Scholar Spotlight: Natalia Garza Navarro

The second TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of 2021 is all about Natalia Garza Navarro, hailing from Agnes Scott College.  She sat down with her mentor, Dr. David Wilson, to talk about science and her passions.

Natalia traces her interest in science to an early age. “I’ve always loved science museums,” she says. “When we went on family vacations I would have my mom take me to the science and history museums.” Taking science classes in high school and college deepened her interest in and knowledge of astronomy, both in class and whilst beginning to do research. “I had professors who really inspired me and made astronomy an engaging topic. As I got further into it I found I really liked the programming aspect as well.” 

For her TAURUS research, Natalia is searching for a mysterious type of hot, variable white dwarfs using data from the TESS spacecraft. “All my research projects so far have been short,” and she hasn’t been able to see the end result. For TAURUS, “I would love to work through a whole project, getting really good at one thing and doing it well”. Natalia has previously worked with radio telescope data, and enjoyed the challenge to learn new skills and push herself to produce useful science from the images. 

Whilst initially intending on pursuing a research career, Natalia has recently become interested in astronomy communication.  “When I started doing astro I thought going into research was the only path,” she says. “But last year I spent a week shadowing the astronomy director at the Fernbank Science Center, and I got to see a different aspect of working in science -- science outreach. Throughout high school I volunteered at the public library running early education programs, and loved that aspect of helping people learn.” Volunteering at the science center showed her that it was possible to combine that interest in education with scientific research.

“What I’d love to do is provide more opportunities for people from lower income backgrounds to have better access to science education.” Natalia considers herself lucky to have been able to study astronomy in high school, and sees the importance of science centers and museums to allow other people the same opportunities.  

Natalia is still interested in working in research initially, and plans to go to grad school for a PhD. “I’d like to have that experience, so that I can give younger students advice about the research route, and the difficulties I overcame going down that path.” 

Natalia will be presenting her research at the AAS winter meeting in January, so please come and see her if you are looking for a grad student!