"He says put a lot of Hellmann's on everything."Eugenia López was 5 years old when the mayonnaise advertising that marked an entire generation made her one of the most famous girls on TV."Confusion" was called her commercial where, phone in hand, she passed her father's messages to her mother, generating endless misunderstandings.Curious and restless, with the same straight hair but without bangs, the girl who spread grissini with mayonnaise today is a renowned scientist who after 30 years stood in front of the cameras again.At the head of La Liga de la Ciencia, the outreach program that she leads on Public TV together with physicist Andrés Rieznik, Eugenia -36 years old, one son- unlocked a new level of interest: spreading curiosity in a fun way.She has a degree in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires and a master's degree in Neuroscience and Education at Columbia University in New York.A fan of the brain, nature and tasty food, Eugenia also hosted Ciencia a la Carta, with the chef Juan Braceli, a cycle that was broadcast by TEC, the signal of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation, the organization where currently develops educational scientific content.-What memories do you have of the advertising recordings?-I had a lot of fun, it was like a game.It was recorded in a giant shed full of objects and scenery.I played everywhere, they treated me super well.The director, Guillermo Lobo, was very kind, he proposed things that amused me.Now, as an adult (he is 36) I realize how important the input of adults was to achieve that spontaneity.But above all, what interested me most was doing the same as my older sister.Did they recognize you on the street?How did they handle it?It was a shock when the billboards appeared on the street because people began to recognize me.More than once, when my mom was asked if she was the girl in the ad, she said no, that she was very similar.They called me mayonnaise.But at that time I did not experience it as active bullying.When we moved to Montevideo the same thing happened to me because the commercial was also broadcast in Uruguay.They called me directly Hellmann's there.-Did the idea of ​​being an actress cross your mind at that time?It was a game, it didn't register that it was a job.I never wanted to be an actress, I liked to climb, play, read.It was the time of the soap opera Nano (with Araceli González and Gabriel Bermúdez, who played the director of a water park) and she said that when she grew up she wanted to be an orca trainer.-From Mundo Marino to the scientific laboratory and now back to TV, how was that path?I came to science because of my parents who studied biology.At home there were many science books, bugs, insects, silkworms.We had a Beagle dog that we nicknamed Darwin, after Charles, the naturalist.It drove me crazy that my classmates thought that we had chosen the name for a cartoon that was called that.When I was 11 years old, my dad had a brain tumor and that's when I began to soak up scientific terminology.He went blind and I became obsessed with understanding what it was like not to see.And then I dedicated myself to neuroscience.-Your father's illness marked you...-Yes, for the whole family it was very hard because he died shortly after.Another key milestone was the Science Expedition camp.I was 16 years old and I traveled to Villa La Angostura with 50 boys and girls from all over the country.It was an amazing experience, highly recommended.Being in contact with scientists and educators who promote and spread enthusiasm for science and scientific thinking was eye-opening.Among the coordinators I had the privilege of being with Diego Golombeck (doctor in Biological Sciences), who also played the guitar very well.And Melina Furman (Biologist and Ph.D. in Education), very cool.I discovered that scientists were normal, funny, interesting people.-What do you like most about neuroscience?-Communicate, disseminate, contribute my grain of sand to science education.The key is the study of the brain and the nervous system and it is fascinating to explain how the neurons communicate, what function the cells and the nervous circuits fulfill.Because there is a lot of "neurochantada" in the middle.It is tempting to use the word and apply it to different therapies that are not evidence-based.-And how did you return to TV after the publicity?-I was called to put together the TEC signal (ex TECtv), the science channel of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.Specifically for a cooking and science program called Ciencia a la Carta.I learned a lot, I had fun and confirmed that I love that dizzying pace.He came from working in the Neurobiology laboratory with one of the fathers of Argentine neuroscience, Professor Osvaldo Uchitel.But killing mice gave me nightmares and I was a little bored by the solitary daily life.The place was also dark, because my job was to investigate communication between neurons using molecules that glowed in the dark.-Now that you have added hours of flight in front of cameras, how do you remember the first recordings?-In the first program I did not have to look at the camera, the format was that of a reality show.But at first, in La Liga de la Ciencia (since 2017 on Public TV) it took me a while to adapt to the rhythm.I can't even watch those shows.Also, I had to put myself before the fact of being a woman, speaking well, being well dressed, having neat nails, being nice to the point.Lots of pressure.If I stood firm with some specific content, I was crazy or a fan.Now, little by little, that is changing.-How did you approach the assembly of the scientific escape rooms?The project for the Cultural Center of Science was very entertaining: we designed riddles and playful activities in order to invite teenagers to the museum, an almost impossible mission that turned out very well.There we proposed solving problems, detecting patterns, working as a team and even collating DNA samples to demystify a bit the scenes of the detective series where they put a hair in a tube and believe that this is how they discover the murderer.Collaborating, meeting goals and having fun was the great experiment.Copyright 2022 SA THE NATION |All rights reservedDownload the application of LA NACION.It is fast and light.Do you want to receive alert notifications?A connection error has occurred