Scientist Spotlight

Recently Clarissa was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) in Geosciences. With this funding Clarissa will be performing research to develop polarimetric remote sensing techniques to better understand the microphysical properties of wildfire smoke. She will be collaborating with JPL Scientists Michael Garay and Olga Kalashnikova, and NASA Scientist Reed Espinosa. You can read the full proposal here: https://github.com/Polarization-Lab/ULTRASIP/wiki/Publications,-Proposa…. Part of her research goals is to increase cross-disciplinary collaborations in wildfire science here at the University of Arizona (UA), which motivated her and her advisor, Meredith Kupinski, to plan the Earth Dynamics Observatory Scientific Session on Wildfires back in May.

Clarissa is proud that the prestige of the NSF GRFP award can elevate her to be a stronger role model for other first-generation Latinas pursuing STEM degrees. Her interest in STEM began in high school and since then she has known that she wanted to be an engineer. Unfortunately, this meant she would have to get used to being one of the few females in her discipline and maybe the only Latina. When she began her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Montana State University, she was lucky enough to find some of the most supportive and encouraging friends, classmates, and professors. Clarissa also attributes her early career successes to her ability to just say “yes” to research and educational opportunities, even though they seemed intimidating. “Early on, saying yes to opportunities can be the best starting point. Many of the most impactful opportunities, the ones that have kept me on the track to becoming an engineer, have been those to which I said "yes" even though I was unsure of myself. This is how I discovered my passion for optics and what helped me determine the research I wanted to do.”

Along with her research, Clarissa also wants to elevate her fellow students from underrepresented backgrounds. She has started this work as the UA Women in Optics president through her Recognize, Inform, Support, and Elevate (R.I.S.E.) initiative, which she started in the fall of 2021. “R.I.S.E really came from practicing radical self-love. The change that R.I.S.E represents is what I need to feel welcomed in a space where mi gente (my people) have been historically excluded from. I not only want to represent Latinas in STEM, but actively try and make the path into STEM easier for future and current underrepresented students, in any way I can.” As you can imagine, none of this work is simple and I asked Clarissa if she had any advice for other Latinas breaking into disciplines where Latinas have been historically underrepresented.

“On the hard days when you can’t rest, put on your hoops and your red lipstick and remember tu eres hija de tu madre (you are your mother’s daughter) and try remembering the reason you chose to pursue this degree. Then breathe and keep going. ¡Échale ganas!”