Keizen Li Qian

They/Them

I am queer and gender nonconforming and I am a biology graduate student.//

Science is a means of knowing based on evidence and requiring us to question every assumption. For me, this means aligning actions with values, connecting humanity with each other and the universe and taking loving care of all the beings living in it. When I transitioned from female to male in 2007, I gave up my job in environmental consulting not only because workplace transition was unsupported but because of internalized transphobia. I returned to school for environmental microbiology in 2017 and now work as a researcher and science educator empowering students who don’t look like or have the cultural backgrounds of STEM leaders and decisionmakers. The space we need to satisfy our curiosity belongs to us and we have to pioneer its transformation with dignity and fervor. We deserve it and the universe deserves it of us.