In a ceremonial session, the Mexico City Congress awarded the 2021 Medal of Merit in Science, named for Mario Molina for the first time. Awarded by three women: Giulietta Fierro Gusman, in the category of projects and creative works in the technological field; Maria Esperanza Martinez Romero in the Scientific Research category and Dr. Fabiola Aceves Diaz on behalf of her husband, Dr. Rafael Navarro Gonzalez for their discoveries, contributions and proposals in the field of astrobiology.
“What a thrill to be here! “Thank you for honoring me in this way,” said Dr. Giulietta Fierro, who was visibly moved and was wearing her medal. He also mentioned how his grandfather was a legislator at the same Synod of Doncelles. “He proceeded to this place, at the end of the revolution, and my father was telling many tales, which is why being in this place is so special to me.”
He thanked the Science, Technology and Innovation Committee at the Capital Conference for considering the dissemination of science as one of the areas to be awarded. “I am delighted that this award bears the name of Mario Molina, and coincides with fellow award winners Rafael Navarro, who has searched for life on Mars, and Esperanza Martinez, who gives ‘hope’ for crops more resistant to global change.”
Fierro Gusman concluded his speech by addressing the legislators: “I envy you for embarking on a pioneering city, full of talent. Bravo! I’d like to give them a star or a galaxy, but it would be hard, what I leave them with is stardust,” so she invited them by throwing chocolates at the lawmakers, who They said goodbye with a standing ovation.
Rafael Navarro’s findings continue to change history
On behalf of Dr. Rafael Navarro Gonzalez, who passed away in January 2021, his widow, Dr. Fabiola Aceves Diaz, has received this recognition.
“I am so excited, I never imagined it, I have always gone with Raphael to receive awards all over the world, Austria, India, the United States, we have always been so excited, but there is no doubt that the awards given by your country taste like glory.”, Take part in an interview.
She said she was so grateful, “I really loved the session, I learned a lot, in a symbolic place, and receiving appreciation for my husband is like never before (…) Today Rafael is celebrating and celebrating!”
She promised to carry on her husband’s legacy: “I want to be a force for boys and girls in Mexico to succeed and make their dreams come true. Rafael had a very kind phrase, and it was ‘Dare to dream'”, meaning to move on. Rafael and I had so many dreams that working in Mexico we could To do a lot.”
Regarding Navarro Gonzalez’s investigations, Fabiola Aceves emphasized that it is extraordinary to see that nearly ten years after the Curiosity robot reached the surface of Mars, her husband’s discoveries continue to change history. “I come to witness what my husband did and I will follow his legacy, trying to continue what he did with my children, the family is the most important thing to us.”
He has been married for 36 years, and confirmed that they are very happy, “When he left I didn’t ask God why, but why, this answer is what I’m working on.”
In turn, Dr. Esperanza Martinez explained: “I do not need to convince you (legislators) of science, the ones we have to convince are the children and youth of Mexico, so that one day we will have another Mario Molina, Julieta Fierro and Rafael Navarro. There are extraordinary developments but we still have a lot to learn. (…) I hope we can learn more to make better decisions and have more ways to solve humanity’s problems.”
More women doing science
Leveraging her voice, Representative Daniela Alvarez Camacho of the Parliamentary Assembly of Citizens has highlighted women’s participation in science.
“I am filled with emotion that there are three women in Congress today, who will be recipients of the Medal of Scientific Merit, and although Dr. Fabiola Aceves Diaz received it on behalf of her husband, Dr. Rafael Navarro Gonzalez, I doubt that all three are women who have excelled in sciences, a discipline that has historically been dominated by men.”
“We know that science is fundamental to our lives, but today more than that, we need science from a gender perspective,” she said. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Women declared that women represent only a third of researchers in the world; Although female researchers in Latin America rank second in participation, with participation rates close to 50%, in Mexico, unfortunately, 37%.
“You are an example of women’s gradual access to science which in the last 10 years has grown by 40%; despite this growth, today in our country only 4 out of 10 women who enter higher education do so in STEM-related occupations, the most Of that, only 13.5% manage to complete and graduate from these jobs,” she said.
Alvarez Camacho added that science was undervalued for many years, even in periods when it was rejected, but this story took a 180-degree turn to now propose science as the center of decisions. “We know that many of the answers we seek and need to understand and address common problems lie in science.”
The official session was also attended by Juan Luis Diaz de Leon Santiago, represented by Rosora Ruiz Gutierrez, President of the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Mexico City, and Luis Molina, brother of the Mexican Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
It is the first time that this award has been awarded in the name of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Mario Molina Pasquale y Enriquez.
After putting the various political forces represented at the local conference on the podium, the Chair of the Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, Christian Moctezuma Gonzalez, stated that the Medal of Merit in Science honors the great scientist Mario Molina and seeks to maintain interest in science for the benefit of humanity
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