I learned about Wanda Díaz Merced a blind astronomer last year on Facebook from Puerto Rican historian, Jesús Omar Rivera Dávila in an interview with El Tony. Below you can watch a short excerpt on him talking about Wanda. Just click and play, I have it set at mark 1:26:00, and it’s only 2-minutes long. I am fascinated by her accomplishments and her story.
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Who is Wanda Díaz Merced?
Wanda Díaz Merced is a Puerto Rican astrophysicist renowned for pioneering techniques that make astronomy more accessible to visually impaired scientists. After losing her sight in her early 20s due to health complications, Díaz Merced discovered a method called sonification, which translates data from stars and other celestial phenomena into sound. This approach allows her and other visually impaired individuals to “listen” to the data and detect patterns that might otherwise be missed visually.
She has worked with institutions like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) and is an advocate for inclusivity in science, emphasizing that science should be accessible to everyone, regardless of disability. Her work in sonification has had a significant impact on fields beyond astronomy, demonstrating the value of alternative data interpretation methods in scientific research.
Watching her Ted Talk and listening to her talk about how she found a way to listen to the stars is even more remarkable.
Educational Resources
Of course, as an educator, I felt that I needed to share her story with my students. So I set out to write an educational resource in Spanish about women in science, about Wanda Díaz Merced.
I wrote a short, easy-to-follow Spanish story of her life as a young child, when she loses her sight and what she does afterward. She doesn’t let a disability of not being able to see, stop her from following her dream and passion. This resourcue
This resource includes a teacher guide, worksheets with an answer key, and mini books in both full-color and black-and-white versions. It follows Wanda’s journey from being sighted to losing her vision and explores how we can “listen” to stars. Students will engage in an “Oír vs. Escuchar” activity and an introduction to sonification, the method used to interpret star sounds. The resource also provides explanations, links to YouTube videos, and vocabulary words focusing on cognates and high-frequency terms.
Children’s Books
Read about other Puerto Rican trailblazers: Felisa Rincón de Gautier and Julia de Burgos.
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