CSUDH professor draws on her roots to reimagine who belongs in science.
By Andrea Ambriz, Executive Editor
When Ximena Cid first stepped onto the UC Berkeley campus as an undergraduate, the idea of making a living in a lab was the last thing on her mind. As part of the band Mariachi Feminil las Aguilas—the first all-female mariachi group in Northern California—Cid imagined a life in the spotlight on stage.
“I actually was more interested in music than I was in science,” said Cid, a full professor of physics at CSUDH. “I thought I was going to go to college for music.”
Born and raised in Sacramento, Cid grew up in a family deeply connected to Chicano art, activism and Indigenous heritage. Her father co-founded the Royal Chicano Air Force, a local art collective that emerged from the Chicano movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Her mother helped establish Chicano Park in San Diego, now a National Historic Landmark.
Cid told The Bulletin that visual art is an essential part of her family, cultural background and community, and she now incorporates it into her teaching.
“I think that’s why I’m really interested in how do we represent ideas within the sciences. It’s also one of the reasons why I think there’s such a strong link between art and STEM fields,” Cid said. “I like to talk about STEAM, you know, including the arts.”
Cid’s entry into physics was unplanned, but her path may have been written in the stars. While exploring math and science courses to fulfill general education requirements, she discovered a fascination with space.
As a child, her father would take the family out to watch lunar eclipses. On road trips to San Diego for her mother’s birthday, the night skies were often filled with shooting stars.
“She would drive in the night to let us sleep, and as we would pass through the mountains, we would see shooting stars, which I learned was the Perseid meteor shower,” Cid recalled. “I kind of thought that it was cool that my mom always got shooting stars for her birthday.”
That early wonder became a defining moment when she took her first astronomy class. Cid said the subject “really piqued” her interest, but it came with prerequisites.
“In order to take the next astronomy class, I had to take physics classes. In order to take physics classes, I had to take math classes,” she said. “I kind of fumbled my way through undergrad.”
As a full-time student, Cid worked at least two jobs throughout her undergraduate years. Near the end of one of her classes, she took on a space science research position. Through that experience, she connected with experts in the field and eventually joined a research lab as an assistant.
The research explored a current system that forms through the interaction between the sun and Earth. It examined how different representations of a three-dimensional process could improve understanding. A concept that students typically struggled with in a two-dimensional simulation became much more intuitive when presented in 3D.
Cid said that was when she first realized how the way information is presented can create disparities among people.
“Maybe that is one of the reasons why there’s not a lot of women in physics fields,” Cid explained. “Maybe how we teach is one of the reasons there’s not a lot of diversity in physics and sciences or STEM.”
That moment would go on to shape the focus of her career—using research not only to understand physics, but also how people experience and access it. Studying physics is intertwined with Cid’s identity, she said.
“My Latinaness, Chicananess, my Indigenous identity and my gender—I can’t separate them from me as a whole person any more than I can separate the scientist in me,” Cid said. “All of that makes me who I am.”
Cid said her lessons not only include the work of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, but that of scientists from Latin America.
“I will also bring in the observatories that are still standing in Mexico or throughout Central and South America,” Cid said. “I will talk about the engineering that happened with our pyramids and the fact that they’re still standing.”
Cid served as chair of the CSUDH physics department in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. During her tenure, she focused on building connection and morale among students and faculty through Zoom celebrations and gifts donated by faculty for graduating seniors. She said fostering community and optimism during a time of isolation was a priority.
“I tried to create joy for our space,” Cid said. “We tried to create celebrations for our students and for our faculty and staff.”
That same year, she co-founded the Society of Indigenous Physicists, creating a long-missing network for Native scientists in her field. Until then, Cid had been able to connect with other women and Latine colleagues in physics and space science, but she struggled to find connections with other Indigenous people.
“I had a handwritten note for a very long time,” Cid explained. “Every time I met another Native physicist or astrophysicist or space scientist, I would take their contact information, and I had it pinned to my board.”
Through her advocacy and leadership, Cid has helped create spaces where others can feel seen and supported, but she’s quick to acknowledge that no one achieves success alone. She cited the encouragement she received from her graduate mentor, Ramón Lopez, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“One of the first things that he would talk to me about when I would get upset was be good at what you do,” Cid recalled. “If you’re good at what you do, they can’t argue against that.”
Another piece of advice that stuck with her is to maintain a “happy” folder.
“There are times that are challenging and there are times when you’re really stressed out,” Cid said. “I have my own little professional ‘happy folder’ that I can look at when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed—to remind myself that these are my strengths, these are the things I’m good at, and this is why I belong in these spaces.”
As CSUDH wraps up its recognition of Hispanic Heritage this month, Cid reflected on the importance of visibility and representation—not only in her field, but across all of STEM.
The erasure of cultural identity and history in the United States—particularly now, she said—makes it even more important for diverse voices to be represented in science. Despite the challenges she faces as a Latina, a Chicana, and an Indigenous woman, she believes visibility is essential to progress.
“You need diversity of thought to solve big world problems,” Cid said. “You need perspectives different from your own.”