Latasha Wright: Strong as a Horse

Just before she leaves for her dream opportunity to teach marine science on the Red Sea, Latasha Wright gets a call that puts her plans in jeopardy.

Latasha Wright received her Ph.D. from NYU Langone Medical Center in Cell and Molecular Biology. After her studies, she went on to continue her scientific training at Johns Hopkins University and Weill Cornell Medical Center. She has co­authored numerous publications and presented her work at international and national conferences. In 2011, she joined the crew of the BioBus, a mobile science lab dedicated to bringing hands­ on science and inspiration to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. The BioBus creates a setting that fosters innovation and creativity. Students are encouraged to ask questions, formulate hypotheses, and design experiments. Through the BioBus, Latasha was able to share her love of science with a new generation of potential scientists. Everyday that she spends teaching students about science in this transformative environment helps her remember that science is fun. She loves sharing the journey of discovery with students of all ages. In 2014, the BioBus team launched an immersive, un­intimidating laboratory space called the BioBase, a community laboratory model. At the BioBase students are encouraged to explore their scientific potential through in­-depth programming and hands­-on experimentation. Latasha has lead the efforts in establishing this community laboratory model, and hopes to build on its success in other communities. The efforts of the BioBus’ team to promote science education to all communities in New York City has been recognized by numerous news outlets, including the WNYC science radio program Hypothesis. Additionally, Latasha has been featured as NY1’s New Yorker of the Week.

This story originally aired on February 22, 2019 in an episode titled “Inspiration.”

Story Transcript

I've always loved the ocean, the sights, the sounds, the tastes.  You know, when you can take a deep breath and go [inhales] and you have that taste in your mouth.  I love that.  I love it a lot. 

I’m from Mississippi.  I’m the youngest of five children.  I have four rambunctious brothers.  And so when we were young and rowdy, when we got really excitable, let’s just say, my mom and dad would pack us all in the car, just one car, you know, before seatbelts. It’s okay. We’re in Mississippi, it doesn’t matter.  And take us all to the beach. 

My brothers and my dad would put crabbing lines out to catch crabs and I would just run wild on the beach and go crazy and just kind of primal.  I would think about all of the animals in the water and I would fantasize about them.  I would think about what they are doing, who were they hanging out with. 

And I was obsessed with dolphins.  I love them.  I thought they were beautiful, they were smart, obviously, just like me.  So I wanted to be one.  I wanted to be one so bad that I had a dolphin name.  And don’t tell anybody.  This is a total secret.  But I had a dolphin name that was a lot of clicks and whistles, and I made my whole family call me by this name.  So don’t tell anybody.  I can trust you. 

Then that just meant I was going to be a scientist because I was not this Flipper crap, you know, like a real thing. 

So fast forward, I did become a scientist and then I started working.  I moved from Mississippi to New York.  I learned that I was on the bench doing real science and then I decided I didn’t really like it, but I liked talking about science a lot and communicating science.  So then I started working at a science outreach organization called the BioBus. 

We basically were a couple of hippies.  We got together on this 1974 bus and we just kind of went to schools and we’re like, “Hey, guys.  Come on aboard.”  It’s much more polished now, trust me, ten years later. 

Then as we got bigger, we got Laura, we kind of stopped wearing tie-dye every day, people started taking us seriously and I got this opportunity to go to Egypt to do BioBoats on the Red Sea.  Actually, when I first thought about it, it was like, “Oh, it’s going to be like a barge.”  But when I got there it was a yacht.  I was like, “This is what I deserve.” 

So of course I had to keep coming back.  It was so horrible.  I was like, “I’m not sure this is the right outfit.  I’m going to come back.”

So it was really a lot of hard work.  This is a secret, total secret.  Don’t tell anybody.  So it was like we outfitted it all and we were ready, so after three years I was ready to go back to launch this boat.  So this is really my thing. 

Then on February 13, 2007, my mom and dad they woke up together, they had breakfast and then my mom was like, “I’m going to grocery store.”  He was like, “Okay.”  Then when she came back, my father had passed away.  She found him just laying on the floor because he had had a heart attack. 

And you have to understand my dad was like this person who was never sick, who was always like, whenever you saw him, he was kind of the macho dude-ish kind of guy.  Whenever I was like, “How are you feeling,” he's like, “Well, strong as a horse, baby doll.  Strong as a horse.” 

My mom was the one who was always sick.  My mom had cancer twice, she had all of these things, like in 2005 she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  At that time when she was diagnosed, the survival rate was 30%.  That was ten years ago so it was really like everybody was excited that she was… we were all focused on my mom. 

But I remember getting the call because I was in a meeting and my brother called, and he never calls.  He just kept calling because I kept cutting.  Dismiss, dismiss.  Then he kept calling so then I was like, “Okay, this must be something.” 

So I went out and I was like, “Hello.”

He was like, “Dad died.” 

For me, it was like hit in the head with a sledgehammer.  I was like, “But I’m going to Egypt on Friday.” 

There was a pause from him and from me because, in my mind, two things couldn’t happen at the same time.  I couldn’t have this great thing that I've been working so hard for and a super great accomplishment in my career and my dad dying. 

Then he just said, “Latasha!” 

And I was like, “Oh,” And things kind of rearranged themselves in my mind and I was like, “Okay, I'll be there tomorrow.” 

Then I just spent the next half an hour on the floor of the bathroom crying.  Then I’m texting my colleagues and they brought my stuff to the bathroom for me, and then I left. 

I got home.  I made my reservations for Mississippi and I changed my flight for Egypt from Friday to Monday. 

You don’t understand.  This is my first time experiencing loss as an adult, because my grandparents had died when I was a kid but it wasn’t the same.  I remember thinking very vividly, “Do people really wear black at a funeral or is this like TV?” 

So then I threw my black dress, my black shoes in a bag and I went to the airport and I came to Mississippi.  Then my brother and my mom were there to pick me up.  I remember seeing my mom and my mom looked so fragile.  Then immediately things changed in my head and I was like, “Okay.  My job is I’m not a daughter here.  I’m my mother’s support.  I’m helping her through this process.”

And we did all the things that grieving families do.  We went in to pick up the casket, we found their right flowers and wrote the obituary, and all that kind of things.  We were all together.  I had four brothers and they're all married and they all have children, so it’s tons of people in the house and it’s loud.  But there was just a voice missing, because my dad was always the loudest and he wasn’t there.  So it was like some vacuum that was missing. 

So the day of the funeral, when I get there, again, we’re in Mississippi so I’m just going say that so people were saying to my mom, “Oh, I thought you were going to die first.”  And she was like, “Me too.” 

After the funeral, I come back.  I fly back to New York and none of my friends, none of my family could understand why would I do that.  Why wouldn’t I take time?  Why did I want to go back to this thing that I had planned?  The reason why, I'll just be honest, is that I wanted to be Latasha, not Latasha whose dad just died. 

I was in the BioBus.  As you can imagine, we were all hippies.  They like to hug you and touch you, and I didn’t want all the touching and the hugging and all of that.  I just wanted to be normal.  I wanted to be like it didn’t really happen.  So I wanted to go to a place where I could be myself and I could escape this and my dad didn’t die. 

So I went to Egypt and it was amazing.  The launch was great.  There were wonderful children.  They were all Egyptian and none of them spoke English.  And I didn’t speak any Egyptian but we communicated through like, “Oh, look, oh, ah-ah.”  You know, universal language of science, pointing and going like this. 

So we did a bunch of plankton tows.  It was amazing.  And then we also did the universal language of selfies.  So we took tons of selfies. 

At the end of the day, we went to the back of the boat, because that was prime selfie place, and there was this pod of dolphins that was playing in the wake.  There were adolescents, there were moms and dads and babies just doing their thing.  They were so beautiful.  And I was with all of these wonderful kids who had such a great time and we saw this pod of dolphins and it felt like family.