by Kim Lamb Gregory
CSU Channel Islands Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ariel Vaughn does not consider
herself a traditional chemist, but a more of a teaching chemist. As a scientist/educator
- the formal academic term is “chemical education researcher” - Vaughn sees her mission
as helping her students see chemistry for what it is: everything and everywhere.
“I study the way we teach chemistry,” Vaughn said. “My focus is, how can I design assignments to be more inclusive? When you think of a scientist, you think of a person in a white lab coat, but everything in the world around you is chemistry.”
At the beginning of each semester, Vaughn gives her General Chemistry students a weekly homework assignment: look for chemistry in their homes and communities. Then, for their final project, she asks the students to choose a project that demonstrates how chemistry matters to their home or community.
“They get to pick something they’re interested in,” Vaughn said. “It could be art pieces, PowerPoint presentations - even music videos. This year, we’ve even got somebody creating a virtual game about chemistry.”
Vaughn first discovered a love of chemistry when she was growing up in Sonora, California, a town of about 5,000 near Yosemite National Park.
“I grew up wanting to be an elementary school teacher because I didn’t know women could be scientists,” she said. “I was in eighth grade when I took my first chemistry class and I really had so much fun. My eighth-grade science teacher sat my parents down and said, ‘She is really good at this.’”
Vaughn continued to pursue her interest in chemistry by taking classes in community college and eventually transferred to UC Davis, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 2021, she completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC).
Vaughn left home, but home did not leave her. As she pursued her higher education, Vaughn continued the legacy she carried as a descendant of the Central Sierra Me-Wuk people. She began to learn the language and study the customs.
“I do all this because it wasn’t safe for my grandfather or great-grandfather to do it,” she said. “It’s a complicated story about a stolen generation.”
Vaughn’s great-grandfather was Me-Wuk, but he took his stepfather’s last name of “Robles” in order to hide his heritage. Many Native American children were taken away from their parents and taken away to religious schools to be “re-educated.”
Vaughn became very active with the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science or SACNAS. While attending USC, she helped found the Summer Experience in Renewable and Green Energy program, a Native American middle school science camp. And after joining CSUCI in 2022, she co-founded the Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance.
Whether it’s celebrating Indigenous roots with students, or helping them find the chemistry in their everyday lives, Vaughn’s greatest joy is sharing with the students.
“I’m a scientist who went into teaching, and I love interacting with students,” she said. “It’s a high when you finally understand something. I’ve spent my whole life chasing that high, but getting students to have that moment gives me that high, too.”