Episode Three, Part One | Nittaya Earkanna: Education, Equality, and Cultural Survival

🎙️Episode THREE | Nittaya Earkanna: Education, Equality, and Cultural Survival

This February 2026, in celebration of the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we’re launching a special three-part podcast series that challenges how we define science, and who shapes it.

Our series, Indigenous Women Redefining Science, amplifies the voices of Indigenous women who are leading research, conservation, and community health through the power of ancestral knowledge. Produced under the Inclusive Conservation Initiative (ICI), the series explores how traditional and Western knowledge systems can work together to protect biodiversity, strengthen livelihoods, and care for future generations.

In this episode, meet Nittaya “Mee” Earkanna, a Hmong Indigenous women’s rights activist from Thailand, about how identity, language, and ancestral knowledge are foundational to science and leadership. Mee shares her journey advancing Indigenous education, biodiversity policy, and gender equity, and offers a powerful message to young women stepping into conservation and public leadership.