Jacqueline Palacios
The content of this news item has been machine translated and may contain some inaccuracies with respect to the original content published in Spanish.
How can we approach science in a didactic way and stop seeing it with fear? Through workshops, talks, events, international courses and training for teachers, Fiorella Olivera, a graduate of the Masters in Chemistry at PUCP, has been in charge of finding new methodologies to achieve this.
Fiorella is 32 years old, she studied chemistry at Cayetano Heredia University and did her master's degree at our university. Since 2018, she is president of the ACS Peru Chapter, an association in charge of promoting science in Peru and training science communicators. This association is the Peruvian chapter of the American Chemical Society, i.e. its division in our country.
Graduate of the Master in Chemistry PUCP and president of the ACS Peru Chapter.
Due to her great work as a science communicator, she was awarded at the Fourth CME (Chemical Marketing & Economics) Symposium organised by NASA. The award was given by the CME, an organisation that supports activities that promote understanding of science and rewards achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Fiorella currently lives in Mexico, where she runs the various workshops she leads with the ACS Peru Chapter. She was planning to travel to Atlanta, USA, where the award ceremony was to take place, but the increase in COVID-19 cases in the country made it impossible for her to do so. The ceremony was held on 24 August and was virtual.
His interest in science started at an early age, when he was at school. "I had a teacher who not only taught you chemistry as an exercise, but also to see what you could do with this career, what the impact was in society and in different areas," he recalls.
The methodology of seeing science in this way, with curiosity and practicality, was what inspired her to want to dedicate herself to science as an adult. For this reason, one of the pillars of her work is to be able to offer educational workshops to young people, teenagers and children, so that they have the opportunity to approach science in this way.
"I feel that the work of the teacher is very important to be able to motivate a taste for science. It is very important for a teacher to be well trained and well motivated in the importance of science," he says.
Asked before what it means to her to be the only woman in her family to have studied chemistry, Fiorella pauses to think about it and honestly believes that it makes her no better or worse a professional than her relatives.
"I consider that I bring as much to the table as the careers in my family. I don't feel very different being the only woman who studied science. My cousins have studied engineering. My mum is an economist. My dad is a policeman. I don't consider myself different," she says.
For her, her work as a communicator goes beyond her gender or her career, it is something she believes can be achieved from any corner.
He recalls how, at an event at Cayetano Heredia University, his father helped him in a workshop for children on citizen participation and science. "Although the police are not related to science, he wanted the children to learn science in the workshops, even though it was not part of his world," she says.
Through the workshops and talks that he gives with ACS Peru Chapter, he reinforces his idea of the importance of children and young people having access to science free of charge. Therefore, in this context of health emergency, together with a team of young volunteers from Lima, Cusco and Junín, he gives free virtual workshops, science festivals and scientific meetings.
"Too few young people are attracted to science. There is work to be done. Young people need more motivation, and it is important that it is free, accessible and of good quality," he says.
He firmly believes that the work of the science populariser is crucial, as it allows a particular society to access scientifically sound information based on their needs. He hopes that this recognition will open new doors for more people interested in bringing science closer to the people and making it useful for them.
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