Scholar Spotlight: Oscar Chávez Ortiz

Our fourth TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of the summer is all about Oscar Chávez Ortiz, an astronomy and physics student at UC Berkeley. This summer he's working with Dr. Micaela Bagley on studying galaxies in the local Universe that might serve as good analogues to the first galaxies that formed 13 billion years ago. Dr. Bagley sat down with Oscar to learn more about his journey to UT.

Oscar A. Chávez Ortiz joins us from UC Berkeley, where he will be finishing his last semester this fall. Oscar remembers being interested in astronomy ever since elementary school, when he would go straight to the Space and Science section of his school book fairs and read everything he could find. At Berkeley, Oscar has worked on projects involving modeling Supernova 1987A and creating composite spectra of galaxies observed as part of the MOSDEF survey. He’s excited to spend the summer as a TAURUS scholar, discovering what it’s like to do research without having to simultaneously balance classes and other commitments. 

MB: What interests or excites you about science?

OCO: I like how science in general is about discovering how things work and how each piece connects to the bigger picture. With each topic, there’s always something to explore to a deeper level. It’s exciting to work with bits and pieces of information, like clues that you can tie back together. That was always me, when I see something happening I want to know what’s causing it and to understand the “why”.  This is one of the things that draws me to science in general and astronomy in particular, trying to tackle questions like “How did galaxies form?” all the way up to “How did the whole universe come to be?”

MB: What does it mean to you to be a scientist?

OCO: There are some big, well-known names in science: Bohr, Planck, Einstein, and many others. They’ve all done great work and made big contributions to their fields, but I don’t think science is a sole genius coming up with breakthroughs. I think science is more like the quote from Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” You start with a puzzle, you take it a little bit further, expanding on what previous people have done and gradually building up to the bigger picture. We’re always collaborating because we have to, space is so big! It’s mind boggling just how much is out there, how could any one person study it all by themselves? Collaboration is definitely key and is what it means to me in becoming a scientist. 

MB: Where would you like to take your passion for astronomy? Where would you like your career to go? 

OCO: I would like to work towards a teaching position at a university or community college. I often hear from friends outside of STEM fields that their math or science classes made them leave STEM fields. This kinda saddens me because I think that everyone has the ability to do what we’re doing. All it takes is having professors who can make the topics fun and accessible and the learning experience collaborative and inclusive for people to strive. When teaching isn’t the main focus, its natural that the teaching suffers and by consequence the students suffer. I really want to become a professor that supports my students and puts them in a good position regardless of the path they take; be it STEM or otherwise. And another reason I would like to become a professor is that there is not a lot of representation for Latinos in astronomy. There are very few people I feel I can look up to. I often have a hard time relating to the other students at Berkeley, and I don’t think they can relate to me, especially given my undocumented status. When we talk about our experiences, I think they can understand and empathize, but it’s completely different to actually feel what I feel, what I’ve felt essentially all my life. I’m missing a community, a network. I want to give a younger version of me a role model to look up to. I want to be able to show them that this is possible and that you are not alone. 

MB: What do you like to do when you’re not astronomying? 

OCO: I love soccer. I’m a huge soccer fan. I’ve played it ever since I was 7, and I used to train every second of every day. After high school I sort of stopped playing while I figured out what kind of commitment college would be. It was honestly a weird transition for me since soccer had been a big part of my life. But, while at Berkeley, I was able to get back to it. I’ve started my own teams to play in Berkeley’s intramural league multiple times. I also like watching movies, playing video games, and exploring new places and experiences. School and research are of course important, but they can’t be everything. We all need ways to let off steam and relax, and to find meaning and community outside of work.