Natalia Toro
Science Talent Search – 1999
International Science and Engineering Fair – 1999
About Natalia Toro
Particle physicist and professor Natalia Toro is known for her pioneering work on the nature of dark matter. In 1999, Toro competed in STS and ISEF, winning first prize in STS for her project on neutrinos. She pursued her interest in physics in higher education, earning a doctoral degree from Harvard University in 2007. Toro’s research focuses on finding the “missing pieces” of the Standard Model of particle physics, using data from the Large Hadron Collider. She received the 2015 New Horizons in Physics Prize in recognition of her work.
Science Talent Search
Toro (center) with fellow STS 1999 winners David Moore (left) and Keith Winstein (right). She later stated, “The biggest impact it had on my life was that without the experience [of winning STS], I might have given up. It gave me the confidence to persevere and motivated me to learn a lot more.”
Science Talent Search 1999
Toro with her winning STS project about neutrino oscillations.
Science Talent Search 2015
Toro spoke at STS in 2015. She is pictured here with that year’s Seaborg Award winner Emily Ashkin.