ThinkHer

Natural history, at its heart, is an act of attentive recording. To identify a plant, you must first look—closely—at its leaves, its flowers, the way it branches and bends. You note the shape of a seed pod, the scent of a crushed stem, the soil beneath it. Identification today might involve a field guide, a herbarium sheet, or an app that matches images to species, but the essence remains the same: careful observation, naming, and preservation. These acts of noticing have long been the quiet foundations of science. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this quiet work opened a back door for women into a world that otherwise excluded them. Barred from universities and scientific societies, they contributed by collecting plants, shells, insects, and fossils, often for family members or for emerging museums (check Mary Anning 's work for example). These collections whether kept at home or sent to herbaria or a museum, were crucial to expanding scientific knowledge even though th...

Science often serves the pursuit of curiosity, of the natural world, but for some, it also becomes a tool for driving societal change. Dr. E. K. Janaki Ammal was one such scientist whose contributions came at a time when India desperately needed them. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, recognized her extraordinary vision and invited her to lead the Central Botanical Laboratory. Under her leadership, she safeguarded India’s indigenous biodiversity, documented plant varieties, and developed new genetic strains of crops to combat famine and starvation. The story of this woman has to be reshared multiple times for her perseverance and the way she used her voice. Janaki Ammal, Photo Credits to Geeta Doctor Born in 1897 in Tellicherry (now Thalassery), Kerala, Janaki Ammal grew up in a large family of 19 children. Her father, a judge and naturalist, fostered her love for the natural world. She grew up in privilege in a large family that lived in a house called Edam, which served...