Natalia Pajares

"There is no way to navigate life without teaching people and if I can positively influence just one person I’d be happy with that.” -Natalia Pajares, Doctoral Student, College of EngineeringNatalia Pajares is a graduate student in the College of Engineering pursuing her doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering (CHEMS department). Natalia is an international student originally from Spain. She said that her hometown was a city where everything was busy and close, and then she came here and felt that everything was quieter and further away. She says while she has had to adjust a lot from Spanish culture to the culture here, “change is important”. She first came to MSU as an undergraduate studying in Spain, where her home university had a collaboration thanks to Professor Boehlert in the department here at MSU. When asked why here, she responded with “why not?” Both Natalia and her partner David Hernández Escobar were selected to join the College of Engineering at MSU, and they decided to move here for their graduate education together. One of the hardest parts of studying at MSU for Natalia, is being away from her family. She talks to them daily via phone or text and is able to visit once per year. While she hopes to complete her degree in five years, she says one thing that makes it better is her advisor, who also identifies as a woman and an international scholar.

Dr. Xanthippi Chatzistavrou, Natalia’s advisor, came to MSU the same year as Natalia. “She and I started at the same time, I am her first graduate student and we’re both women. Some challenges that I see, she sees too,” says Natalia. Dr. Chatzistavrou’s work has allowed Natalia to get involved with a project she never imagined would be possible. Together with their lab, Dr. Chatzistavrou and Natalia are working on biomedical science research. “We are working with bioactive-glass particles that have antibacterial properties and allow tissue regrowth after infection or disease”, says Natalia. She shared that her advisor mentors her personally and professionally by serving as an excellent model. For example, she lets Natalia drive her project which means she gets to explore her own original ideas and collaborate with and learn from a lot of different people and units. She has worked with faculty in Microbiology (Hammer’s lab) and the Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering (IQ) at MSU as well as counterparts at the University of Michigan (Kansenson’s lab). Additionally, she is charged with assisting in leading the lab which includes setting up, managing supplies, training all the other scholars, managing safety, and developing the lab’s website.

For Natalia, her priority- no matter what she’s doing- is the people. “I think all of us are teachers – I don’t know if I want to be a professor- but it doesn’t matter where I end up I will always be a teacher. There is no way to navigate life without teaching people and if I can positively influence just one person I’d be happy with that,” she says. Because of her love for others and her desire to get to know people from a variety of backgrounds, Natalia tries to say “yes” to any opportunity that comes her way. In her first year, Natalia organized the first-ever volleyball team in her department. She was an elected officer of the CHEMS graduate student organization and currently serves as the College’s first Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Fellow. In the latter role, Natalia works to create spaces of support for other women in engineering- a field that is still dominated by men. “Being a woman in a male-dominated field- they [men] don’t realize how lucky they are. We have to work three times harder to seem legitimate,” says Natalia. She uses her personal experience to fuel her dedication to this role. Additionally, Natalia co-coordinates the SLOAN International Engineering group, which aims to support people in becoming the person they want to be through regular meetings, buddies, connections to resources, and fun outside of work. Lastly, Natalia has participated in the Graduate School Leadership Summit and Academy. “One of the things that I learned at the Leadership Academy,” she says, “is you need to inspire. And you can’t inspire everyone because everyone is different in their learning and personality. One needs to try to inspire them with things that motivate you.”

Originally written and photographed by Makena Neal, 2019