PHOTOGRAPH: PETER GOLDBERG.
“ We realized, hey, there’ s some actual need here, and people are responding to it positively. Let’ s use that to keep growing.”
including the launch party, in February, for the children’ s book they wrote to get Caribbean kids excited about science and give them role models.
La Exploradora Científica( The Scientific Explorer) is“ about this little girl that hates science, and then discovers the world around her and asks questions and figures out,‘ Oh, I love actually doing this, and I didn’ t realize it was science,’” Ortiz Alvarez says.“ We’ ve donated hundreds of books to different schools, and we’ ve been doing readings across Puerto Rico.”
In their last year at Brown, Ortiz Alvarez co-founded Brown for Science Diplomacy to bring together graduate students interested in science policy, communication, and advocacy. The group organized a food drive in response to federal cuts to SNAP benefits. Before Thanksgiving, they hosted a talk for students on how to explain their research to their family members— and how to respectfully disagree about politics. On Earth Day, they invited the public to an event at the John Hay Library about birds in Brown’ s archives, which drew local birders.
And in April, Ortiz Alvarez defended their dissertation.“ I had 100-plus people show up between in person and Zoom,” they say, including their dad, who flew in from Puerto Rico, and their mom watching back home.“ She was on Zoom with my dog and her partner holding the dog up to the camera, like he’ s listening too,” Ortiz Alvarez says.“ I had to move the monitor a little away because I’ m like, you’ re making me cry right now.”
The defense was a success, not only for Ortiz Alvarez the researcher— the committee approved their dissertation— but for Ortiz Alvarez the communicator. Non-scientist friends in the audience told them afterwards,“‘ I understood everything you said.’ I was so happy,” they say.“ That was my main goal, since it’ s open to the public, for it to be actually accessible to the public.”
Belenky says that by demystifying scientific research so that anyone, of any age, can understand, Ortiz Alvarez encourages broader public interest, and even future scientists.“ Science is scary and confusing until you do it, and then, after you’ ve done it, it feels like, oh, well, this is obvious. This is how I solve all my daily problems. And if you don’ t have that formative experience, then science remains scary and confusing,” he says.
After graduating from Brown in May— and addressing their peers as the doctoral commencement ceremony’ s student speaker— Ortiz Alvarez returned to Puerto Rico to write for the daily newspaper El Nuevo Día as an AAAS Mass Media Science Fellow. They also continued working with Ciencia Pa’ Todes, and plan to write a second children’ s book.
“ I think [ writing the first book ] activated such a different part of my brain, and it’ s been so rewarding because, especially at the launch event that we had children there, you could see them pointing at the little pictures and saying,‘ Oh, this is so fun, I do this too.’ It was a special kind of connection with the community that I think is the best part about it,” they say.
Belenky, their dissertation adviser, does not lament a loss to the research world if Ortiz Alvarez chooses a career in science communication over one in a lab.“ They would be great at either,” he says.“ I think the world’ s winning either way.” HD @ B cienciapatodes. org
22 HEALTH DISCOVERIES @ BROWN l FALL 2026