Elisa Ruiz-Tada

PhD, Biomedicine, University of Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
Masters, Cognitive Science and Language, University of Barcelona (Spain)
Masters of Science, Animal Biology, Leiden University, (The Netherlands)
Bachelor of Science, Zoology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa (United States)

My academic career has not been a straight forward one. While studying Zoology (with a focus in Marine Biology) for my undergraduate degree, I became more interested in animal communication, so I received a masters in Animal Biology studying bird song and fish hearing. However, while doing my masters, I became more interested in human language and social communication so after another masters, and through the PhD, I studied psycholinguistics and cognitive sciences. Specifically, I’m interested in the interaction between who someone is (e.g. their gender, race, age) and how they talk (e.g. what language they speak, their accents) in how we “see” them. During my studies in the sciences, I’ve also become interested in the careers of women and minorities in the STEM fields.

Working and studying with diverse people of different nationalities, races, genders, sexualities, religions, class... Afteand considering the ways in which these intersecting identities have shaped the way the world works has been one of the most powerful, valuable, fulfilling and eye opening experiences in both my acaemic and personal life. As a young scientist, I foolishly believed these were trivial matters in the pursuit of empirical data, but I was quickly proven wrong once I stepped outside of my small comfort zone.
Sharing different viewpoints has expanded my understanding of my own research field and has given me countless memories with friends and colleagues that I will treasure forever. I wish all students can experience the same, and would encourage everyone to pursue studying in an international and diverse environment, whether abroad or at home.