Clearing the Way for Young Scientific Researchers

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Aarushi Mehrotra. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Young people are often told to reach for the stars. Aarushi Mehrotra, a high school junior, is doing exactly that—and helping others do the same. She crochets and performs with her school’s Indian dance club, but she’s also passionate about math, computer science and astronomy. The last of these was originally inspired by the film Hidden Figures about three highly intelligent Black women who navigate racism and misogyny while helping launch the first American astronaut into orbit. Now, Aarushi does research in the field.

In fact, scientific research has become a big focus for her in the last two years since joining Talaria, a nonprofit founded by Nora Sun in 2019. The organization is dedicated to supporting female and genderqueer students in science and their research efforts. Many students who go through their programs have gone on to become established researchers at universities. Aarushi is empowering the next generation of researchers to reach for stars, too—whether it be studying the solar system or engineering a prosthetic.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I started volunteering as a math tutor a few years ago through some Chicago-based organizations. I enjoyed seeing how fast my students were progressing, and I was eager to help more people.

As my passion for science was growing, I began to see challenges that women face in STEM. When I started participating in more competitions, I found that there’s a big gap between men and women in STEM. I want to mitigate that by reducing roadblocks and helping students reach their fullest potential.

What are some things that are creating gender inequities in science, and what needs to change?

Just looking at younger students, the percentage of male participants in competitions and research symposiums is extremely high. Statistically, there are about 25% more men in STEM-based fields, and this really comes from inequitable access and support early on, which is what we’re trying to change.

By giving women and genderqueer students more accessible opportunity, we hope that some of the stigma and the inertia needed to start research can be reduced. The support that they need can be hard to get early on, and that’s really what causes a discrepancy between men and women.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Talaria.

I lead the Talaria Academic Year Programs: the Talaria clubs, the ATHENA Research Workshop and Conference and the Envision Research Proposal Competition. The Talaria clubs are a network of clubs throughout the U.S. and Asia that we started this year. We reach out to female and genderqueer students, and they teach students at their school how to write research proposals. Through our curriculum, which I helped develop in collaboration with research professors, we mentor aspiring scientists and support them as they start their research journeys.

If they’re comfortable, we support them as they reach out to local professors. Then, students can actually do research in university labs, gaining experience and developing skills. We’ve reached over 100 students this year. The ATHENA Conference and Workshop is twice a year. I reach out to scientific researchers around the country to present their work and experiences to students in middle and high school. These researchers give participants a window into academia and the research world and introduce them to new scientific fields while workshopping their research ideas and projects. Our first conference this past fall had 40+ participants.

And finally, I help organize and host the ENVISION Research Proposal Competition. It’s an opportunity for female and genderqueer students to gain recognition for their scientific ideas. Many science competitions place importance on finished science projects which, as a student, can be intimidating. Hence, we created a research proposal competition. I coordinate with judges to evaluate submissions.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

Meeting aspiring research students and seeing them move forward with their research and goals as a result of Talaria’s programs has been the most rewarding, especially during our fall 2024 ATHENA Conference. I met students from around the world, and I was so happy when they asked questions to the researchers and left with more knowledge than they came with. Helping them learn something that could help them in their journeys has been so rewarding.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I’ve learned how to build connections with people from diverse backgrounds. A big part of our programs is reaching out to researchers and incorporating them into our conferences, competitions and clubs. I reach out to them through email and then form real connections with them. This helps me create lasting relationships. Similarly, building a team with like-minded students to progress Talaria’s mission has helped me foster more accountability, compassion and teamwork skills within myself and within the team.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

The spring ATHENA Conference is our next event. It’s a three-hour conference held over Zoom. That’s how we get participants from all over the world. We want to make it as accessible as possible. We’re excited to bring in more researchers from more diverse scientific fields. Last year, we had representatives in chemistry, physics, biology and computer science, and we hope to bring in more universities to gain more perspectives and help our students with niche interests.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

They should see what they’re interested in and how they can best serve other people. Starting a new initiative just requires an idea and action. While doing something new or starting a new initiative can be really intimidating, approaching these seemingly large projects in a systematic manner sets you on a path for future success. Put yourself out there. You might be surprised just how well you do.

Maintain your motivation and remember that something really small, something trivial to one person, can be something transformative to someone else. So don’t hesitate. Help someone, if you can.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Aarushi? Find local volunteer opportunities.