Thomas J. Watson Fellow 2022
"The Watson Fellowship is a rare window after college and pre-career to engage your deepest interest on a global scale. " Watson FoundationProject
Communicating Science from Classrooms to Theaters
Bermuda, France, Kenya, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador
I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life straight out of Caltech (Later, I would learn that this is a common sentiment). Growing up, thought I would be doing big, exciting things. But I just didn't know just what that would be. I couldn't decide between all my different passions and felt like I needed time to figure out what I truly loved doing.
Through my Watson Project, I wanted to understand science communication in different communities and contexts to better and in doing so, I wanted to understand how I came to love science and how to help others feel the same way. Here is a picture of slightly clueless me before embarking on the trip of a lifetime that changed my perspectives forever.
In Bermuda, where there’s just a single two-way highway across the country and where the nearest coffee shop was a 30 minute bus ride away, there are no universities or national laboratories. BIOS is the only scientific research station on the island. What was surprising is that, almost equally important as its role in deep-sea oceanography research, BIOS holds a critical piece in science education on the island.
During my time with BIOS, I designed a robotics curriculum for their summer STEM programs geared towards for local Bermudian students and helped teach the courses.
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My time in Kenya starts with the realization that every facet of my identity marks me as an outsider. It’s an inevitable reality that I am treated differently because of my skin color. There is no such thing as blending in. Heads turn when I walk past, students whisper, and some even reach out to touch my hair. I hear derogatory phrases like “Ching chong!”, or witness attempts to mock me with exaggerated kung-fu moves. All of these interactions make me squirm inside.
Despite these experiences that highlight differences between cultures, What made my experience in Kitale so special is the presence of friends who look out for me, making me feel part of a community. EduTab, while not a million-dollar Ed-tech startup, go out of their way to ensure I feel at home. They pick me up from the airport, arrange breakfasts for me to meet the entire team, share snacks like kangumu, and eagerly explain Kenyan customs and lifestyles. Mike listen with genuine interest to my stories about visiting the slums in Nairobi, Patrick shares stories about his tribe, Maxwell explain to me the detailed process of slaughtering a goat. I forge deep connections with some of the kindest, warmest people I have ever met.
In Brazil, I hop on a 200-year-old tall ship that is making a global voyage that recreates Charles Darwin's journey. For the next several months, I follow the ship around South America, from Brazil to Uruguay to Argentina to Chile to Peru, producing professional documentaries with filmmakers and local conservationists to raise awareness about the conservation work they are doing. I mentored a multinational team of young filmmakers and conservationists and helped them produce impactful conservation-focused narratives.
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In Chile, I take on the director's seat and directed a documentary about the conservation of huemul. The people I work with in Patagonia are heroic people, ones who have shown me how much passion, dedication and love it takes to make a meaningful difference they've made in the realm of cosnervation.
When I landed in Ecuador, I learned that the boat I had arranged to live on had to be grounded for repair. If the Watson Year has taught me anything, it is to be flexible and resourceful. I went to a region called Riobamba where I got to be a part of a professional video production project about the natural sights of the Highlands of the Andes.
Thanks to the welcoming family who embraced me and shared their lives, I experienced Riobamba as they do. To me, the Chimborazo volcano is not remembered by a typical touristy photo but by the stories of Juan-Carlos and Karen taking Lisa on her first camping trip there. It’s the same volcano that will be one of the first things Natalie’s newborn will see in her life. My memories of Riobamba are filled with moments like taking Matteo and Ragnar the crazy two-year-old for $3 haircuts, and laughing uncontrollably with Lisa at the stray dog that followed our car for miles. I learned to love without a common language.
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In France, I had the opportunity to attend the Cannes Film Festival where there was a big conference about how Artificial intelligence is affecting the film industry. Communicating science properly and in an accessible manner is more important than ever and I started thinking that I want to be more serious about being a good storyteller in science.
All my life, I had been on a full speed direct flight to a blurry destination. My Watson Year was a rountrtip ticket with lots of stops so that I could take a look at the map for once during my long layovers.
And in doing so, I feel a step closer to knowing who I am, and that's how I know my Watson Experience has just started.