Having her sterling credentials as a student and as a scientist, astrophysicist Reinabelle Reyes pointed out that learning is a lifelong process.
A high school valedictorian in the Philippine Science High School (PSHS), Reyes urged her online audience to be passionate in pursuing knowledge.
“Learning does not stop after stepping out of school. Grow your brainpower and skills. By also working in other fields, I essentially got that chance to broaden my knowledge,” Reyes said in the webinar “Physics Meetup: Adventures in Astrophysics and Analytics with Dr. Reina Reyes” held in late July. It was organized by the Physics Department of Central Mindanao University with the Bukidnon Physics Society Philippines.
After graduating with a physics degree (summa cum laude) from Ateneo de Manila University, Reyes pursued advanced studies in physics in Europe and the US.
“I discovered that physics was my favorite subject in college,” Reyes said.
“I also want to give credit to my teachers in Philippine Science HS for providing me a strong foundation in science,” recalled Reyes.
After her five-year stint in Princeton University for her post graduate studies, Reyes returned to the Philippines to promote and share her knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“I think it was the right time and I decided to come back,” said Reyes.
She is known in the world as “the Filipina who proved Einstein was right” after her work confirming Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in a cosmic scale in 2010 during her Ph.D. studies in the United States.
One of Reyes’s projects was the Department of Science and Technology-funded ReliefOps.Ph, a web-based decision support tool for better logistics during disaster relief and rescue operations.
Besides working as part-time faculty at Ateneo de Manila University, she also teaches at Rizal Technological University, the only university in the Philippines with an astronomy program.
After her teaching stints, Reyes decided to have a career shift. “I pivoted to data science with a lot of reluctance.”
At 30, she started to have her formal job in the corporate world. She pointed out there were no regrets as she learned to broaden her network.
With her academic background, Reyes found a lot of opportunities in data science as the discipline that required high mathematical and analytical skills.
As a data scientist, Reyes worked with the United Health Group and the Ayala Group of companies.
“At Ayala, I worked with Ayala Analytics that handled analytics processes and best practices in data management,” she said.
This August, Reyes is looking forward to joining the National Institute of Physics (NIP) in University of the Philippines Diliman as faculty.
“I have been lucky to be part of the first online remote learning class under NIP,” she said.
Reyes will be teaching computational physics in UP. At the same time, she will still work as consultant in data driven industries.
Also in August, Reyes will join a team of teachers in conducting talks in radio through the program “Radyo Turo Guro: Praktikal na Payo sa Gurong Pilipino” to give tips to teachers tips on how to handle teaching chores among others during this time of coronavirus.
She also urged students to be open to changes as some things will be changing brought by several factors. She said students must continue to develop their creative minds to be able to respond to the challenges.
“You must seek opportunities that are attainable. And if you’re open minded, be active in pursuing new opportunities,” she explained.
For Reyes, her task is to make physics not intimidating to the people.
“I think scientists should harness the power of marketing to popularize science in the country,” she remarked.