Dr. Rusila Savou-Wara an Environmental Engineer found her love for science at a very young age. “Growing up I had always wanted to be a doctor thus I decided to take pure science subjects in high school.” - Dr. Rusila Savou-Wara.

A woman of color in STEM:

It is exciting to meet an Indigenous Fijian that possesses the academic background and career that Dr. Savou-Wara has. Her willingness to be interviewed for International Women’s Day, demonstrates her determination to be a role model for young Indigenous women across the South Pacific region. Hopefully, her participation in this interview will highlight the need for women of color, from across the world, to enter STEM. 

A glance at Dr. Rusila’s educational and professional career:

Dr. Savou-Wara graduated from the University of the South Pacific with bachelor’s in marine science. She realized that she wanted to further her education. She completed her master’s in environmental engineering. For her master’s degree, Savou-Wara focused on changes in Nadi river morphology. She then traveled to Japan to complete her PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan on a Japanese Government Foreign Affairs Scholarship. Her PhD was focused on combining green and grey measures for protection against tsunami waves. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute of Marine Resources (USP) under the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership Programme (PEUMP), in one of its key areas which is coastal fisheries. Where she is currently conducting research on a few priority species that can contribute relevant and essential information to sustainably manage each species’ fishery.

Rusila’s Love for Science:

“Basically, Science allows us to explain and understand some of the phenomena of life. Often learning the fundamentals of science may be mind boggling yet these are the stepping stones to learning the different aspects of science making it more interesting especially when applied to natural phenomena.” - Dr. Rusila Savou-Wara.