South Perth woman Marisa Ioppolo-Armanios in line for prestigious Women in Resources award

SOUTH Perth resident Dr Marisa Ioppolo-Armanios has been announced as a finalist for the 2018 Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) Women in Resources Awards.

Dr Ioppolo-Armanios was nominated for the Outstanding Woman in Resources category after leading two successful breakthrough projects in air and water quality for Alcoa.

Raised in a traditional, first-generation immigrant family, Dr Ioppolo-Armanios’ expectations for herself were markedly different to those of her family, who thought she would be a hairdresser.

She said the turning point to following her passion for science was after receiving encouragement from a couple of high school teachers.

“I remember I said to (my teachers) maybe I could be a lab assistant one day and them saying to me ‘No, you are not going to be the lab assistant – you are going to be the scientist in the lab and you are going to do something amazing’,” Dr Ioppolo-Armanios said.

Today, Dr Ioppolo-Armanios manages Alcoa’s Alumina Centre of Excellence Environmental Technology program.

She also leads the Alcoa Women’s Network in Kwinana and said she takes her position as a role model very seriously with an aim to continue to break down barriers and wave the flag of opportunity for women in the industry.

“I would like to see the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) move more toward the norm being that women are in the area because of their ability and merit; because they are talented and love doing the job, rather than it feeling like we have to constantly challenge stereotypes and the status quo,” she said.

Alcoa’s Frontline Talent Development Initiative at Huntly Mine has also been nominated as a finalist for the Outstanding Company Initiative award.

The CME Women in Resources Awards will be announced March 9.

The 2018 finalists:

Women in Resources Champion:

Veena Mendez

Lynn Olssen

Sharron Sutton

Outstanding Woman in Resources:

Melissa Cundy

Peta Libby

Outstanding Young Woman in Resources:

Martha Hackshaw

Tijana Mirkovic

Dhakshi Weerawardena

Outstanding Operator/Technician/Trade Woman in Resources:

Megan Lockyer

Nicole O’Keefe

Shannon Youd

Outstanding Company Initiative:

Rio Tinto Iron Ore – White Ribbon Accreditation

Woodside Energy – St Catherine’s College Woodside Scholarship Program

Votes can be cast for the People’s Choice Award at www.cmewa.com.