Making An Impact: Erika Reinfeld

By Chuck Cascio, author and former South Lakes teacher

The following information about Erika Reinfeld, a member of the South Lakes High School Class of 1997, is not AI-generated, though it may seem too good to be true.

Erika is the public engagement officer for the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. Prior to that, she was a lecturer and Communication Lab manager for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Before that, she spent 10 years managing outreach programs at MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and three years as education coordinator at the MIT Museum. Her first job after college was as an education specialist for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

She is also an elected school committee member for Medford Public Schools in Massachusetts, and she and her wife have two children.

With that background, it is not surprising that Erika says, “My big thing is interdisciplinary education, trying to make connections between different ways of thinking, which the world desperately needs right now. It’s where we make the most progress as a society.”

Erika regularly promotes interdisciplinary thought and activity. At MIT, she is devoted to expanding connections among science, education and public discourse.

“They all tend to get siloed, but astrophysics is an exciting field that combines physics, chemistry, math and computing, and there’s also room for art, culture and humanities,” she said. “I am inspired by how enthusiastic the astronomers I work with are about finding interesting ways to share what they love with the public.”

Erika said the Reston community’s “live, work, play” motto “was well embedded in my 18 years growing up there.”

At South Lakes, major influences on her thinking were class projects and enrichment activities she described as “extended learning opportunities that let us explore things beyond state standards and formal curricula. I really appreciate the ownership those experiences gave us. They helped me feel more confident, in direct contrast to how socially insecure I was.”

Her appreciation of diverse areas of knowledge was fueled by many influences, but one she recalls fondly from South Lakes was when physics teacher Dr. Faruk El-Yussef “told me with absolute confidence that I would become ‘Dr. Erika’ and ‘take the physics world by storm someday.’”

“I might not have become ‘Dr. Erika,’ but I did find my way back to physics. Astronomy, after all, is just physics in ‘de skies,’” she said with a chuckle.

Erika’s wide-ranging background helped her realize that “I was never going to be happy just doing astrophysics. I need to engage other parts of my brain too. Living in Reston allowed me to explore multiple fields broadly and deeply, and what I want in my career and in life is to maintain that balance and to give other people, kids especially, those opportunities.”

At MIT, Erika promotes exploration and learning in fields that may not immediately seem related. She and the astronomers she works with call astronomy a “gateway science” because, she said, “It is often people’s first entry point to STEM learning. Astrophysics is not an applied science that is necessarily going to impact people’s daily lives, but it offers inspiration and opportunities for critical thinking, which are both essential to positive engagement with the world.”

Another major influence on Erika’s interest in connecting seemingly different aspects of life was the Reston Community Center Young Actors Theatre. “Being on stage, learning how to communicate in different ways, surrounding myself with creative people and seeing how teams work together to bring a project to life were skills that allowed me to build my career and my personal support network,” she said. “Being a camp counselor with Reston Association also helped me become a better leader and program developer more attuned to the wide range of students’ needs.”

The importance of Erika’s work is evident as liberal arts increasingly become separated from the growing emphasis on technology and science. Erika is dedicated to demonstrating the importance of tying these seemingly different fields together.

“I want to be a connector, bringing people and ideas together in ways that empower them,” she said. “I help my astronomers share their research with new audiences through things like planetarium shows and community events. As an elected official, I listen to what people in different parts of the school system are telling me about their experience and try to find common ground for improvements to policies and practices, structures that will allow us to customize learning experiences for every student.”

Not surprisingly, Erika has even more plans. For the past year, she has been working to start the Medford School Arts Alliance, a nonprofit “friends” organization that supports visual and performing arts in and beyond the classroom.

“Our driving goal is to give students positive experiences they might not otherwise have,” she said. “To me, the most rewarding moments are when someone tries something new and discovers something about themselves or the world that they maybe didn’t expect.”