Latinx Scientists Ellen Ochoa Ochoa was the first

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Latinx Scientists

Latinx Scientists

Ellen Ochoa • Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She

Ellen Ochoa • Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She was an astronaut on the Discovery mission in 1993. • She holds a bachelor's degree in physics from San Diego State University and a master's degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University. • As a research engineer at Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center, Ochoa investigated optical systems for performing information processing. She is a co-inventor on three patents and author of several technical papers. Ochoa has also been recognized with NASA's highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for senior executives in the federal government. She has received many other awards and is especially honored to have six schools named for her. • She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), serves on several boards, and chairs the Nomination Evaluation Committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Ramon Barthelemy • After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in Astrophysics,

Ramon Barthelemy • After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in Astrophysics, Ramón pursued graduate studies at Western Michigan University, where he conducted research in the field of physics education research (PER) and took courses covering both physics and science education. • Ramón was particularly interested in supporting equity and inclusion. Through a fellowship from the National Science Foundation's AGEP program and research funding from the Michigan Space Grant and PER community, Ramón traveled around the country and interviewed women physics graduate students on their academic experiences. He completed his dissertation on the subject, “Graduate Women in physics and astronomy - gendered experiences, career pathways, and definitions of success. ” • In addition, he partnered with other STEM colleagues to conduct research on LGBT scientists. Currently, Ramón is an assistant professor at the University of Utah specializing in physics education research with a focus on equity and inclusion in physics and astronomy. “At the end of the day, " Ramón says, "my goal is to fight for equal treatment of others, and that fight is through my advocacy and research. ”

Marianna Matus • Matus is a computational biologist. Her work is dedicated to measuring

Marianna Matus • Matus is a computational biologist. Her work is dedicated to measuring the distribution of opioids coming out of various cities’ wastewater systems. Through this work her company, Biobot Analytics, aims to help public health officials deploy the right counteractive program for each situation and locate where the heaviest opioid use is in that city.

James A. Mendoza Alvarez • Currently is a professor at the University of Texas

James A. Mendoza Alvarez • Currently is a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. He earned a bachelor’s degree with Academic Distinction in mathematics and physics from Texas A & M University-Commerce on a Presidential Scholarship. In 1996, he completed his dissertation at The University of Texas. His passion for issues related to equity and access in mathematics fueled his move to research in mathematics education. Immediately after completing his Ph. D. , Dr. Álvarez took a post-doctoral position in mathematics education at the Charles A. Dana Center. Dr. Álvarez is currently a Professor of Mathematics and Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington and Graduate Director of the M. A. in Mathematics Program for secondary mathematics teachers. Dr. Álvarez’s research and professional interests are in mathematics education with a focus on mathematical problem solving, mathematics-specific technology, increasing access to mathematics through improved preparation of mathematics teachers, program development, and curriculum development. In the K-12 setting, he has been an essential contributor to the development and enhancement of mathematics standards and assessments for students and teachers.

Keivan Stassun • Stassun studies thousands of stars like our own Sun to find

Keivan Stassun • Stassun studies thousands of stars like our own Sun to find planets – called exoplanets – that might be orbiting them. The goal of this study is to understand how common these other worlds are and how they form and evolve. The fact that hundreds of exoplanets have been discovered over the past fifteen years has huge implications on humanity’s perspective on our place in the Universe. • Stassun’s Iranian and Hispanic heritage has helped him become involved in numerous programs to encourage minorities to become scientists. One program focuses on middle and high school students and helps them build their own telescopes. • In addition, he is co-director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to. Ph. D Bridge Program, a program designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctorate degrees in the physical or biomedical sciences.

Juan Maldacena • Maldacena is currently a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study

Juan Maldacena • Maldacena is currently a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Maldacena’s work focuses on quantum gravity, string theory, and quantum field theory. • He has proposed a relationship between quantum gravity and quantum field theories that elucidates various aspects of both theories. He is studying this relationship further in order to understand the deep connection between black holes and quantum field theories, and he is also exploring the connection between string theory and cosmology. • He received his Ph. D. from Princeton University.

France A. Cordova • She is currently the Director of the National Science Foundation

France A. Cordova • She is currently the Director of the National Science Foundation and was the first woman to hold the position of Chief Scientist at NASA in 1993. Córdova's scientific contributions have been in the areas of observational and experimental astrophysics, multispectral research on x-ray and gamma ray sources and space-borne instrumentation. • She has published more than 150 scientific papers. She was co-principal investigator for a telescope experiment that is currently flying on the satellite XMMNewton, a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and her doctorate in physics from the California Institute of Technology.

Ivan Contreras • Contreras was born and grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. He got

Ivan Contreras • Contreras was born and grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. He got his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Universidad de los Andes, a master’s degree from University of Utrecht and he completed his Ph. D. studies at University of Zürich. He held postdoctoral positions at University of California, Berkeley (as a Swiss National Foundation fellow) and University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign, before joining the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Amherst College as a Visiting Assistant Professor. • His research focuses on mathematical physics, in particular the interface between geometry, topology and physics. He studies particular types of classical and quantum field theories, which carry both geometric and topological information. Contreras has made important contributions to the Poisson sigma model, a two-dimensional string theory, by using field-theoretical methods to approach two problems in mathematics: the integration of Lie algebroids (a parametrized version of a Liealgebra) and the Kontsevich deformation quantization of Poisson algebras