Canadian Army geoscientist applauds ‘impressive’ women in NATO challenge

Article / October 28, 2024 / National Defence

By Steven Fouchard, Army Public Affairs

Experts from around the world were asked to serve as judges for the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO)’s first Women and Girls in Science challenge, held earlier this year at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Among them was the Canadian Army (CA)’s Stefanie Goure.

A professional geoscientist, Ms. Goure is part of a team that works to mitigate the environmental effects of ammunitions and explosives (A&E) on the environment. In the following interview, she discusses the impressive young women who competed in the challenge, the state of women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and her part in NATO’s response to the ‘forever chemicals’ dilemma.

Describe your work with the CA.

Where the Army does training they use A&E. I'm a professional geoscientist and I'm there to ensure that these potential contaminants don't get into potable water and don't leave the base boundaries. So, there's an element of protection of the public as well as managing risk for the Army.

How did the invitation to judge the challenge come about?

I'm active in in the NATO STO and I also chair a working group on PFAS [widely used chemicals that are slow to decompose and can pose health risks]. Invitations went out to myself and other chairs to participate. I was honoured to be asked.

How was the experience for you?

I thought that all the young women were really impressive and courageous. They had to sit on stage in front of an entire auditorium of people, wait for their turn and then stand up, give their presentations and answer questions from a panel of judges. I give presentations on the research I do but they had to propose an innovative research idea to NATO, which is more intimidating.

In your view, how are women advancing in the STEM fields?

From being part of this event, I've noticed that it's a bigger problem than what I thought it to be. I think there are still clear barriers, to be quite honest. In speaking to the women on site, many have far more challenges than what I've experienced in the public service here in Canada.  I am inspired by these women who continue to go into work everyday knowing they will face adversity from their male peers.

You’re going to be part of NATO discussions on PFAS this fall. What’s on the agenda?

It's a global problem at the moment because these ‘forever chemicals’ as they’re called are in so many consumer products, in addition to some firefighter foams used by the Department of National Defence. PFAS may enter the environment via several means.  For example, these consumer products end up in the landfill, where PFAS may leach into the groundwater or get recycled back into the surface water. Then we're using these water sources for potable purposes. They’re quite the challenge for people like me because they can't be degraded, they can't be destroyed, they can't be removed.  They are toxic at low levels and can travel great distances. They're just there and they perpetually accumulate. They’ve been detected in the Arctic and they are also present in rainwater.

How do we manage PFAS? And, in managing this risk from PFAS, knowing that we're still using these products, that we still need them, how do we go about doing that?

It's a multi-disciplinary type of problem that we need everyone's help with.