Overview
For the 2022 cycle Alma iGEM wanted to partner with Alma College Diversity and Inclusion offices to help educate our campus community about the wide range of diversity in the STEM field on campus and in the world. We reached out to the Diversity and Inclusions office on campus and helped organize an event for Hispanic heritage month, LatinX voices in STEM. This panel consists of individuals and professionals from the Latinx community who are working in the STEM field. The goal is to listen to the experiences and stories of the speakers and learn about what they have experienced pursuing their love of science. The panel will occur on October 18th and the format of the panel will be an open discussion where audience members are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the panelists. The goal of this event is to begin a long term relationship with Alma College’s Diversity and Inclusion office and help show our campus community the wonderfully diverse field of STEM.
LatinX Voices in STEM
The speaker list for the panel includes many different people in the STEM field, from an Alma College professor, a Doctor in the private sector, and Alma iGEM’s very own President!
Isabelle Conn
"My name is Isabelle Conn, known to many as Izzy, and I am from Allen Park, Michigan. I am currently on track to have a bachelors in Integrative Physiology and Health Science with intentions of using that degree to get into a Physician’s Associate School, earn my master’s and be a licensed medical professional. When asked, “Why STEM?” I think my answer is very easy, I want to increase the representation of my ethnicity in the field of medicine. My parents grew up in Southwest Detroit, a very ethnically populated urban part of Detroit. They took a risk by moving out of that area to raise a family in a better and safer way of life. This risk paved the way for me to fight the odds and get a higher education to propel myself further. I wanted to prove to my parents that they made the right choice. Being in STEM, especially as a woman, I have fought many silent battles against male authority in my field and the statistics stacked against me. I have always noticed that I am one of the very few ethnic students in my STEM classes here at Alma, and how few women are leaders of their clubs, teams, and research. Becoming the President of Alma College iGEM was a major, positive step in the right direction for me and I intend on setting the precedence for those after myself, especially Latina women that when you’re determined, nothing is impossible and to keep breaking the glass ceiling. This role has integrated a high level of confidence in myself and has proved to many women around me that women can successfully lead too."
Dr. Martín Aramburu
Dr. Martín Aramburu attended medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago and residency at Northwestern’s underserved program through Erie Family Health (via the Community Health Centers Federal Grant). Dr. Aramburu was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and came to the USA as a refugee with his mother, father, and brother. They narrowly escaped the political violence which engulfed the southern cone during the 1970’s and 80’s. He grew-up speaking Spanish and English and witnessed first-hand the difficulties of finding quality healthcare when faced with economic and language barriers. This motivated him to provide care to Spanish-speaking communities in underserved areas. Feeling there were too many Spanish-speaking providers in the Chicago-land area, he sought out communities in need, which brought him to West Michigan, Trinity Health, and Clínica Santa María.
Dr. Aramburu sees primarily Spanish-speaking patients through his Family Medicine practice, works with resident doctors in St Mary’s Hospital, and with medical students, in clinic, the hospital, and most recently on a medical Spanish elective for MSU medical students.
Dr. Aramburu is also a member of the board for MHPP, on the Quality subcommittee and a rather mediocre basketball player with the resident doctor’s weekly basketball games.
Victor Argueta-Diaz, PhD (Born in Mexico City, 1974)
I received my B.S. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in 1999. I obtained my M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2002 and my Ph.D. degree in Optoelectronics from the Ohio State University, in 2005. After my Ph.D. I did a postdoc at the Center of Applied Science and Technology Development back in Mexico where I worked developing optical sensors to detect air pollutants and 3D imaging. I came back to the US in 2009 where I worked in the biomedical industry developing software and doing data analysis for two years. That same year I started working at Alma College as a visiting professor. Since 2012, I have been a full time professor of Physics at Alma College, where I try to find the intersections among science, arts and humanities.