Thank you.

I want to acknowledge and thank all of the committed and passionate people, programs, and institutions that I have had the pleasure of working with during my time as a scientist.  I am lucky to always be surrounded by inspiring, hardworking people that I look up to and who have always supported and believed in me. My portfolio would be empty if it weren't for the time, resources, and mentorship provided by the key groups or individuals mentioned here.  

Read below to learn more about my favorite programs and people. 

 

Minority Serving Programs

Summer Opportunities in Atmospheric ​​Research and Science, SOARS
UCAR-NCAR

In 2003 and 2004, I participated in the SOARS program in Boulder, Colorado. SOARS is a summer research internship dedicated to broadening participation in the atmospheric sciences. If there's one thing alone that has changed my life more than anything else, it is this program. I ended up falling in love with atmospheric science, met one of my closest friends, and I am confident I would have never gone to grad school without the constant support and guidance of my UCAR-NCAR family. While a SOARS protege, I worked under direction of Bill Kuo and Bill Schreiner within COSMIC. The research I contributed to lead to my first co-authored paper in Geophysical Research Letters.

Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training, SMART
​University of Colorado, Boulder

​In 2002, I participated in my first summer research internship under the direction of Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn within the Optical and X-ray Science Lab at JILA on the University of Colorado campus. The SMART program aims to improve access to STEM research for racial/ethnic groups severely underrepresented in science, math, and engineering. 

In addition to exposing young scientists to lab-work, the SMART and SOARS programs both focus heavily on graduate school and career development preparation. Since I began running student-focused programs of my own, I have reflected more on their significance in my career evolution and, as a result, have tried to integrate different components of each into the programs I have managed. 

SACNAS Summer Leadership Institute, SLI

In 2014, I had the privilege of being selected as a member of the 2014 SACNAS SLI cohort. Beginning in 2009, SACNAS has cultivated the largest cohort of diverse STEM leaders in the country. The SLI "provides premier training for motivated underrepresented minority scientists, laying the foundation for them to lead institutional transformation." I've since put my leadership training to good use in several aspects of my career and look back on and revise/update my leadership goals often. In addition, I have become very close with an amazing group of over 250 alumni, all current and future STEM leaders!  

Jose Valdes Math Institute

The Valdes Institute is a summer math camp for middle-school students focused on building individual math skills,  study skills, problem solving, and collaborative learning. 25 years after I participated in the program, I still have such fond memories of the Valdes Institute. As a kid, I could do math all day and all night. I am grateful that the Valdes Institute gave me the opportunity to harness my love for math at such a young age. Valdes was the first program I participated in that targeted minority students. 

Membership Societies

Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science, SACNAS

  Every single one of my accomplishments since 2001 can somehow be traced  back to my very first SACNAS conference in Phoenix, Arizona. As a physics major, I never saw people who looked like me in my classes. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by the hundreds of brilliant and accomplished scientists who not only looked liked me, but who also seemed to care about me—care about each other—more than I'd ever witnessed by a group of strangers. Since my first conference, I've continued to attend as a student presenter and, more recently, as a recruiter and career workshop speaker. Every SACNAS conference results in the same mixture of comfort and excitement that I experienced in 2001.  ​

American Geophysical Union, AGU

I started attending the AGU Fall meeting in 2006. As a first-year graduate student and with 20,
000 people in attendance, it was such an intimidating meeting! After eight fall meetings in a row, this meeting has become more like science Disneyland to me. In addition to scientific sessions, I began taking advantage of all of the social events and career development seminars offered as well — from graduate student mixers, to communication, education, and professional workshops.

Above all else, I am EXTREMELY grateful that AGU selected me as their 2011 AAAS Mass Media Fellow, an award and experience that changed my life forever. I am still very close with the communication and government relations staff, and in 2014, I was asked to serve on the American Geophysical Union's EOS.org Advisory Panel.

​Hear what makes me part of the AGUniverse below.

American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS

AAAS has been a big part of my life for almost a decade. While I will always be so grateful for my 2011 Mass Media Fellowship, being able to work at AAAS straight out of graduate school still makes me so incredibly thankful I could tear up! Anyone who knows me knows I loved my job more than anything else. After six years in the lab, I was finally working for an organization whose mission statement aligned exactly with my own; I was working for a group of women who were inspiring, caring, and strong; and I was working on projects I truly believed in and cared about. About a year after working at AAAS, someone asked me, "What's your dream job?" I remember being caught off guard and confused by the question. All I could muster up was, "... This iiiiiiis my dream job!"  ​

American Physical Society, APS

In 2002, before I had proven myself as a student, let alone a scientist, I was awarded the APS Minority Scholarship. There's something very meaningful about one's first award. Whether we like it or not, awards tend to pave the way for more awards. So, to break through with an award from the prestigious American Physical Society at such a young age was an honor. The APS, a decade ahead of the rest, even profiled me on their website. I worked closely with the APS while at AAAS and still have profound respect for the organization and the programs and people they support.

Mentors

Rajul Pandya, PhD

Rajul Pandya (Raj) was the first person in my life (besides my mother) to check-in on me... constantly. Raj saw something in me that I couldn't. He knew I was absolutely destined to be a scientist long before I did. From weekly check-ins, to editing application essays, to holding mock-interviews in preparation for the real deal, he is the epitome of an exceptional mentor. Since I've entered the workforce, he's moved on to helping other young scientists and communities across the world.

I met Raj in my second year of SOARS, his first year directing the program. Now he is the Executive Director of the Thriving Earth Exchange at AGU. 

Tanya Faltens, PhD​

Like Raj, Tanya Faltens liked to talk to me incessantly about applying to graduate school. She poked holes in excuse after excuse until I admitted the truth: I was scared. Tanya advised me to "embrace my fears." That day, she wrote these words inside a construction paper heart and taped it to my computer screen. That heart was with me when I studied for the GRE, applied to graduate school, and studied for my qualifying exams. It traveled with me on field campaigns (even accompanying me to Chile!), and was perched across from me when I wrote my dissertation. I retired the "Embrace your fears" heart the day I defended my PhD.

I met Tanya while working at the Lawrence Hall of Science. She's now the Educational Content Creation Manager for the Network for Computational Nanotechnology which created nanoHUB.org. ​

Patrick Chuang, PhD

Patrick Chuang was my dissertation advisor at UCSC. A PhD advisor is an interesting mix of boss, parent, and friend; Patrick maneuvered between all three seamlessly. I am grateful for the community and closeness that Patrick created within the Cloud Physics Lab through group dinners, happy hours, and outings. I am also forever grateful for the experiences that being a member of Patrick's lab provided me. I had the opportunity to represent our lab at numerous conferences around the world. Moreover, I led the operation of our lab's instrument during 5 field campaigns, both within the US and internationally.

I am also incredibly grateful for Drs. Jennifer Small Griswold and Chris Ruehl who were members of Patrick's lab when I arrived at UCSC. When trying to decide on a graduate program, their welcoming and helpful nature attracted me towards UCSC over all other factors. Jen trained me to use our instrument, our code, and helped me navigate the administrative hurdles of graduate school. Sharing the lab with Chris, I spent more time with him than with anyone else during my 6 years at Santa Cruz. We kept each other company during many late nights in the lab.

Shirley Malcom, Phd

Shirley Malcom is the Director of the Education Directorate at AAAS. Shirley hired me directly out of graduate school, propelling my career in outreach and engagement. If you've ever been in the room with Shirley, you know her power. She is confident, experienced, and wise beyond belief. She is one of the country's leading experts in science education and a prominent force in equity and inclusion in science. She has been featured/profiled/interviewed/awarded across the map and in her early 70s she is still going strong. I am extremely grateful for her mentorship and her ability to be both hands-on, checking in with me daily while at AAAS, and at the same time providing me almost complete autonomy over my programs, trusting my expertise and judgement from day-one. I am so lucky to have had such a powerhouse of a boss my first job post-graduate school. 

Yolanda George

Yolanda George, the Deputy Director of the Education Directorate at AAAS, and Shirley Malcom go together like peanut butter and jelly. Together, with over a century of experience working in science education, they are unstoppable. Although I worked only tangentially under Yolanda through my participation in the L'Oreal Fellowship, ERN Conference, and a few other programs/events that Yolanda managed (upwards of at least 20!), she has always cared for me almost like a daughter. As a DC transplant, Yolanda immediately extended an invite to spend all major holidays with her and her family, making me feel part of a community — not an easy feat in such a formal and transient city. I will forever be grateful for the love and guidance she has, and continues to, provide me.

Yolanda Comedy, PhD

From the first day I met Yolanda Comedy she was providing me with free career advice. :) As someone who has navigated many professional spaces, her advice and guidance are always welcome. Yolanda ​constantly has my best interest in mind and is available at the drop of a hat. I met Yolanda at AAAS where she was the Director of the Center for Advancing Science & Engineering Capacity. She also founded and directed the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program. 

Inez Fung, PhD

Inez Fung is the reason I entered the field of science engagement. During an Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics class in the early 2000s (back when climate change wasn't nearly as accepted as an environment threat as it is today), she stressed that it was imperative for scientists to engage with the public in hopes for large-scale social and environmental change. She was the first person I heard preach that scientists have a responsibility to communicate science to lay-audiences outside of academia, an idea that has been fundamental to my career. I look up to Inez more than anyone else in my field; she perfectly incorporates science communication and engagement into her career as a tenured professor at UC Berkeley with strength, humility, and brilliance. 

Important Miscellaneous Acknowledgments 

Favorite Classes and Teachers

Graduate (UC Santa Cruz):
Favorite Class: Math 106B, Partial Differential Equations (love/hate relationship) with Debra Lewis 
Favorite Teacher: Nic Brummell, AMS 217, Fluid Dynamics

Undergraduate (UC Berkeley):
Favorite Class: Atmospheric Physical Chemistry Lab with Kristie Boering
Favorite Teacher: Allen Goldstein, Atmospheric Chemistry

High School (Santa Teresa High School):
Favorite Class: Physics with Mr. Dave Haggerty 
Favorite Teacher: Mr. Richard Taylor, Algebra II

Jr. High (Bernal Intermediate):
Class/Teacher: Algebra, Mr. Lowell Russell
​
Elementary School (Baldwin Elementary):
4th & 5th grade: Mr. Mike Boulland

Website Review Committee

I want to give a GINORMOUS thank you to the people who spent their valuable time to provide me with design and layout recommendations as well as to thoroughly review and edit this website.
This includes Drs.:

Daniel Blustein
Yolanda Comedy
Regina DeGraaff
Heather Ford
Nicole Kinsman
Travis O'Brien
​
A special thanks to Ben Young Landis for his (loud) design ideas and Patrick Chuang and Jeffery Racheff for finding straggling typos.