Earthwatch volunteers on Indonesian Sun Cooking, a pioneering effort to introduce solar ovens to Indonesian villages, had little doubt about the dedication and distinction of former principal investigator Herliyani Suharta. Now Suharta has gained national attention, as she was recently inaugurated for the highest research rank in Indonesia, a confirmation of her rising career as a scientist.

Suharta (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology) was awarded the Ahli Peneliti Utama, the highest rank for researchers in Indonesia, in April. The award, presented by the Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI), or Indonesian Institute of Sciences, was based on the volume and quality of Suharta's publications. Suharta gave a keynote speech titled "Disseminating Renewable Energy via Community Education: Real Implementation of Sustainable Development."

"In my speech I spoke about Indonesian Sun Cooking, and thanked Earthwatch so much for their support in the past which brought me to that day," said Suharta. "My Earthwatch grant was enough to multiply the implementation of our approach to disseminate the solar oven."

Earthwatch teams working with Suharta helped villagers in East Java, Lombok, Sumbawa, Timor, Central Sulawesi, and Flores build more than 400 solar ovens, enabling participants to halve their fuelwood use and save untold hours gathering fuelwood. These villagers went on to be mentors for their villages, passing on their knowledge of solar oven construction and use to their communities.

This kind of outcome, spurred on by Suharta's optimism and compelling vision, is essential in a world where as many as 500 million people in the world are affected by respiratory infections from wood fires. In addition, 30-40 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are from the smoke of fuelwood fires.

Suharta's achievement is even more amazing in the context of Indonesia's traditionally male-dominated society.

"Ever since I was young, I thought that a high-level research career was almost impossible for me because of my status as a woman," said Suharta. "When I should compete with a man for a high-level position, I will not have enough support as I am the minority. In the patriarchical society, a woman is not expected to be a leader even at the bottom level."

Although there is no monitory award associated with the Ahli Peneliti Utama, the prestige that comes with the award and the opportunity to speak to a national audience on issues of policy is an enormous boon to Suharta's career. She hopes to use the award as a platform for broadening her impact on sustainable development in Indonesia and abroad.


Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization which supports scientific field research worldwide by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. The Institute's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.