By César R. Candelario Febles | El Nuevo Día
Mónica Feliú Mójer, Director of Public Engagement with Science at the Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) collective, was selected as a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in recognition of her contributions to research, education, and science communication.
“For me, it's important to use that privilege, that influence, and that access – which these kinds of recognitions can grant – to continue advancing my mission of putting science in service of Puerto Rico and of communities that are marginalized in science,” she said to El Nuevo Día via phone from California, where she lives.
With the recognition from the Academy – announced this past Tuesday – Feliú Mójer, along with 13 other colleagues from various disciplines, joined a network of nearly 500 distinguished scientists in the United States. In a press release, Shannon Bennett, Dean of Science and Research Collections at the Academy, highlighted that the contributions of the new members "are at the forefront of biodiversity science and are paving the way for future generations of scientists, educators, and storytellers."
Among other things, Feliú Mójer leads community programs at CienciaPR that aim to benefit marginalized communities, heads the science communication collaboration between the collective and El Nuevo Día, and is producer and co-host of Jueves de Ciencia Boricua, a segment broadcast on Radio Isla.
She shared that her main interest in science was to study medicine – she has a Ph.D. in Neurobiology – but it wasn’t until she volunteered with CienciaPR that she discovered she could combine science with writing and communication, two of her passions.
“The support of many people and various communities has been crucial to reaching where I am. Although it’s common in science that, oftentimes, recognition is given to individuals, science is truly a collective enterprise, and science is done in community,” she emphasized, underscoring that one of her main goals is to bring knowledge closer to vulnerable communities.
