INSIGHTS · for many poor children in the United States. Christopher Gutiérrez Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Email:...

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Drive to help othersAs a multiracial female in engineering,

I can show the students in our research

group that anyone can be an engineer, not

just the figures shown in popular culture.

The presence of minority women in engi-

neering, especially in fluid mechanics where

my research lies, is essential for ensuring

that groups working on engineering and

physics problems have contributions from a

wide range of people with diverse back-

grounds and perspectives. I hope that my

presence in this field will inspire others to

pursue fluid mechanics and come up with

innovative solutions to real-world problems.

Theresa B. OehmkeDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Email: [email protected]

I grew up in a village in South China

where people used wood stoves for

cooking and suffered regular electricity

outages in the summer. I learned first-

hand how important it is to have access

to clean and reliable energy, so I have

devoted my research to clean hydrogen

production and CO2 reduction. Like other

first-generation students, I am always

eager to learn, and I empathize with those

in need. I help organize service trips to

local food banks and homeless shelters,

activities that inspire us to work on

research topics that benefit humankind.

Xiao-Yu WuDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Email: [email protected]

As a trans woman in STEM , I never saw

myself represented in academia. I thus

created my own organization to promote

authentic mentorship and experiences

between queer high school students and

queer academics and professionals. We are

instrumental in academia because finding

community often requires us to step out-

side of our own fields and comfort zones

to build unique scientific collaborations

centered around our shared identity.

Juliet Tegan JohnstonQueer Science (http://queerscience.umn.edu) and Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Email: [email protected]

A child of Mexican immigrants, I was raised

in South Central Los Angeles during the

most violent period in the city’s history.

Most nights, my siblings and I slept to the

sound of gunfire. By the time we gradu-

ated high school, too many friends had lost

their lives to gang violence or incarceration.

Today, I’m a scientist—the first in my family

with a doctorate—because of the Federal

The scientifi c enterprise benefi ts from diverse perspectives. We asked young

scientists to Describe your unique identity and how it contributes

to your scientifi c work and community. Respondents from across the

world shared their unique backgrounds and how those experiences shaped

them. These scientists described their drive to help their communities,

overcome obstacles, embrace multidisciplinary work, answer questions

raised by their families and childhood, and approach their research with

a spirit of inclusion. Read a selection of their responses here. Follow

NextGen with hashtag #NextGenSci. See all NextGen Voices results at

http://science.sciencemag.org/collection/nextgen-voices. —Jennifer Sills

INSIGHTS

LETTERS

NEXTGEN VOICES

Unique identities

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TRIO Programs, which provide educational

after-school academic outreach programs in

underprivileged areas. For me, science out-

reach is a passion borne from the personal

knowledge that such programs not only

work, but are truly a matter of life and death

for many poor children in the United States.

Christopher GutiérrezQuantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Email: [email protected]

Most people who pursue a Ph.D. weren’t

raised in a motel room with their grandma

and siblings. I’ve seen firsthand that the

burden of removing systemic barriers to aca-

demia falls too often on those most affected

by these oppressions—all while we’re held to

the same standard of academic excellence as

our more privileged peers. This self-defeating

system leads to burnout and a reduced

retention of such individuals in science. To

address this, I’ve initiated small-scale and

department-wide inclusivity projects. I’ve

led workshops on addressing implicit biases

and microaggressions, identified programs

to better support undergraduates in need,

and worked to broaden the conversation so

that we’re all working toward a more diverse

and inclusive scientific community.

Dhruv PatelDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Email: [email protected]

My identity as a scientist who researches

biodiversity’s impacts on water management

in agricultural soils is inextricably linked to

my identity as an African-American male

who grew up in an underresourced public

education system. This system has too often

failed to introduce students to topics such as

agriculture and soils. Soils education is far

too important to personal and environmen-

tal health to be systematically ignored.

Eric Britt MooreDepartment of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. Email: [email protected]

My identity as a college student on track

to be a neuroscientist was put in flux on

14 February 2018, when I learned about

the shooting at my old school, Marjory

Stoneman Douglas High, where my sister

was finishing her freshman year. The

tragedy led me to question my place in

the world, how I should use my skills, and

what direction my life should take. In the

year of heartbreak and healing since the

shooting, I have expanded my career goals

to encompass possibilities that would

allow me to work directly with people,

supporting them through their own diffi-

cult times. Regardless of the scientific path

I take, my work will always be infused with

the knowledge that the people it affects are

both valued and fragile.

Elizabeth LanzonHarriet L. Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA. Email: [email protected]

Resolve to overcome obstaclesI have an auditory limitation that means I

can’t hear frogs that have high-frequency

calls, yet I chose to study bioacoustics

and frog behavior anyway. I consider my

limitation a challenge to overcome, and my

enthusiasm for the field has helped create a

collaborative dynamic among my lab group.

Michelle Micarelli StruettDepartment of Zoology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, 81531-980, Brazil. Email: [email protected]

clothing, education, and security. Between

the ages of 10 and 12, I worked as a house-

help without pay. Thanks to my passion for

academics, I earned a scholarship to study

abroad. Because of my background, I have an

exceptional drive to succeed, to create oppor-

tunities, and to motivate others to reach

their full potential. Most important, I have

empathy for those dealing with challenging

circumstances. If I can make it, so can they.

Thomas A. AgbaedengCentre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, The University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Flair for multidisciplinary workMy experience as a Zimbabwean immigrant

in China has taught me that there are con-

siderable similarities between navigating

cultural and language barriers and con-

ducting multidisciplinary research. Each

discipline has a set of unique practices and

language. To succeed in multidisciplinary

research, one has to be humble and willing

to learn the different and sometimes con-

flicting norms.

Edmond SanganyadoMarine Biology Institute, Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China. Email: [email protected]

Home is a difficult concept for many mili-

tary children, but one advantage of moving

every 2 or 3 years was exposure to many

different worldviews. Whether in Japan,

England, Korea, or America, I found that

everyone has a valuable perspective to

offer. This was a lesson I carried with me as

I transitioned into a career as a physician-

scientist. Science is becoming increasingly

multidisciplinary; being able to collaborate

with researchers who have diverse back-

grounds is critical for success. In my lab,

I have found that being open-minded has

helped me build relationships with my col-

leagues. By sharing my own expertise and

valuing the contributions of others, I can

make the most of this scientific community

I now call home.

Jonathan Joon-Young ParkDepartment of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Email: [email protected]

Broad and inclusive perspectiveI was a first-generation student. I know

what it’s like to feel lost, intimidated, passed

over, and left behind just because I didn’t

know how to navigate the system. I also

had to work my way through school and

missed out on research opportunities that

I learned about too late because my focus

was on picking up enough shifts at work.

I immigrated to the United States without

legal status. I completed my bachelor’s

degree but could not work or obtain a Ph.D.

until getting Deferred Action of Childhood

Arrivals (DACA) status. Once I was in the

Ph.D. program, I became a permanent

resident, making me eligible for NIH fund-

ing. Most studies in my field only include

Europeans, but my identity and experiences

led me to incorporate populations from

African, East Asian, and South Asian descent

to study the genetic changes that affect the

metabolism of tobacco carcinogens. My

background has also made me a better prob-

lem solver and more resilient, allowing me

to overcome obstacles in my research.

Ana Gabriela VergaraDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA. Email: [email protected]

I come from an impoverished family of

12 from a rural village in Nigeria. I grew

up without basic necessities such as food,

Ecologist Michelle M. Struett, undeterred by an

auditory limitation, researches the calls of frogs.

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INSIGHTS | LETTERS

Having graduated, I still feel like I’m playing

catch-up. As a result, I push for accessibility

in my field. I challenge gate-keeping. I use

alternative publishing methods, like social

media and my blog, to share information

and research instead of restricted-access

publishing. I encourage outreach. And I

share my experiences and what I’ve learned

to help other first-generation students

make it through.

Stephanie Jan Halmhofer

Richmond, BC V7C 5K3, Canada. Email: [email protected]

Due to my father’s work, my family often

changed residences around Greece. Having

to frequently restart from zero defined

me, and I learned to rapidly observe my

surroundings and people in order to under-

stand my new environment and become

a functional part of each local society.

Being exposed to regularly shifting norms

prepared me for anticipating reactions

that ranged from friendly to hostile when

I expressed myself. I learned to identify

the roots of each reaction in order to fight

potential assumptions, a skill I apply when

I investigate scientific questions today.

Athanasia NikolaouGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for Planetary Research, Department of Planetary Physics, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Email: [email protected]

As a child, I moved from Siberia to

California, and I still carry on the lan-

guage and traditions of my family. Only

through the lens of American culture have

I been able to learn and truly appreciate

pillars of Russian culture such as figure

skating, embroidery, and baking. What’s

old is new again, much like scientific

theories. I’m reminded to look to the past

and learn from previous theories and

At 5 years old, I survived the 1998 China

flood, which destroyed my hometown.

While doing research for my Ph.D., I

learned that one of the main reasons for

the flood was unusually high precipita-

tion in upstream areas. Therefore, I am

currently studying how to use artificial

intelligence technology to predict down-

stream water flow based on meteorological

data from upstream areas. I hope that my

work will protect others from the kind of

disaster I experienced as a child.

Zhongliang YangLab of New Generation Network Technology & Applications, Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Email: [email protected]

My journey into higher education and

science was new territory for our family,

as I moved away from our rural Minnesota

community to pursue a B.S. degree in

horticulture and communication at the

University of Minnesota in Crookston.

After working for 3 years, I left a stable

career to pursue a Ph.D. in sustainable

vegetable production, which was a leap of

faith that worried my parents. I see rural

communities as key to improving our

food system, and farmers are the reason

I engage in science. I also hope to be an

inspiration to women who want to work

in agriculture as we move the field toward

greater gender inclusiveness.

Kristine Marie LangDepartment of Horticulture, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. Email: [email protected]

As a Vietnamese-American, son of refu-

gees, and family caregiver, I am shaped by

ancestral, cultural, and religious heritage.

From listening to the story of my mother’s

harrowing trip across the South China Sea

on a wooden boat, I learned gratitude and

perseverance. From caring for my grand-

father with dementia, I learned compassion

and patience. I draw from these lessons of

humanity and peace as I approach molecular

and computational neuroscience. By inves-

tigating Alzheimer’s disease progression in

different populations, I hope to develop tools

and treatments to empower personalized

care for all. Dementia prevalence is rising

substantially in developing nations like

Vietnam. Because precision management

and treatment are unique for each popula-

tion and person, biomedical science must be

diverse. With my dual heritage and life les-

sons, I embrace the love of my ancestors and

duty to help patients and their families.

Michael Tran DuongPerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Email: [email protected]

10.1126/science.aax2457

transcultural experiences for my own

scientific training.

Sasha MikhailovaCenter for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Email: [email protected]

In forensic anthropology, scientific works

and communities tend to ignore the possibil-

ity of intersex individuals when estimating

biological sex from human remains. As

a member of the LGBTQI+ community, I

know that biological sex is not binary and

that intersex individuals exist. Drawing

from case studies and previous intersex

research, I hope to redefine how forensic

anthropologists see and define sex.

Kristy A. WinterSkeletal Biology and Forensic Anthropology Research Laboratory, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Intrinsic motivation to researchBorn and raised in Fondo Grande, a 25-

family Dominican village bordering Haiti,

I learned to grow all of our food, from rice,

beans, cassavas, and maize to coffee and

cocoa. Thanks to family and Jesuit friends,

I studied agronomy during high school. My

special interest in botany and genetics led

me to a position with a local Taiwanese

scientist and eventually to Taiwan, where

I earned my Ph.D. I have been investigat-

ing the evolutionary genomics of the fungi

that cause blast disease in cereal crops.

The subject is personal to me: My uncle in

Fondo Grande consults me when his rice

farm suffers from disease.

Luis B. Gómez LucianoBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan. Email: [email protected]

Sasha Mikhailova’s embroidered glial cells illustrate her fusion of Russian heritage and scientific work.

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Unique identities

Yang, Kristine Marie Lang and Michael Tran DuongPark, Stephanie Jan Halmhofer, Athanasia Nikolaou, Sasha Mikhailova, Kristy A. Winter, Luis B. Gómez Luciano, Zhongliang

Joon-YoungLanzon, Michelle Micarelli Struett, Ana Gabriela Vergara, Thomas A. Agbaedeng, Edmond Sanganyado, Jonathan Theresa B. Oehmke, Xiao-Yu Wu, Juliet Tegan Johnston, Christopher Gutiérrez, Dhruv Patel, Eric Britt Moore, Elizabeth

DOI: 10.1126/science.aax2457 (6435), 22-24.364Science 

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