Intan Suci Nurhati felt humbled when the prestigious National Geographic selected her as one of the 40 women around the world who have made significant impacts in their fields and communities in the magazine’s "40 Women of Impact" edition last October.

She said that with Women of Impact, National Geographic had done an excellent job in pulling together personal stories of women around the world who are overcoming challenges in diverse situations.

“This documentary narrates our journeys, and I hope to inspire our viewers to continue creating doors of opportunity, wherever they are,” said Intan, the only Indonesian included in the edition.

Intan has led a distinguished career in a rare scientific field as a paleoclimatologist and paleoceanographer.

Paleoclimate literally means “past climate”, while paleoceanography is the study of the oceans as they were in the past with the goal of reconstructing their physical, chemical and biological character.

“We can extract a wealth of information about our changing climate and oceans, going back to when there were no such measurements available. The history of our climate, written in paleoclimate data, is key to predicting our future,” Intan said.

“As a paleoclimatologist and paleoceanographer, we are basically time travelers! I don’t think any other job could possibly be cooler than this.”

Intan said she chose the field because she wanted to channel her energy into providing and communicating scientific information that is relevant to today’s societies. 

“Climate change is a real and major crisis that we are facing as a country and a planet, and the ocean makes up 70 percent of our country. It was a no-brainer that I dived into this field as early as I could.”

Intan owes her success in her career to many people in her life.

“Many women have careers, but we can’t close our eyes to the fact that women are systematically disadvantaged in the workplace because of family duties,” she said.

“I have always been inspired by people who transform lemons into lemonade. Sylvia Earle created her own doors and has inspired so many women by overcoming discrimination. Singer Adele turned a broken heart into award-winning songs. I think that is truly the art of life.”

Intan Suci Nurhati (Courtesy of LIPI)

At present, ocean science has better gender equality than other fields of science thanks to female leaders such as Earle who paved the way for Intan’s generation to have a more equal playing field in science.

“Although ocean science is better today in terms of gender equality, we still need more women in leadership and strategic positions,” Intan said.

Born to a modest and pious family in West Jakarta 36 years ago, Intan previously intended to pursue her dream as an architect. Instead, she received a scholarship to study environmental science and economics from Wesleyan University in the United States as a Freeman Asian Scholar. She received her PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology also in the US. 

“I am a scientist by accident. At school, I excelled in all school subjects but one — English. I knew I had to do something, so I told my parents I was not going to learn English but rather experience it. So I went looking for scholarships in English-speaking countries, and that was how my journey started. “

Now, she has conducted field sampling in Southeast Asia, Kiribati, Kuwait and Hong Kong. In 2017, she received a grant from the National Geographic Society to set up the first ocean acidification monitoring station in Indonesia in attempt to understand the impact of ocean acidification on coral calcification in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

As a scientist, Intan has received numerous national and international awards for her accomplishments. She was also involved in the United Nations-Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN-IPCC) as a lead author in the Sixth Assessment Report.

“My personal trigger was witnessing the compound effects of a climate phenomenon called the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Asian financial crisis around 1998.”

Paleoclimatology, she said, brought that sentiment to life.  

“Human activities have driven climate change since the start of industrialization more than a century ago; however, we’ve only been monitoring climate change on a global scale since the early 1980s, with the help of satellites. To complement sparse data prior to the satellite era, we can look to nature — which is actually recording environmental changes.”

The information, Intan explained, was locked into layers of sediments, trees, corals and even glaciers. “Using the physical and chemical toolbox of paleoclimatology, we can answer many questions with great relevance to our daily lives. We can see how our ocean has been warming and acidifying, which impacts our seafood sources; or how rainfall changes have caused drought and flooding.”

Indonesia in particular is heaven for paleoclimate archives as the country has vast reefs, deep sea sediments, cave stalagmites and glaciers — all of which hold the histories of its climate, she said.

Dedicated teacher: Intan teaches her students and young scientists about the importance of understanding paleoclimatology to solve the world's present day climate change challenges. (Courtesy of Intan Suci Nurhati)

“As a scientist, you could say my own expertise makes me an endangered species in Indonesia. It is therefore important to me to not only advance scientific knowledge, but also motivate the younger generation to take an interest and be contributing members in climate science.”

She believes the work of scientists should not end in volumes of publications. It is important she translates scientific knowledge on climate change into concrete actions that can be taken by policymakers and stakeholders

“I am a scientist — I live and breathe science. It is my motto to do science for science, stakeholders and the community,” said Intan, who is also currently working as a leading scientist at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

But what makes her happy is encouraging young people to understand and to love science. “Helping everyone from elementary school children to policymakers understand the science, and in turn having my assumptions challenged by them, has shaped the course of my scientific career.”

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), she said, was not the only way to help save our planet.

“I have lawyer and diplomat colleagues who are climate negotiators; investment bankers who commit to prioritizing green investments; and reporters who focus on the environment. That is probably why I enjoy talking to high school students the most — because I can imagine them becoming scientists, social scientists, politicians and economists, with their diverse backgrounds.”

As an associate professor at Surya University, Intan continues to encourage her female students to excel in their fields. 

“I call them ‘Srikandi Bahari’ [ocean woman warriors]. Once they embrace that name with pride, I hope they too can see what barriers they need to break, create their own journey and get to where they need to be,” she said.

“I want them to not only find my work interesting, but to become interested in caring for the oceans. I talk about my own physical limitations that I’ve had to overcome, like my allergy to coral and seasickness, and being a science communicator who is also an introvert.”

Such obstacles have not stopped her from living out her dream.

“My advice to young people is to remember that no mountain is too high! And don’t forget to enjoy the ride, both the ‘eureka’ and disappointing moments alike, because the journey is more important than the destination.” (ste)

— This article was made possible with support from Stephanie Mazinyi from Golin and Associate on behalf of National Geographic.