Natalia Tapia Arellano Shares the Importance of Representation and the Wonders of Space with Incarcerated Youth

About me

My name is Natalia Tapia-Arellano, and I currently work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah. I chose to work with STEMCAP (STEM Community Alliance Program), which focuses on providing STEM education opportunities to incarcerated youth in Utah. My research topic is Dark Matter, which is a mysterious type of matter that is more abundant in the universe. I use particle physics to develop theories that explain what we observe with telescopes and detectors.

When people hear the word “Physics”, probably, the first thing that comes to their mind is an image of Einstein. I am part of the small percentage of Latina women holding a PhD in Physics and that means I must show other Latin kids and marginalized kids who might not feel represented by the typical physicist image, that they can be a physicist too, or that they can learn and actually understand it.

I grew up in Santiago de Chile, the capital of a South American country, where I attended a poor school with limited resources. Because of my personal experience, I understand what it’s like to want to learn more but not have access to the right resources.

I enjoy sharing everything I’ve learned with people, my family, and friends, and especially those who don’t have access, just like I didn’t as a kid. When I saw an opportunity to visit incarcerated youth in Utah, I signed up immediately. The STEMCAP team helped me prepare for the presentations, their suggestions were extremely helpful, mostly because as scientists we forget how much we have learned and what might not be obvious to the rest.

However, I was not prepared for how many questions they had. They were so curious about the Universe and asked various questions such as “Where does the Universe end?” and “Is there life on other planets?” Some questions were repeated across different centers I visited. I am not ashamed to admit when I don’t know something, and they were surprised by my honesty. One question I will never forget is, “What made you come here to waste your time with us?”, this caught me by surprise, and I honestly don’t remember how I answered, they didn’t feel like they deserved people sharing their time with them.

As part of the small lecture, we included an art activity. They had so much talent and drew beautiful galaxies, sharing their ideas on dark matter and the Solar System. I am deeply grateful for the STEMCAP program and the opportunity they gave me to be part of their calendar.