Mary Olson
Mary Olson is the founder, and acting Director of Gender and Radiation Impact Project (GRIP) a non-government, educational organization based in North Carolina, USA. Originally a student of Biology and Life Science, Olson’s work on radiation is rooted in a three-decade career as an educator and advocate for better radioactive waste policy in the United States. During that work, a novel question was posed to Olson, on whether biological sex is a factor in radiation harm. In 2011 Olson undertook an independent gender analysis of the data reported in the US National Academy of Science (NAS) report on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, which is primarily from the A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Her findings were striking and resulted in a series of presentations in United Nations proceedings, including the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons in 2014, the 2015 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and in 2017 during the negotiation phase of the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Olson was also hosted to present the findings that radiation is more harmful to females compared to males, by the International Committee of the Red Cross both in 2016 and 2020. She has also presented at Gender Summits (EU) in 2016 and 2018.
Participating on Humanity Rising
Day 80 - Women Transforming our Nuclear Legacy: Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Nagasaki
Day 221 - Wednesday April 7, 2021 Radiation and Gender: The Effect of Radiation on Women