Does it inspire you that social justice is being more integrated into science?

Yes. Yes! I think last summer was a huge pivoting point for Tyson in general. I was a research fellow in the summer of 2019, just after I graduated. We never had this training, then. Now I am the lead technician and lab manager for Solny Adalsteinsson and Beth Biro. Social justice training was prioritized within our lab group and we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from our students. I think to have conscious, less-biased researchers in any kind of field is necessary. You have to start training them on what to look out for, how to see bias in yourself and also see it in the academic environment around you. Once people know how they can be biased, just having that language and understanding can mitigate a lot of things. It gives them a different perspective going into research.

During all this time, have you found hope in the scientific process and do you think hope is a part of your job description?

I think this year has given myself and a lot of other people time to reflect. I’ve personally thought, “What do I want to do after I leave Tyson? What do I want to do in my personal life, as far as learning about my background and my cultural traditions and mixing them together?” I didn’t think about having them all together. I thought, “I have to be a scientist first” and then whatever else, like my personal life, will be on the back burner. I think I've been able to shift my mentality. I am a Mexican-Filipina researcher. I have to keep that in mind. I am that and I am also representing science.

That’s super impactful, especially for me, an undergraduate, Latino student. Seeing someone who is a Mexican-Filipina, in action doing the work is super impactful. I'm super proud! Thank you.