways that matter most to them. The program also sees each year’s Fellowship alumni become mentors to the new cohort of PhD students through its dedicated Mentoring Scheme, providing ongoing leadership and development for women in STEMM.

“This Fellowship is more than an award; it’s an intergenerational commitment to help women overcome systemic barriers, build leadership skills, and inspire the next generation of scientists,” said Alex Davison, Chief Executive Officer at L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand.

“With the recent international expansion of Foundation L’Oréal’s ‘Girls in Science’ program and the rollout of UNESCO’s ‘Imagine a World with More Women in Science’ campaign, we’re seeing increased global demand for initiatives that elevate female voices in science,” Davison continued.

“This is echoed through government policy, including Australia’s recent decision to adopt all 11 recommendations from its 2024 Diversity in STEM review. These programs work together, recognising young girls inspired by science today who become the Fellows of tomorrow, and we are proud to echo these sentiments through our For Women in Science program.”

Since the program’s launch in 1998, over $2 million has been invested across 79 female researchers in Australia and New Zealand. This year’s program honours four women who are reshaping what leadership in research looks like, with their work spanning nanotechnology, climate science, Indigenous health and mathematics. They are as follows:

• Dr Jessica A Kretzmann, from The University of Western Australia, is using precisely folded DNA structures, or ‘DNA origami’, to reprogram cells and deepen our understanding of biology, enabling transformative applications ranging from regenerative medicine to personalised therapies. By mapping how this DNA origami behaves inside cells, she aims to engineer smarter medical treatments.
• Dr Georgina (Georgy) Falster, from The University of Adelaide, is combining modern weather observations, climate model simulations, and natural archives such as tree rings and ice cores to build a holistic picture of Earth’s climate system, for vital clues about how droughts have behaved over past centuries in order to help scientists better prepare for what’s coming.
• Dr Maria Kleshnina, from the Queensland University of Technology, is applying evolutionary game theory to real-world challenges — from encouraging sustainable practices to managing ecosystems under pressure. By modelling how individuals interact and adapt, her work helps predict outcomes in everything from microbial competition to conservation policy, analysing the most effective ways to increase the likelihood of participation in sustainable decision-making.
• Dr Jamie-Lee Rahiri, from the University of Auckland, is reframing how conditions like obesity and heart disease — both disproportionately prevalent within Māori communities — are viewed among the medical community and treated. By shifting these narratives, her work is helping deliver more equitable and culturally informed treatments among patients.
   

Image caption: 2025 Fellows Dr Jessica A Kretzmann, Dr Maria Kleshnina, Dr Georgina Falster and Dr Jamie-Lee Rahiri.