Daniela Ushizima started at the Lab as a postdoc 13 years ago and is now a staff scientist working with machine learning and computer vision for scientific image analysis and autonomous experimentation reliant on pattern recognition. Ushizima is also the recipient of a Director’s Achievement Award and a Women@The Lab Award. What does she enjoy most about working at the Lab? The multidisciplinary research projects involving intelligent and diverse people both in terms of their nationality, gender, race, culture, and science backgrounds.
As part of Latin American Heritage Month, Ushizima answers three questions for Elements:
Can you tell us about your family heritage? What was your/their pathway to America?
My parents live in Brazil where they were born. My father is of Japanese descent and my mother’s ascendents are from North Italy, so it was always okay to have pizza with sushi at home. They have visited the U.S. many times and have California as a second home.
Is there any part of your culture you draw from to inform your work at the Lab?
Resilience is one of the most important traits to succeed in Brazil, so I believe that it has helped me in not surrendering to failure as the scientist’s life, dealing with data from experimental sciences, can be spectacular but also very challenging.
What are some of your favorite ways to connect with your culture?
Connecting with my culture is a culture of connection – Brazilian culture is rooted in closeness and solidarity, we love to make friends and cultivate good relationships. Taking care of each other is one of the most important things I learned from interacting with different communities while I lived in Brazil.
Read the LAHM 3Q4s with Armando Casillas and Joselyn Delgado, and Lino Sanchez.
Want to connect with or support Latin American and Native American employees at the Lab? Consider joining the LANA Employee Resource Group.
LANA is hosting Cafecito Social Hours on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. throughout Latin American Heritage Month. Add them to your calendar: