Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.
Matsuri Rojano-Nisimura
Biochemistry PhD Candidate @ UT Austin
Matsuri became involved with Girlstart after hearing of her friend’s experiences with us. Wanting to make a difference and get more girls interested in STEM, she quickly joined us! We are so thankful to have her speaking about her journey getting a PhD in Biochemistry!
Briefly describe your career/field.
Microorganisms are able to live in many sorts of environments like soil, rocks, oceans and even inside our body (and they sometimes make us sick). They adapt to their environment by using a specific set of instructions called genes that are contained in every living cell. My research tries to study how bacteria decide which instructions to follow, or which genes to use, and what strategies they employ to use different sets of genes depending on the conditions of their environment.
What are your favorite things about your field?
One of my favorite things is being able to ask new questions and test my ideas in the lab. I like being able to imagine new experiments and carry them out to see an outcome. Even when experiments don’t always work out, it is challenging and exciting to think about what could have gone wrong or why it did not work as I expected.
Did any specific person or program influence your decision to pursue STEM?
My mom and dad are both clinical chemists. Growing up I would watch them go into the lab each day and help people. I decided I wanted to contribute and be a scientist like them.
What would you like to tell girls who are interested in a STEM career?
Let your imagination run and don’t be afraid to express your ideas!
Why do you think confidence in STEM important for girls?
A lot of what we do as researchers involves questioning and putting your own ideas out for discussion. I think girls in STEM must be extremely confident and believe in themselves because their ideas are, in the end, what will generate the next scientific breakthrough.
