Jonathan Aalto

Throughout my life, I have adapted to new environments. Growing up, my family moved
often to follow my parents’ work, and I attended five schools across several states. We mainly
resided in rural locations, and these experiences taught me two key lessons. First, peer mentorship
and support are critical for making students feel welcome in a new environment. Second, rural
communities suffer from a lack of dialogue with researchers. As a result, I have been passionate
about peer mentorship and science outreach throughout my undergraduate education. I aim to
continue these efforts as a graduate student to promote diversity, collaboration, and inclusion at
Caltech.
Peer mentorship. With each new K–12 school and curriculum, I found myself ahead in
some areas and behind in others. This was especially evident in middle school, where I struggled
with mathematics and reading comprehension. I was fortunate to have access to tutoring, which
provided crucial support as I worked to get back on track. Thanks to this help, I soon found success
with subjects that had previously confused me, and I had more confidence when approaching new
topics. I learned firsthand how transformative tutoring could be, so I resolved to help my fellow
students just as my older peers had helped me.
I first started tutoring as a dual-enrolled high school student at North Idaho College. I
worked as a mathematics tutor, and this experience convinced me that my goal of becoming a
mentor had not been misplaced. At first, I struggled to explain topics clearly, but I remained
motivated because I could see that my communication was improving. I was thrilled to see students
develop a better understanding of a topic over the course of a session, and this always made me
eager to see what the next session would bring. I have continued this passion at the University of
Washington (UW), where I now work 8–12 hours per week as a physics tutor for the UW Center
for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment (CLUE), helping students with kinematics,
thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. I also tutor chemistry and calculus when there is high
demand for these subjects. Working at CLUE has been a fulfilling way for me to promote
educational equity at UW. I am overjoyed whenever I see all the pieces of a problem starting to
“click” for a student, and I love that the job helps me maintain a strong foundation in several key
subjects. In the summer of 2023, I was promoted to lead tutor of the physics division. In addition
to drop-in tutoring, I now coordinate events, helm outreach activities, and manage logistics for my
nine-person team. As a leader, I am genuinely excited to be promoting collaboration among the
tutors and awareness of our program, as I believe these efforts will directly lead to better help for
our fellow students.
Community outreach. Fostering dialogue has been a throughline of my tutoring
experiences and a primary goal of my efforts in outreach. I know what it is like to feel “cut off”
from academia, so I want to bridge this gap for others. To make science more accessible, I have
sought to raise awareness about chemistry research around UW and the Seattle community. As a
junior, I co-presented a lecture about supramolecular cages and electrocatalysis at Chemistry
Frontiers, a course for exposing UW undergraduates to research opportunities. Everyone deserves
chances to learn about and discuss science, so it is important for researchers to extend outreach
efforts beyond their university campus. To this end, I have been involved in UW’s SOPA (Science
Outreach and Policy for Adults) program. As part of this initiative, in early 2023 I co-led a seminar
on battery technology and renewable energy infrastructure for people at a local senior center. In
addition to discussing the science behind these topics, we also conveyed to our audience how they
could impact the research being done in these fields. We discussed recent legislation, upcoming
votes, and local activism, and this valuable experience taught me that the path to a clean energy
future lies not just in the lab, but rather arises through collaboration between scientists and their
communities. I look forward to leading more SOPA events in early 2024.
At Caltech, I will foster inclusion and diversity by continuing to promote peer mentorship
and community outreach. I would be eager to volunteer at local high schools through the RISE
tutoring initiative, and I would be excited to mentor future scientists through the Summer Research
Connection program. As a student, tutor, and researcher, I have worked to convey that everyone is
welcome in academia, and I will carry this mindset with me as I move on to my next chapter. I
have been very fortunate to receive fantastic support on my journey to graduate school, and I hope
to use what I have learned to help others overcome educational and systemic barriers.