PINOY PRIDE
One outstanding Filipino scientist from recent years would be Reina Reyes. She is a physicist whose story can serve as an inspiration to both Filipinos and those who aspire to pursue a career the scientific field.
After her time in the Philippine Science High School and her graduation from Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Physics, Reyes earned her master’s degree at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. After doing so, she eventually got accepted in Princeton University’s Department of Astrophysics, and this became a venue for her impact in the scientific community. Going into further detail, Reyes was featured on numerous headlines for conducting a groundbreaking observational test of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, wherein she and her group analyzed data from over 70,000 galaxies. Through doing this, they found out that the galaxies are clustered and grouped together across the universe, exactly as Einstein’s theory has stated.
Reyes did not only gain recognition abroad, but in the Philippines as well. According to her, as scientific media coverage does not usually make it to the Philippines, those circumstances became a contributing factor to her decision to return to the country, and share her knowledge with the community. Reina founded a blog entitled, “Pinoy Scientists,” which aims to shine a light on various Filipino scientists, and their contributions to their respective fields. After pursuing various data analytic jobs, she also became the host of “Science Says,” a program on Filipino television. In this particular show, she explains various scientific concepts, and also performs numerous experiments related to inertia and many other concepts, as a means to educate the youth on science, even at a young age.
After reading her story, I believe that her work is something that should be shared to many other people, both locally and abroad, as such reminds us that individuals can reach success and make an impact just as big as other internationally renowned scientists, through constant dedication.