Un Neurocientífico: Mis errores, Mi aventura, Mi vida: the First WHS PIzza Talk in Spanish

Introduction<br>Short talks by scientists about their personal journeys into science help young people consider ways they could become a scientist themselves. The NSF-funded Brandeis University Materials Research Science Engineering Center (MRSEC) has an ongoing partnership with Waltham Public Schools to help increase awareness of science research happening at Brandeis and to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM. 41.9% of students at Waltham High School are Hispanic or Latino, and many speak Spanish as their first language. One successful outreach initiative developed through this partnership is the “Science Pizza Talk Series.” The talks in that series are given by scientists at Waltham High School (WHS) about their personal journeys into science and are intended to inspire students to study science. While the talks are widely attended by diverse English-speaking audiences, they remain inaccessible to the population of Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. To help connect with those students, a previous speaker in this series, Raul Ramos, was asked to deliver his Science Pizza Talk in Spanish. The Brandeis MRSEC is devoted to increasing diversity and supports efforts to reach Spanish-speaking students who could become interested in science. <br><br>Methods<br>This series has been described previously in the SciLinkReport, “How and Why I Became a Biologist: WHS Science Pizza Talks.” In brief, a biology high school teacher coordinates with a Brandeis staff person to advertise the talk to students. Pizzas are provided by the Brandeis team. The speaker, Raul Ramos, is a Chicano, born and raised on the US-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas. He overcame several juvenile arrests, expulsion, and minimal science education to become a neuroscience Ph.D. candidate at one of the top neuroscience programs in the country. He discusses this personal journey and his research regarding the neurobiology of learning and memory. <br><br>Results<br>The talk was attended by ~100 students, teachers and WHS principal. It was filmed and later posted to YouTube: https://youtu.be/AOHS2etYJJ4. While short assessments are usually done after talks in this series, they were not done for this talk because the form was prepared in English. However, when the talk was done, multiple teachers sent emails asking if Brandeis could offer more Spanish Science Pizza Talks in the future. Students have also reached out to Raul by email to ask for more information and advice about science careers. <br><br>Discussion<br>This talk was well received by all involved, and so some of the future Science Pizza Talks will be delivered in Spanish. The translated form will be used to collect student feedback about the talks. <br><br>

引言
科学家分享自身投身科研的心路历程的简短演讲，能够帮助青少年思考自身成为科研工作者的可行路径。由美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation, NSF）资助的布兰迪斯大学材料研究科学与工程中心（Materials Research Science & Engineering Center, MRSEC），长期与沃尔瑟姆公立学校开展合作，旨在提升公众对布兰迪斯大学科研工作的认知，并扩大科学、技术、工程与数学（Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, STEM）领域中代表性不足群体的参与度。沃尔瑟姆高中（Waltham High School, WHS）有41.9%的学生为西班牙裔或拉丁裔，其中多数以西班牙语为母语。通过本次合作开发的一项成功科普推广项目便是“科学披萨演讲系列（Science Pizza Talk Series）”。该系列演讲由沃尔瑟姆高中的科研工作者分享自身投身科研的心路历程，旨在激励学生投身科学学习。尽管该系列演讲吸引了多元英语背景听众的广泛参与，但对于以西班牙语为母语的英语学习者群体而言，仍无法获取相关内容。为了对接该群体学生，该系列此前的一位演讲者劳尔·拉莫斯（Raul Ramos）受邀以西班牙语完成了他的科学披萨演讲。布兰迪斯大学MRSEC始终致力于提升科研领域的多样性，并支持面向西班牙语母语学生的科普推广工作，助力他们对科学产生兴趣。

研究方法
该系列此前已在《SciLink报告》（SciLinkReport）的《我如何以及为何成为生物学家：沃尔瑟姆高中科学披萨演讲》一文中进行过介绍。简言之，由一名高中生物教师与布兰迪斯大学工作人员协作，面向学生宣传该演讲活动，披萨由布兰迪斯大学团队提供。本次演讲者劳尔·拉莫斯是一名奇卡诺人（美国墨西哥裔族群），在美国与墨西哥边境的得克萨斯州拉雷多市出生并长大。他曾多次年少被捕、被学校开除，且早年接受的科学教育有限，但最终成为全美顶尖神经科学项目之一的神经科学博士研究生。他在演讲中分享了自身的心路历程，以及其关于学习与记忆神经生物学的研究内容。

研究结果
本次演讲共有约100名学生、教师及沃尔瑟姆高中校长参与。活动全程录制，并随后上传至YouTube平台：https://youtu.be/AOHS2etYJJ4。尽管该系列演讲通常会在活动结束后开展简短的效果评估，但本次并未进行，原因是评估表格仅准备了英文版本。不过在演讲结束后，多名教师通过邮件询问布兰迪斯大学未来是否可增设西班牙语场次的科学披萨演讲。此外还有学生通过邮件联系劳尔·拉莫斯，咨询科研职业相关的更多信息与建议。

讨论
本次演讲获得了所有参与者的一致好评，因此未来部分科学披萨演讲将采用西班牙语进行。届时将使用翻译后的评估表格，收集学生对演讲的反馈意见。