Deborah Berebichez is a Mexican physicist, data scientist, TV host, educator and entrepreneur who dedicates her career to promoting education in science, technology, engineering and math (

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

) fields. She was the first Mexican woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in physics from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. She has developed models for cellular wave transmission which are in the process of being patented. Sometimes known as "The Science Babe", she appears in mainstream television and radio segments where she explains concepts in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

in everyday life.

Education

According to Berebichez, she was a curious girl, good at math and science and dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Growing up as a girl in a conservative community, she felt discouraged from pursuing a career in science. Despite being more interested in physics, she started studying philosophy and completed the first two years of university in Mexico City while secretly applying to schools in the US, after having heard that they allowed students to complete several majors. She is Jewish. After passing an advanced placement test, she was accepted for a Wien scholarship at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in Massachusetts where she at first continued her studies in philosophy. Here, she encountered her first science course, an intro-course to Astronomy and in her senior year she decided she needed give physics a try. Inspired by

Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the sc ...

's previous switch from history to physics, she was allowed to switch from philosophy to physics and to skip the first two years of the physics major after passing a test in

vector calculus Vector calculus or vector analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in three-dimensional Euclidean space, \mathbb^3. The term ''vector calculus'' is sometimes used as a ...

. After studying math and physics over the summer for 12 hours each day she passed the test. In the end, she completed the four years physics curriculum in two years and graduated from Brandeis ''summa cum laude'' with highest honors in physics and philosophy. After Brandeis, she returned to Mexico where she completed a master's in physics. She won a merit-based full scholarship from the Mexican government and went on to complete a PhD in physics from Stanford in 2004. While at Stanford, she worked with Nobel laureate

Steven Chu Steven Chu and co-created the Association for the Advancement of Women in Physics with another female student. It was through her interviews with professors, that she discovered that she was going to become the first woman from Mexico to earn a PhD in physics from Stanford.

Career

Outrageous Acts of Thinking-Berebichez - NECSS 2015

After completing her PhD, Berebichez was a post-doctoral researcher first at Columbia University's Applied Math and Physics Department and later at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

's Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Dr. Berebichez has written scholarly articles on the subject of altering the structural design of optical, mechanical and electrical systems in order to prevent signal transmission loss due to wave scattering. She is a member of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

. Berebichez is the Chief Data Scientist at Metis, a leading

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...

training provider. At Metis she leads the creation and growth of data science training opportunities, including bootcamps, corporate training, professional development, and online programs. She is an active contributor to the national data science ecosystem through public speaking, presentations, and panels at data science conferences and has appeared as a guest expert on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

and

Nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

. Previously, she worked on Wall Street as an equity risk analyst for MSCI Barra and as the Vice President of Risk Analytics at

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

. Since 2012, Berebichez has been featured in the television show "You Have Been Warned" (a.k.a. " Outrageous Acts of Science") on

The Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manuf ...

. She co-starred in

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

's Humanly Impossible from 2011. In her "Science Babe" web video project, she explains everyday scientific phenomena and principles of physics in plain language, such as "The Physics of High Heels". She is a John C. Whitehead Fellow at the

Foreign Policy Association The Foreign Policy Association (FPA, formerly known as the League of Free Nations Association) is an American non-profit foreign policy organization. According to the FPA, the organization aims to spread global awareness and understanding of US f ...

, a winner of the

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. Their objective was to form a National organization of professional engineers to serv ...

(SHPE) STAR Award and a recipient for Top Latina Tech Blogger by the Association of Latinos in Social Media (LATISM). Over the past 10 years, Berebichez has been a recurring speaker at skeptic conferences such as the

Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism The Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS, pronounced as "nexus") is a four-day conference focusing on science and skepticism founded in 2009 and held annually in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), i ...

and

The Amaz!ng Meeting The Amazing Meeting (TAM), stylized as The Amaz!ng Meeting, was an annual conference that focused on science, skepticism, and critical thinking; it was held for twelve years. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored by the James Randi Educ ...

Volunteer work

She was the 2013 Global Ambassador for the Technovation Challenge, an international educational competition sponsored by technology non-profit Iridescent that promotes the programming of science-based mobile applications by girls and young women all across the globe, including creating a business model around the new application and instructing participants on how to pitch their applications to investors. Berebichez says her mission is to help women and minorities enter

fields.

Personal life

Berebichez is married to physicist Neer Asherie. They have a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berebichez, Deborah American television personalities of Mexican descent Brandeis University alumni Mexican Jews Living people 21st-century Mexican physicists Scientists from Mexico City Science bloggers 21st-century science writers Scientific skeptics Stanford University alumni Mexican women physicists Year of birth missing (living people) American women bloggers American bloggers 21st-century American women