Personal Story – Norberto González-Juarbe

I grew up in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. My home Barrio of Miraflores, is in the rural part of Arecibo where I was constantly surrounded by family members and spent many afternoons enjoying nature with my younger brother (Jesus González) and my three closest cousins. My mother (Marilú Juarbe) and father (Norberto González) were a microbiologist and a chemist, respectively. They have been and still are my inspiration. They are a constant example of the best traits of humanity; do good and care about others, work hard to achieve your goals and never surrender no matter how hard things seem to be. After finishing high school, the place I met the love of my life (Hilsa Gonzalez-Yambó), I studied a bachelor's degree in microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo (UPRA). During my tenure at the UPRA, I was able to start my research career studying the Planetary Habitability of Primary Producers. My research was eventually funded by NASA and I was able to write and obtain my first proposal titled “Astrobiology Café”, Where I aimed to spread science in my community by mixing original science lyrics, traditional Puerto Rican music (thanks to growing up in a family filled with musicians), short science talks and coffee. Playing either my guitar or the percussion instruments with my family’s band we were able to spread astronomy and microbiology knowledge in schools, malls and cafes.

After graduation, I moved to Texas to become the first PhD scientist of my family, a move that was very difficult for someone that grew up with a massive family core. However, it was them and my now wife that pushed me to follow my dreams and make the jump. At the University of Texas Health-San Antonio, I was able to train in the fields of microbiology and immunology at the laboratory of Dr. Molly Bergman. For 3 years, I was able to further grow as a scientist non-stop, however, by the end of my 3rd year as a graduate student, due to personal reasons, Dr. Bergman had to leave academia. As an example of a good mentor, she was instrumental in supporting me to finish my already advanced project and with her help, I was able to finish my PhD with the support of the Dean and the mentorship (and a bench in the labs) of Drs. Peter Dube and Carlos Orihuela. Upon graduation, Dr. Orihuela was moving his laboratory to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and I joined him as his Post Doc. This was a great scientific experience but a difficult personal one, as my wife had to stay behind in Texas for a whole year while finishing graduate school. A short time after my wife joined me in Birmingham, hurricane Maria devastated our home island of Puerto Rico. For over two weeks we did not know if our families were alive or not. It was until a late afternoon that I received a call from an unknown number from Puerto Rico that I heard my father’s voice. A stranger had given him his phone at a temporary wireless spot and told him, “Here brother call your kid”. That was one of the most beautiful moments in my life and my dad had gone to my in-law’s house and knew my wife’s family was also ok. At UAB people’s kindness erupted and I received over $3,000 dollars in donations that we used to send food, water and medicine to our hometown of Arecibo.

My First faculty position was at the non-for-profit J. Craig Venter Institute (Late 2018 to 2023). It was not easy to start your laboratory a year before the whole world shut down with a pandemic, but with a lot of hard work we survived and were able to be productive, secure funding, and become one of the fastest PI’s to be promoted to Associate Professor. Now at the University of Maryland, I aim to become a role model for the next generation of scientists, a voice for underrepresented minorities, be part of our outreach programs and become a collaborator to many of our faculty members.

To all of our students: There are going to be obstacles and doubters, you are going to fail and make mistakes, but with your hard work and the help of those around you there are no limits, and every day you will be closer to your goals than the day before. 

From the September 2024 CBMG Newsletter