When asked what he likes or finds interesting about Boise, Keitel replied: “Outdoors and greenbelt. Small city vibe. BSU sports. Micron support. qDNA research. BSU working towards becoming R1.”
Keitel Cervantes-Salguero is a scientist and Quechua activist founder of Kamaq Yachachiqkuna, which is a non for profit organization that seeks to empower Quechua speakers by promoting spaces in education and science with speakers and activities. Keitel was born and bred in Peru. He is the research lead of the Single Molecule Characterization team in the Quantum DNA Research group at BSU.
Keitel completed his undergraduate studies in Peru, and postgraduate studies in Japan. His postdoctoral work was in the UK. With his current research position in the USA, he has been doing research in four continents!
Outside of work, Keitel enjoys exploring the beauty of the USA, Boise, and the greenbelt. He also enjoys learning languages and new things, and playing chess.
In Keitel’s view, international education offers a unique opportunity to interact with persons from different cultures and countries, enabling one to gain new perspectives. He thinks humanity is like a dice with six faces, each culture or country may have a different face, but we all share the same body. Therefore, a person may uncover aspects of themselves that were not obvious before, or incorporate good things that could make the person more fulfilled. But, this can be a challenge. There may be many reasons for a person to not opt for international education, but if there is an opportunity, the person should be brave and embrace the challenge. If you are planning to visit a new country to study, aside from learning as much as you can about the new country, he would recommend having or finding someone you can trust before arriving. If such a person has similar experiences as you, then learning from their experiences could be great to learn the basics for you to navigate the day to day. He recommends getting to know the real thing by yourselves, as that is an experience nobody can tell you nor you can find in a book.