Erika Grajales Esquivel

Erika Grajales Esquivel is an established Research Associate in the Miami University Department of Biology. Her role includes managing labs and training undergraduate and graduate students. Her research is rooted in retina and lens regeneration, with the ultimate goal to cure blindness. She is involved in the Association for Latinx Faculty and Staff (ALFAS) and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), all in which she aims to help recruit and mentor Latinx Miami students and strengthen their representation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). 

 

Early Life

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began to change, she describes a time where her car was stolen at gunpoint and considers herself lucky that they only took the car and didn’t take her. She keeps up with the news and current events in Mexico City and feels “super scared for the women in my family now.”

 

She has her Masters degree in biochemistry from the Universidad Nacional de Autónoma de México. Previously, she had worked as a food science chemist in Mexico City, but she and her husband at the time both always knew they were going to move out of Mexico City, citing STEM work opportunities as their initial main motivator for migrating. 

 

Mexico City to Oxford

Grajales Esquivel moved to the U.S. in 2009 with her husband, who was completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Miami University, while she was working as a research associate from 2009-2015.  

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When Grajales Esquivel and her husband got divorced, she left the U.S. and went back to Mexico with her son for a year in 2016 until an opportunity to come back opened up in 2017. One of Grajales Esquivel’s mentors is Dr. Del Rio-Tsonis, a fellow Latinx woman in the Miami University Department of Biology. Del Rio-Tsonis reached out and asked Grajales Esquivel to come back to work in her lab. She describes how difficult of a decision it was to choose an amazing work position in Oxford over Mexico City, her home for her entire life. She ultimately decided to take the position at Miami and continue working with Del Rio-Tsonis.

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Grajales Esquivel also mentions how her son’s identity played into her decision to come back to Ohio. Her son had already begun to grow up in the U.S., in the school system and community. She wanted to put her son’s future first and felt like the States was home for him, along with feeling that there are more opportunities here for him than in Mexico. 

 

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connected Hispanic children with tutoring. Grajales Esquivel describes how amazing the volunteers were and how much it helped families with childcare and encouraging kids to have aspirations and achieve academically. Unfortunately, this program is no longer in practice but the lasting effects are felt throughout the Latinx community in Oxford. 

 

Finding a Home Away from Home

Grajales Esquivel has lived in Oxford for 13 years and loves it. She expresses that it is a great community to live in. She feels comfortable and supported in small towns like this, with very supportive church communities such as Crossroads and Young Life. “[For the most part] Everybody seems to be respectful (in Oxford). Here and there, there were minor incidents.” She mentions how much she loves when Ohio natives will practice their Spanish with her and how much it means to her when people actively engage in learning about and connecting with her Mexican culture. 

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Although Grajales Esquivel feels very much at home here in Oxford, she has considered moving back to Mexico as often as “every other day,” especially during the first few years when the culture shock of a small rural town was still fresh. “At first I thought, this is just temporary.” She misses the food, her family, the weather, and the rich culture of theater and museums in Mexico City where, she attests, “There is always something to do.” To cope, she delves into what southern Ohio has to offer: Cincinnati trips, state fairs, and much more. One thing she does not miss is the traffic and pollution of Mexico City. 

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Staying Connected in a Globalized World

Now, Grajales Esquivel visits Mexico as often as she can, mostly during summers to visit family and friends. Her local ties in the U.S. have deepened, though, as she recently got married to an Ohioan. Because of immigration laws that change when marriage is involved, they can not go to Mexico this summer to meet her family, which is hard for everyone involved. WhatsApp is a saving grace with group and video chats that connect her to her parents, sisters, and friends from college at their convenience. Grajales Esquivel expressed how much she loves her country and how awesome and beautiful of a place it is. That being said, she fully accepts Oxford as her home now; her family is rooted here. 

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Despite the geographic distance of being so far away from Mexico City, Grajales Esquivel still manages to intertwine and celebrate her Mexican culture in Oxford, Ohio. This sentiment comes full circle through the fact that one of the main research components in the lab that she works in is the fascinating tissue regeneration of the axolotl salamander, which actually happens to be native to lakes in Mexico City. (Learn more about her research publications here and more about axolotls here) “All the time, I’m like, let me tell you about this [axolotl salamander] from my city! It’s nice to connect.”