Two early career Degrees Modelling Fund (DMF) scientists, Trisha Patel (South Africa) and Varisha Khan (Pakistan), presented their current research during the launch event for Solar Radiation Modification Youth Watch held on 17 September 2023 in New York, USA.
SRM Youth Watch is a new youth-led initiative dedicated to providing young people globally with access to diverse, balanced, evidence-based information to engage critically and constructively in discussions about SRM governance.
The launch was held during Climate Week NYC, an annual climate event that immediately precedes the UN General Assembly and is hosted by Climate Group. The session was kicked off with opening remarks from former IPCC Vice-Chair Dr Thelma Krug.
Varisha described her research with the Pakistan DMF team, looking at the impact of SRM on malaria distribution in South Asia. She also participated in the ‘Young Women in SRM’ panel discussion with Dr Krug, Holly Scoble (Queensland University of Technology) and Alice Wells (University of Exeter).
Trisha presented her work with the 2022 South African DMF team led by Dr Andreas Schwarz Meyer. She also outlined the research from her recently published paper on SRM, which came out of her master’s thesis and discussed her current Fellowship with the Existential Risk Alliance (ERA) at the University of Cambridge.
Degrees is dedicated to putting the Global South at the centre of the SRM conversation, and youth voices are an essential part of that conversation. We welcome the launch of the SRM Youth Watch and congratulate the young DMF scientists taking centre stage in the youth conversation around SRM governance.
