蜜芽传媒

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there鈥檚 a lot they don鈥檛 know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish they鈥檇 known about when they were starting out in science. This week, the story of a woman who gained her education by herding sheep during her childhood to becoming one of Africa鈥檚 most prominent scientists.

Born under Apartheid in South Africa, Tebello Nyokong and her family uprooted their lives to escape the unequal education system enforced upon Black South Africans. After herding sheep proved she could do anything a boy could do, Tebello ended up studying science and found a love for chemistry. In the face of limited opportunities, she once again uprooted her life and took her studies oversees, but this was when she was introduced to something huge: a new, ground-breaking cancer treatment. Now Tebello is using nanotechnology to get this therapy off the ground, all while she fights to make Africa a science superpower.

(Image: Professor Tebello Nyokong from Africa gives a speech as she receives the UNESCO and L'Oreal Award for Women and Science on March 5, 2009 in Paris, France. Credit: Francois Durand/Getty Images)