Ada Lovelace Day (14th October 2025)
Ada Lovelace day is the 14th of October this year and this will be our 10th year of celebrating that day!
We are planning events and activities with a climate and earth sciences theme, running in the afternoon and early evening of that date. The day time events will be in the Main Library and the panel will likely be in 50 George Square – but location TBC.
uCreate takeover! 11.00-16.00 (First Floor, Main Library)
Have your chroma-key photo taken with women in STEM and explore some of the tech resources uCreate has to offer, like programming, sensors, virtual reality (VR) experiences, 3D scanners, 3D printers and more.
No need to book, just come along!
Lunch and Lightning talks 12.00-1.45 (Main Library, Room 1.07)
Lunch will be served 12pm to 12.30pm. Come say hello and meet fellow Ada Lovelace Day participants!
This session is a chance for some networking with some lightning talks from a range fascinating projects, initiatives and student societies.
- The Molly Fergusson Initiative – Dr. Rhiannon Grant (Chancellor’s Fellow at School of Engineering).
- The Palaeontology Society – Milly Mead (PhD researcher).
- Building AdaHack – Bessie from the Edinburgh Hoppers society.
- CompSoc – Anna Petrusenko (Vice President).
- The Hidden Voices project: Unearthing the impact of women in Scottish archaeology – Doug Rocks-MacQueen (Society of Scottish Antiquaries).
Book for lunch and lightning talks
Wikipedia Women in STEM edit-a-thon – 1.45-5 (Main Library, Room 1.07)
- Wikipedia Edit-a-thon – help add the brilliant lives & contributions of Women in STEM to improve discoverability and representation online. Learn how to edit in 1hr… and how IMPACTFUL and FUN it is to share knowledge openly.
- You’ll learn important 21st century digital research skills and have done something amazing with a tangible published outcome by the end of the afternoon!
- All we need is 50-100+ words (cite what you write!) to publish brand new pages about all the inspiring lives, projects and research taking place all over the world currently missing from our search results.
- This year’s event will focus on Women in Archaeology, Earth Science and Geoscience but all are welcome to take part and contribute knowledge about all the brilliant work by Women in STEM.
- No experience necessary, full training will be given and tea, coffee & cakes will help fuel your editing efforts.
Games and Crafts – 1.45-5 (Main Library, Room 1.07)
- Make badges
- Colour-in
- Play our Women in STEM interactive game
Celebrating Women in Climate & Earth Sciences – 5.15-7 (50 George Square, Room TBC)
Join us for an inspiring panel discussion that shines a spotlight on the remarkable contributions of women in climate and earth sciences. We bring together four leading voices who are breaking new ground in research, policy and public engagement.
Chair: Dr Melissa Highton (Director of Learning, Teaching and Web Services and Assistant Principal Online Learning)
Panelists:
- Dr Elva Bannon –Research and Engineering Manager at Wave Energy Scotland heading up the Wave Energy Scotland Research and Engineering team and was chosen as one of the top 50 most influential women in Engineering in 2024 by the Women’s Engineering Society.
- Dr Hermione Cockburn – Science communicator presenting television and radio programmes for the BBC including ‘Rough Science’ and ‘The Nature of Britain’. Hermione is now Scientific Director of Dynamic Earth.
- Professor Gabi Hegerl – Award-winning climatolagist and Royal Society Fellow whose pioneering work on detection and attribution has deepened our understanding of the causes of climate change.
- Dr Encarni Medina-Lopez – Leads the ‘Coastal and Environmental Remote Sensing Group’ in the School of Engineering. Encarni and her research group focus on engineering solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss, particularly looking at their impact on women, children and other underrepresented communities.
