women in aquaculture scholarship program
Let's build a future where
more women are in aquaculture!
Achieving gender equality and empowerment for women in aquaculture is something our team is passionate about. That’s why we developed the first-of-its-kind, international scholarship and fully immersive learn/work experience focused on eliminating boundaries, and helping women build their careers in aquaculture!
Our program offers women the chance to receive a $10,000 scholarship and additional financial support to complete an internship that the recipients will independently arrange in their home countries to best serve them, their communities, and their future.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2023 RECIPIENT
Meet the women on a mission to help shape a sustainable future in aquaculture.
Previous scholarship winners below.
anagha raju
2023 Scholarship Recipient
Anagha is from India and currently pursuing a PhD in Aquaculture with a focus on Mini Backyard Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (MBRAS) at the University of Kerala. Her research aims to standardize Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) to make it more affordable and accessible for local communities. Learn more about her aquaculture journey here!
eliza Syropoulou
2022 Scholarship Recipient
Eliza is from Greece and is currently a PhD student at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, focusing her studies on fish welfare and nutrition specifically as it relates to Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (R.A.S.) and microbiology, ultimately optimizing water treatment methods in these systems. She also wants to find ways to benefit the community of women in aquaculture.
Abigail Ebachi Tarichie
2022 Scholarship Recipient
Abigail is from Ghana and is a PhD student at Kwame Nrumah University of Science and Technology. She centers her studies on fish nutrition and welfare with a focus on sustainable resources research. Abigail comes from the coastal area of western Ghana where fishing is the main livelihood for natives. “It is in this vein that I developed an interest to study aquaculture in order to acquire knowledge and insight so that I can help these farmers through training and sensitization. My aim is to educate more people about aquaculture to increase fish production and thereby improve livelihoods and enhance nutrition security, especially for the most nutritionally vulnerable,” says Abigail.
Marta Carvalho
2021 Scholarship Recipient
Marta is a native of Porto, Portugal and has pursued various degrees with the support of a variety of scholarship programs. She holds both a BSc and an MSc in aquatic sciences from the University of Porto and is currently pursuing her PhD in sustainable aquaculture and marine ecosystems at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In her PhD, she is focused on finding novel omega-3 sources for fish feed to increase environmental and economic sustainability.
"We need men and women together to progress and to make aquaculture a sustainable and a healthy way of consuming fish,” says Marta. “I really believe that sustainable aquaculture is the future and I’ve developed a special interest in omega-3 nutrients, which are so important for humans as well as for fish,” says Marta. “I’m pursuing a deeper knowledge of these nutrients and how they can contribute to fish health and welfare, farm productivity, and an increased nutritional value for human consumption.”
Opemipo Oyebadejo
2021 Scholarship Recipient
Opemipo was acquainted with fishing and the concept of aquaculture in her upbringing in the coastal town of Badagry, Nigeria, near Lagos. She witnessed the difficulty of the profession in an area where wild fishing harvests are limited, aquaculture operations are cost-prohibitive, and professional opportunities for women are scarce.
Opemipo is currently pursuing a bachelors of technology in fisheries and aquaculture at the Federal University of Technology, Nigeria. She is experienced in all stages of the fish lifecycle – from hatchery management to harvesting and sales. Her long-term goal is to set-up a training centre in her community so she can mentor other young girls and women. She is the first in her family of seven girls to attend university.
marwa mechlaoui
2020 Scholarship Recipient
Marwa is a native of Tunisia, an accomplished researcher, and a student of aquaculture currently working towards a PhD at the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) researching vaccine formulation and fish immunology. She holds a Masters in Aquaculture from Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and graduated first in her class at the Technical Centre of Aquaculture where she studied Engineering in Fisheries.
Through her role with Kvarøy Arctic, she will be pursuing her interests in the implementation and assessment of responsible and sustainable technologies, policies and farming practices, and the wider economic and environmental contexts of aquaculture.
HANNAH KROHN
2020 Scholarship Recipient
Hannah’s keen interest in the impact of aquaculture on the environment and people led her to publish an article online about her findings, which got the attention of the Kvarøy Arctic team and earned her an internship on the farm. A native of the Florida Keys, Hannah is a Senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences. An avid diver, Hannah has studied algal and shark biology and is now focused on work around the cross section where marine science affects people in their everyday lives.
“I’m curious about how aquaculture affects the environment and in creating clarity around areas of the industry where there are uncertainties—like with seafood labeling, which could use more transparency,” says Hannah.
Hannah will be doing her internship in the summer of 2022
Get to know them!
Hear firsthand from our first-ever 2020 program recipients, Natalie and Marwa, about the gender inequality they have seen in Tunisia and South Africa and how they are looking to contribute to the industry!