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This month we’ve been talking about Latinas in the sciences and although the month officially ends tomorrow, I sincerely hope you’ll join us for our call Wednesday with the first Latina astronaut, Dr. Ellen Ochoa! And for those of you in the San Diego area, don’t forget that the San Diego Science Festival EXPO is this weekend – make sure and attend with your friends and family. You may wonder why so many of us are so interested in and concerned about the sciences. Let’s look at some numbers…

What an awesome interview with Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff this week. We had a great time and she shared so many insights with us that were right on point with our theme of the explorer. She talked about discoveries that she made early in her career that have changed the way that people receive health care! Lydia shared the joy and the exhilaration of being someone to discover something truly new. What must that feel like? Wow!

At the same time, Lydia told us that for the discovery to make a difference, you have to get it out there! Isn’t that true for all of us? We may discover something amazing about ourselves, in our lives, within our families or jobs or schools, but unless/until we get it OUT THERE it doesn’t really impact the world, does it? Sometimes the real role of the explorer is after the discovery and in the sharing with the public. And that can be the scary part, too.

While exploration may be exciting and fun, it can also be lonely and difficult. That’s not to discourage you from exploring your own curiosities, figuring out your own boundaries and “Going where no Latina has gone before” (ok, I warned you earlier I was a geek, remember?), but it is to say prepare yourself.

Exploration asks us to push beyond where our comfort zone is, and this can be difficult, both for ourselves and for those around us. Exploration calls upon us to be brave, to be courageous and to persevere even when others tell us it can’t be done. Exploration can open us up to ridicule from others.

Do you ever wonder how the simple things happen? Like, how does the alarm go off in the morning (in spite of the fact that we wish it didn’t), how is it that we’re able to turn on the radio and listen to, like, a bazillion stations, and how amazing is it that you can pick up your cell phone and make a call to your tia or abuela no matter where in the world she might be? (even if it also costs a gazillion dollars)

These are the amazing things that scientists bring to us, and so very much more. Our roads, our cars, even our food and our very livelihoods are all mediated by science and technology. And yet, we take so much of it for granted. Or, at least I do. I get frustrated when my computer’s slow, and heaven forbid I can’t get an internet connection when traveling!

Well, we’ve probably all heard about Dora the Explorer, and it’s fun to think of Latina GIRLS as being at the forefront of exploration and learning. Although I love science fiction, I wasn’t encouraged in the sciences when I was a girl, but for some reason have a special place in my heart for the sciences. And I am a big supporter of girls, and especially Latinas, being able to follow their dreams to work in the sciences (so that it’s not just FICTION!).

The Heiress of Water by Sandra Rodriguez Barron
(Harper Paperbacks) Features Alma Borrero Winters, a brilliant marine biologist and one of the most compelling characters in contemporary Latina fiction.

Juicy Mangos: Erotica Collection by Michelle Herrera Mulligan (Atria) The first-ever Latina erotica anthology, with stories that are as smart as they are sultry.

Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina by Rosie Molinary (Seal Press) An intelligent and sensitive discussion of what it’s really like to be a Latina girl, based on an extensive survey of over 500 Latinas.

Ok, so I admit it. I’m a huge science fiction fan. I got hooked in college with Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, and then went on to read the entire set of fiction novels that were based on the show. I love other science fiction, too. Movies from The Terminator to The Matrix have been favorites, as well as science fiction authors such as Heinlein. One of these days, maybe I’ll even get around to writing a Latina science fiction series. If anyone knows of one, please let me know asap!