Latin American
Heritage Month
September 15 - October 15, 2024
Latin American Heritage Month Banner Raising
Date: Monday, September 16 (add it to your calendar)
Time: 10:15 - 10:45 am
Location: The Site office / building 65A, by the Lab's Flag Poles
Designed by LANA member and Creative Services Graphic Designer Eduardo de Ugarte, the banner features the LANA logo which represents the sun sign common across North, Central, and South America with the “rays” formed by hands, symbolizing community coming together. It is also decorated with flowers and chilies, common across Latin America, and the diamonds made up of rainbow triangles are a take-off from ancient wiphala used across indigenous peoples throughout the Andes.
Use the banner as your Zoom background! Download the image here or choose a country background
Cafecito y Chisme (Coffee and Conversation)
Bring your coffee and join LANA to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month. This will be a fun, social gathering to catch up, share stories, and possibly even play Lotería (bingo).
Dates:
Tuesday, 9/17, 10 - 11 am
Thursday, 10/3, 10 - 11 am
Tuesday, 10/8, 10 - 11 am
Monday, 10/14, 10 - 11 am
Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer, Ph.D. - The making of a scientist: Comunidad, Cultura, y Ciencia
Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024 (add to your calendar)
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Pacific Time
Join Us on Zoom
Introduction by: Blake Simmons, Ph.D. LANA Executive Sponsor and Division Director, Biological Systems & Engineering (BSE)
Bio: Dr. Mónica Feliú-Mójer is a bilingual science communicator who taps into her training (a PhD in neurobiology), personal background, and culture (a woman from a rural working-class community in Puerto Rico) to engage historically underserved and overlooked audiences, especially Puerto Ricans and other Spanish-speakers, with science. She has more than 17 years of experience in multimedia and inclusive science communication, community engagement, filmmaking, media relations, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Feliú-Mójer serves as Director of Public Engagement with Science for Ciencia Puerto Rico, Director of Inclusive Science Communication for the Science Communication Lab, and Producer for Wonder Collaborative. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication.
A Talk with Jorge Zamanillo, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino
Bio: Jorge Zamanillo is the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress established in December 2020. In legislation establishing the museum within the Smithsonian, Congress stated the purpose of the museum is “to illuminate the story of the United States for the benefit of all by featuring Latino contributions to the art, history and culture of the nation since its early history.”
While the Smithsonian evaluates possible locations for the new museum, Zamanillo is providing leadership and strategic direction for the museum. In addition, he is guiding the museum’s comprehensive plan to preserve, document, display/interpret and promote knowledge of U.S. Latino history, art and culture. Zamanillo and museum staff are also integrating and building on programs previously managed by the Smithsonian Latino Center and working on new museum collaborations, digital resources, exhibitions and fundraising. In June, the museum opened the Molina Family Latino Gallery, its first gallery dedicated to Latino history and culture, at the National Museum of American History.
Previously, Zamanillo was the executive director and CEO of HistoryMiami Museum. He joined the museum in 2000 as a curator and subsequently served in several leadership positions before becoming its director. As executive director and CEO of HistoryMiami, Zamanillo managed the daily operations of a museum with a $6.2 million budget. He also led a $45 million expansion project (2015–2016) that added and renovated a new museum building, more than doubling the size of the museum, and created four additional exhibition galleries.
Before joining HistoryMiami Museum, Zamanillo was an archaeologist at the non-profit cultural resource management firm Archaeological and Historical Conservancy Inc. in Miami. He currently serves as the chair of the board of directors of the American Alliance of Museums.
Born in New York City, Zamanillo grew up in Miami and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at Florida State University in Tallahassee and his master’s in museum studies at the University of Leicester in Leicester, England.
David Ricardo Quiroga Martínez, Ph.D. - Music in The Brain
Bio: David Ricardo Quiroga Martínez is a neuroscientist studying auditory working memory and imagination. He tries to understand how our brains can mentally hold and manipulate sounds, giving rise to our remarkable mind’s ear.
David uses a combination of invasive (intracranial EEG) and non-invasive (M/EEG) techniques to register the activity of the brain while people listen and imagine musical sound sequences. His hope is that these recordings will give us valuable clues about the neural mechanisms that allow auditory imagination, potentially leading to a better understanding of abnormal imagery in psychiatric disorders and applications in brain-computer interfaces.
Born in Colombia, David studied music at EAFIT University in Medellin and completed a PhD in music neuroscience at Aarhus University in Denmark. After a few years as a postdoc at UC Berkeley, he moved in the fall of 2024 to the University of Copenhagen to start a cognitive intracranial EEG research program there.
Past Events
September 15 - October 15, 2023
Date: Friday, Sept, 15th (add it to your calendar)
Time: 12 noon
Location: The Site office / building 65A, by the Lab's Flag Poles
Designed by LANA member and Creative Services Graphic Designer Eduardo de Ugarte, the banner features the LANA logo which represents the sun sign common across North, Central, and South America with the “rays” formed by hands, symbolizing community coming together. It is also decorated with flowers and chilies, common across Latin America, and the diamonds made up of rainbow triangles are a take-off from ancient wiphala used across indigenous peoples throughout the Andes.
Use the banner as your Zoom background! Download the image here or choose a country background
Cafecito y Chisme (Coffee and Conversation)
Dates:
Tuesdays, Sept 19, Sept 26, Oct 3, Oct 10 (add to your calendar)
Time: 10 - 11 am PT
Bring your coffee and join LANA to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month. This will be a fun, social gathering to catch up, share stories, and possibly even play Lotería (bingo).
A CLIMATE JOURNEY: A STORY FROM A CLIMATE DISASTER TO THE FIGHT FOR CLIMATE ACTION
Antonieta has spent her career making sure Latinos in the United States can access information impacting their community. First, as a Washington Correspondent for the White House and Congress and then as a national political correspondent, she covered key political issues for Latinos, such as immigration reform, health reform, and environmental justice. She has worked for La Opinion, Univision, and El Pais, among other renowned Hispanic and Latin American media. After more than 15 years in journalism, Antonieta joined Climate Power in 2020, driven by a personal experience as a survivor of an extreme weather event. In that capacity, she has led the Latino communications team driving the coverage of climate change in Latino media at the state and national levels. In 2023 she became deputy executive director for En Acción, a project of Climate Power dedicated to informing, reaching, and connecting Latinos with climate and the impact of a green economy.
Antonieta is the proud mother of two young boys. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband. She truly believes that change makes us better and that life is a journey where we never stop learning.
Where We Belong - Irma Herrera
Irma Herrera is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer and solo performer. Irma’s writings, including her solo play, "Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?" explore themes of identity and the many ways in which ethnic and racial group members claim their rightful place in the United States. Her one-woman show has been enthusiastically received by audiences throughout the county.
Before turning her focus to writing, Irma spent three decades as a civil rights lawyer. At MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, she was a Staff Attorney and later the Director of Educational Programs. The proud feminista, served almost 15 years as the Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, advancing the interests of women and girls. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, she spent two years in rural Washington State representing Spanish-speaking farmworkers.
As a lawyer, she had the privilege of working on issues that one reads and hears about in the news. Among them were two United States Supreme Court cases. In Plyler v. Doe, the court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees all children access to a free K-12 public education, regardless of their immigration status. Although the Supreme Court reversed the largest class action in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, this lawsuit brought many changes that improved pay and advancement opportunities for women at Walmart, the largest non-government employer in the country.
Irma has also worked as a journalist and written about race, class, gender, and culture. Her articles have appeared in publications that include the NY Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Lawyer, and Ms. Magazine.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Distinction Award, the highest honor given by the American Bar Association’s Commission of Women in the Profession. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Oakland-based Public Interest Law Project (PILP) and the Board of Trustees of the van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation.
September 15 - October 15, 2022
Date: Thursday, Sept, 15th (add it to your calendar)
Time: 12 noon
Location: The Site office / building 65A, by the Lab's Flag Poles
Designed by LANA member and Creative Services Graphic Designer Eduardo de Ugarte, the banner features the LANA logo which represents the sun sign common across North, Central and South America with the “rays” formed by hands, symbolizing community coming together. It is also decorated with flowers and chilies, common across Latin America and the diamonds made up of rainbow triangles are a take-off from ancient wiphala used across indigenous peoples throughout the Andes.
Use the banner as your Zoom background! Download the image here.
Chisme y Cafecito (Talk & Coffee time)
Dates: Tuesdays, Sept 20, Sept 27, Oct 4, Oct 11 (add it to your calendar)
Time: 2 - 3 pm PT
Bring your coffee and join LANA to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month. This will be a fun, social gathering to catch up, share stories and possibly even play loteria (bingo).
What Flying an Airplane Upside Down Taught Me About Data Science - Dr. Cecilia Aragon
Date: Wednesday, September 28 (add it to your calendar)
Time: 12 noon - 1 pm PT
In this talk Cecilia Aragon describes her journey from extremely fearful daughter of immigrants to daredevil airshow pilot — and then to using supercomputers to solve some of the greatest mysteries of the universe. She’ll present examples from a 30-year career in aviation, astrophysics, and data science, and talk about how using math to face her fears enabled her to become the first Latina pilot on the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team. She scaffolded that courage to build a career in data science, developing the new field of human-centered data science, and becoming the first Latina to achieve the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in its 100-year history.
Bio:
Dr. Cecilia Aragon is an award-winning author, former US Unlimited Aerobatic Team pilot, former staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and currently data science professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. She’s worked with Nobel Prize winners, taught astronauts to fly, and created musical simulations of the universe with rock stars. Her innovative research, and a stint at NASA designing software for Mars missions, led President Obama to call her “one of the top scientists and engineers in the country.”
Aragon earned her BS with honors in mathematics from Caltech and her PhD in computer science from UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on human-centered data science, an emerging field at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and data science. She has authored or co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed articles, 3 books, 4 patents, and over 140 other publications in the areas of HCI, data science, machine learning, and astrophysics. Her research has received over $28M in grants from government, industry, and private foundations.
Aragon received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the US government on outstanding scientists in the early stages of their careers. She is a 2017-18 Fulbright Scholar and a Distinguished Member of the ACM. In 2015, she received the HCDE Faculty Innovator in Research Award from the University of Washington. She won the Distinguished Alumni Award in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 2013, the student-nominated Faculty Innovator in Teaching Award from her department at UW that same year, and was named one of the Top 25 Women of 2009 by Hispanic Business Magazine. In addition to her love of math and science, she’s passionate about helping others face their own fears and challenges to achieve their goals.
Her award-winning memoir, Flying Free, shares how she used math to break past her own fears and become a champion aerobatic pilot — and how facing her fear of flying enabled her to succeed in a STEM career. It debuted on five bestseller lists and is a TODAY Show and Hip Latina Recommended Read. Her book Writers in the Secret Garden, the subject of her recent TED talk which received over a million views in three months, takes a close look at the fascinating world of fanfiction to explore how young people express themselves. Her latest book, Human-Centered Data Science (2022), is an accessible guide to best practices for addressing bias and inequality in data science and artificial intelligence. Learn more at CeciliaAragonAuthor.com
DACAmented? A Fireside Chat Celebrating Resilience
Date: Thursday, October 6 (add it to your calendar)
Time: 1 - 2 pm PT
Join Virgginnia Buccioni-Hillmann and Tonatiuh Ramos for a fireside chat and honest conversation about their daily experiences as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients or undocumented folks.
Bio:
Virgginnia is a DEI and talent acquisition professional based in the Bay Area with a proven record of building and improving processes that help companies find the right talent when they need it as well as coaching candidates on career and interviewing best practices. Her journey has given her a well-rounded background in acquiring talent across many industries, including tech, non-profit, government relations, and international organizations while keeping a DEI lens and contributing towards an equitable workforce. Her current mission is to positively disrupt and improve startups’ strategies in hiring to make them streamlined and comprehensive, as well as including Diversity and Inclusion practices to empower companies with top-notch talent from underrepresented communities. This mission encouraged her to pursue many ventures from becoming a founding partner at a talent tech company, to being an advisor to Dreamers In Tech, to public speaking to empower under-represented groups, and especially women on getting to the salary they deserve, interview, and career coaching, as well as advising companies on the importance of under-represented communities and women in Tech. Virgginnia has a business administration and political science background, and in her free time she enjoys surfing, yoga, and hiking with her Goldendoodle puppy.
Tonatiuh Ramos is a Web Designer and Developer with a background in Software Engineering, a Member-Owner of Radiate Consulting Bay Area, a cooperative, and previous lead of Dreamers in Tech. Tonatiuh works with non-profit organizations and start-ups, bringing leadership and analytical thinking to initiatives, projects, and programs. As an advisor, Tonatiuh works with non-profits and educational institutions to find creative solutions for the professional development of the undocumented community. Tonatiuh’s personal mission is to propel the professional advancement of undocumented individuals through networking, collaboration, coaching, and entrepreneurship.
September 15 - October 15, 2021
Designed by LANA member and Creative Services Graphic Designer Eduardo de Ugarte, the banner features the LANA logo which represents the sun sign common across North, Central and South America with the “rays” formed by hands, symbolizing community coming together. It is also decorated with flowers and chilies, common across Latin America and the diamonds made up of rainbow triangles are a take-off from ancient wiphala used across indigenous peoples throughout the Andes.
Use the banner as your Zoom background! Download the image here.
September 15, 4 - 5 pm - Latin American Heritage Month Kick Off Event
Join the LANA Steering Committee for a little community building and an overview of this month's events.
September 22, 12 -1 pm - The Accidental Mathematician: Advice on Succeeding as a Minority in STEM-Land - Juan Meza, Ph.D. Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of California, Merced
Juan C. Meza is currently serving as the Division Director at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Mathematical Sciences. Prior to this position, he served as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of California, Merced. As the Dean, he served as the primary executive officer for the School of Natural Sciences and was responsible for establishing a vision and strategy for the School; recruiting, retaining, and supporting talented faculty; enhancing the academic profile and scholarly impact of the School; and advancing diversity in all academic and administrative areas. Juan also holds a position as Professor of Applied Mathematics, where his current research interests include nonlinear optimization with an emphasis on methods for parallel computing.
September 30, 10 -11 am - Cafecito
Bring your coffee and join LANA to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month. This will be a fun, social gathering to catch up, share stories and play loteria (bingo).
October 7, 12 - 1 pm - Collaboration with the Community for the Advancement of Latinos at DOE (CALDOE)
The Community for the Advancement of Latinos at the Department of Energy, CALDOE, works in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. CALDOE is a voluntary membership organization that aims to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion through continual learning. It provides opportunities to the Hispanic/Latino community by expanding agency outreach and services, serves as a link between Latino/Hispanic employees and senior management, and connects a diverse array of backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences to the Department’s key decision-makers
October 12, 10 -11 am - Cafecito
Bring your coffee and join LANA to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month. This will be a fun, social gathering to catch up, share stories and play loteria (bingo).
October 14, 5:30 - 6:30 - Groove Lounge
In collaboration with the Latin American & Native American (LANA) Employee Resource Group, the Groove Lounge is back for an evening of Latin themed music.
Join us on Zoom: https://streaming.lbl.gov/
