 |
| Rachel with students shortly after winning the Ellbogen teaching award in 2011 |
Rachel Watson graduated with top honors from the University of Denver, receiving the
Best Chemistry Undergraduate award. She had spent years working in a lab,
gaining invaluable experience as a researcher studying metalloenzymes (proteins
that function as enzymes) using electron paramagnetic resonance. She could have
been accepted into almost any graduate school she wanted. The path towards
becoming a bench top scientist lay before her feet, but she turned away from
this opportunity and hasn’t looked back.
“I was
terrified of a life like that,” Rachel says, reflecting on the principal
investigators of the lab she worked in during her undergraduate years. “Maybe
partly because I couldn’t find my own personal passion in the kind of work the
PIs were doing.”
Rachel found
her passion while in graduate school at the University of Wyoming. Two years
into her PhD, she started working with the Upward Bound and Math-Science
Initiative programs in the summer, and her life took an unexpected turn.
“I had no
thought that I would ever want to be a teacher until I stepped into that
classroom in the summer and fell in love with it,” Rachel says. “I just knew
that I would spend the rest of my life as a teacher and that I would never step
out of a classroom, no matter what I was teaching.”
Rachel
finished her master’s degree, but rather than continue towards her PhD, she
began teaching anything and everything she could. Today, Rachel is an Academic
Professional Lecturer in Molecular Biology at UW where she teaches, works on research
about education and co-coaches the UW Nordic ski team.
Since her
undergraduate years, Rachel has thought and written a lot about women in
science and why many women do not stay in these fields. It’s one of her
passions and something she carries with her in her work with students.
“There has
been a lot of writing about why women don’t stay in science and I think a lot
of it misses the boat,” Watson says.
The biggest
problem Rachel sees is the way that science as an institution and a process,
work. Both try to be incredibly objective and in doing so, the human aspect and
emotional aspect of science are removed. Women, in general, need these aspects,
because they look for the ways that they are impacting people’s lives; they look
for the overall meaning their work has for society.
“That kind
of disengagement of the human aspect from the science is really unfulfilling,” Rachel
says.
In her
classes, Rachel works to provide this type of engagement.
“One of the
biggest parts of my job is turning people on to science, but also at the same
time letting them know that there is many more than one way to be a scientist,”
Watson says. “Students need to see how what they do matters in the world. If I
can relate what each student loves already to microbiology then I can show them
that it actually matters in their lives.”
 |
| At the University Games in Erszerum, Turkey in 2011 |
Athletes on
the Nordic team regularly experience how science impacts their passion for
skiing as Rachel talks with them about metabolism, physical activity and
intellectual capacity. Science helps to explain the relationship between
metabolism and physical activity, but it also shows that physical activity
supports intellectual capacity to form a positive relationship.
“The two are
a beautiful synergy really,” Watson says. “For me, I’m able to work out every
day with no guilt about leaving my job because I’m not really leaving it. It’s
all just a part of my job and I stay fit and happy too. I think that makes me a
better teacher.”
On the wall
in her office, Rachel has a collage of thank you cards. It’s her most prized
possession and speaks to her dedication to her students.
“That is
what gets me up in the morning,” Rachel says. “The students are unquestionably
the best part of my job. They inspire me every day.”
At the
beginning of her career, Watson was unsure of where her passions stood. Today,
there is no doubt about what inspires her and energizes her. Her passions and
dedication are clear in everything she does. She keeps her classrooms learner
centered, to support and encourage the scientists of tomorrow.
“Always put
that which matters most at the heart of all you do. There are many ways to
achieve the synergy of passion and career,” Rachel
advises all students.
By Kali S. McCrackin
Photos courtesy of Rachel Watson
No comments:
Post a Comment