LIMFEF

Profiles of Minority Female Environmental Faculty

This page contains profiles of minority women who are pioneers and leaders as well as some of the most promising young scholars or "rising stars". It will also focus exclusively on contemporary minority female environmental scientists.

MELDI Program Director:

Dorceta E. Taylor

Female Profiles:

Claudia Benitez-Nelson

Clara Irazabal Zurita

Robin Kimmerer

Patty Loew

Xiangyi Lu

Leticia Marquez-Magana

Ratna Sharma-Shivappa

Beverly Wright

Dawn Wright "Deepsea Dawn"

Male Profiles:

Tsing-Chang "Mike" Chen

Man Lung "Desmond" Kwan

Wen Lin (a pseudonym)

MELDI Program Director

Dorceta E. Taylor

(1957-Present)

Associate Professor of Environmental Sociology

University of Michigan

School of Natural Resources and Environment

Center for Afroamerican and African Studies

Program Director, MELDI

"Mentoring is only as good as the protege's ability to recognize good advice and act on it." - Dorceta E. Taylor, 2005.

I became interested in the environment when I was a little girl growing up in rural Jamaica. One of my tasks was to tend the family rose garden and I became fascinated by the flowers and butterflies as well as the countless fruit trees in the yard. I loved going to the garden in the early morning because I could gaze at the nearby waterfall - I particularly liked it when it was obscured by the mist that sometimes blanketed the hillsides. When I was eight, my grammar school teacher opened a magical world to me. One afternoon the teacher led our class through the fields and to the banks of the river on which our small school perched. She handed each of us a new notebook; and as she carefully spelled out the words, "Environmental Studies," each child copied the letters precisely, being careful not to make a mistake. It was 1965. Our teacher told us that this was a new subject that that we would be studying. I was mesmerized!

The second awakening came four years later in 1969 during my first year in high school. I was then a twelve-year-old girl sitting in the front row of a crowded, sparsely-furnished classroom in Kingston waiting anxiously to see how long the substitute teacher would last before he or she would retreat to the staff room in despair. Being the honors students of the first-year high school class, my classmates had already mastered the art of being disruptive without breaking school rules or being punished too severely. Our collective rule-bending was always well organized and choreographed. Our favorite tactic was to begin a world knowledge contest before the teacher arrived in the room. Once begun, it was nigh impossible for a neophyte teacher to turn our attention to other subjects. Boys sat on one side of the room and girls on the other. We lobbed questions regarding obscure facts at each other. A scorekeeper kept order and recorded the score on the chalkboard. The object of the game was to settle a question that had plagued us all year, were boys smarter than girls? As talk of "women's liberation" filtered into our consciousness, the game got more intense. We spent hours in the library after school each day, trying to unearth facts that we would use to stymie the opposition. On this particular day, we were so caught up in the competition that we failed to notice a tall, elegant black man standing at the door. "What is the intraventricular septum?" he asked. There was stunned silence. It took three or four attempts to get some rough approximation of the answer. Sensing a challenge, the focus of the game shifted; it was now the class against the teacher. He fired questions at us and we fired questions at him for an hour. We couldn't stump him. Up to that point in my life, I had never met anyone who was so smart and who had such presence. Most of our teachers wanted no part of the game; they squelched it as soon as they walked in the room. We were intrigued. We stayed through the entire lunch hour to listen to him. He told us he was a professor, and "a learned man." That evening I went home and wrote a note to myself in the only private place in the house. I pulled my bed away from the wall and added one more goal to my list. On the wall I wrote, "Get a Ph.D.; become a professor and a learned woman." "The professor" as our American visitor became known, was in our school for a few more days and then simply vanished. None of us really knew his real name or could figure out why he had visited our school. For me, he stayed long enough to demonstrate that learning was an enjoyable life-long undertaking, and that a career involving the pursuit of knowledge was possible.

At the time I decided to become a professor, the career opportunities for and the aspirations of girls were limited. Despite the fact that I had no idea how I was going to attain my goal, I began pursuing it with intense determination from that age on. I knew that if I studied hard and got good grades, then the likelihood that the rest would fall in place was greatly enhanced.

In the meantime, my fascination with the environment continued - it only grew stronger after I was introduced to biology in high school. I specialized in zoology and botany passing both the University of Cambridge ordinary and advanced levels exams. I also entered a teacher-training college and studied to become a teacher at the same time I pursued my Cambridge advanced level studies. I became a certified high school science teacher in 1977. While teaching, I shared my enthusiasm for the environment with my students. Just before I left Jamaica in 1978, my second-year science class in the girls boarding school in which I taught, won the National Junior Science Exhibition award for the project I did with them studying light and shade tolerance of Pinto bean plants. That same year, one of the students I trained also became the regional Spelling Bee champion.

I completed my undergraduate education in the U.S., specializing in biology and environmental studies. At times I worked full time and also took a full-time course load. I graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with high honors in 1983. However, for graduate school I wanted to work more on the relationship between people and the environment. I was always concerned with poverty and social inequality (especially as it affected people in developing countries), and wanted to incorporate it more fully into my academic pursuits. At the time, I found the discipline of biology did not pay much attention to social issues so I decided to focus less on biology and more on environmental studies and sociology as a means of cultivating my interests.

When I was admitted to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1983, I was the second black woman admitted to the master's program in the history of the school. I completed a Master of Forest Science degree in 1985 and was admitted into the Ph.D. program that same year. From 1985-1991, I completed a master of arts and a master of philosophy degree as well as dual doctorates. I developed an individualized program of study in which I pursued one Ph.D. in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and another in the Department of Sociology concurrently. I am the first black woman to get a Ph.D. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. (Founded in 1901, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies is the oldest school of its kind in the country.)

In choosing which graduate school to attend, I faced a dilemma - go to one of the schools that offered full fellowships or take out a large student loan to go to school where I felt I would get the best education. I chose the latter - and if faced with the same choice again today, would make the same decision. After completing my first master's degree, I got several national and university-wide fellowships to pursue doctoral and post-doctoral studies. While a doctoral student, I was the recipient of a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship, Yale Dissertation Fellowship, Bouchet Dissertation Fellowship, and a National Research Council Ford Dissertation Fellowship. I also received two Mellon fellowships to conduct dissertation field research in the Virgin Islands and to study organization theory.

In 1991 I received a National Science Foundation post-doctoral fellowship to conduct research in England. I also lived in Canada for a year. In 1992, I applied for post-doctoral and faculty positions at the same time. I received a Rockefeller-Ford post-doctoral fellowship in Michigan's Poverty and the Underclass program. I was also offered a tenure-track position with a joint appointment in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) and the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (CAAS) at the same time. I accepted both positions at Michigan: I spent the first year as a post-doctoral fellow and assumed full-time faculty responsibilities in 1993.

I am currently an Associate Professor of Environmental Sociology at the University of Michigan where I teach courses in environmental history, environmental politics, environmental justice, environment and development, gender and environment, and sociological theory. My research focuses on history of mainstream and environmental justice ideology and activism, social movements and framing, and diversity in the environmental field. I completed two books recently that are currently in review. The first, which focuses on the rise of the urban environmental movement is entitled: Environment, Work and Recreation in American Cities: 1600s-1900s. Disorder, Inequality and Social Change. The second manuscript which analyzes the rise of the conservation movement is entitled: Outward Bound: Manliness, Wealth, Race and the Rise of the Environmental Movement. 1830s-1930s. I am currently working on a third manuscript on minorities and the environment which I hope to complete in the next year that will be entitled: People of Color and the Environment: 1600s-1900s.

I am currently the Program Director for the Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI - http://www.umich.edu/~meldi). MELDI's initial funding came from the Joyce Foundation. I am currently conducting a national study of minority and white students in university environmental programs to find out about their preparation for the environmental workforce, willingness to work in environmental organizations upon graduation, salary expectations, and whether they consider issues related to equity and diversity in the workplace relevant to their job satisfaction. I am also conducting a parallel study of employees in environmental organizations to find out about their work experiences. A third study is being conducted among environmental organizations to find out about institutional factors relating to recruitment and retention of employees, the institution of mentoring programs, diversity efforts, employee review procedures, and the demographic characteristics of these organizations.

I am also conducting a fourth study that is closely related to those already mentioned. I am working on a National Science Foundation-sponsored project that seeks to examine the status of minority faculty in university environmental departments (see http://www.umich.edu/limfef). I am conducting a survey of minority and white faculty in an attempt to find out about recruitment, retention, promotion and tenure, career development, opportunities to collaborate with colleagues or take on leadership roles, networking, and mentoring. I am also currently organizing a National Summit on Diversity in the Environmental Field. The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders of environmental organizations, government environmental agencies, environmental grantmaking foundations, academics, students, and corporate representatives to discuss the state of diversity in the environmental field and formulate next steps.

I have received several awards. Most recently, I received the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholars Program fellowship to be in residence at Yale in Fall 2005. I am currently a member of the Yale School of Forestry's Leadership Council, and Vice-Chair of the Board of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation. In addition, I review proposals for the National Science Foundation and National Research Council. I also review journal articles for a number of leading journals. I recently served on the selection committee for the Morris K. Udall Foundation fellowship program. Because of the nature of my work and the interest in environmental justice, I get numerous requests for speaking engagements. As a mother of young twins, I try to balance life and career by limiting the number of speaking engagements I commit to in a given year. My professional life is an important part of my identity, but family is also very important. It is important to my husband and I to take the time to raise our girls so that they become strong women who can make intelligent choices and balance the various aspects of their lives when they get older.

Nothing in life is easy, and embarking on an environmental career is by no means a walk in the park. In many ways, the easy option for me would have been to continue on the pre-med path and become a doctor or a biomedical researcher. Subjects like biology, botany, zoology came effortlessly to me, but I would have been extremely unhappy with those choices. I took the road less traveled by switching from a purely natural science degree to a blend of social and natural science. This was risky - especially since the switch did not occur till I was in graduate school, and at the time I made the switch, I had little social science background. However, once I decided on the career I wanted and finally figured out all the steps I needed to take to attain it, I was willing to go against conventional wisdom, be ostracized by my peers, take the risk of being the "only one" or the "first one" to achieve my objectives. At first I just "toughed it out," but later I began to realize that many great leaders or thinkers were very unconventional. Simply following the crowd often leaves little for innovation. Over time, I began to view my unconventional path and choices as preparation for something unusual - I don't know yet what that might be.

I absolutely enjoy being a professor and would do nothing else despite the fact that I could earn a lot more money in other jobs. However, money has never driven my career choices - freedom to control my time, thought processes, and area of research, as well as the chance to work with young people have always been far more important to me than money. Furthermore, I cannot imagine myself working in any other field. I discovered early on that I hated the 9-5 routine, being stuck in an office, and having someone watch over me all the time. I work best when I control my time and creativity. Academia is the ultimate place in allowing for that. I work long hours every day of the week. If I were expected to put in that amount time in an office, I would be much less inclined to do so.

I like meeting and working with students, teaching them and watching the "light bulb turn on" in their heads. I mentor many students at the University of Michigan and elsewhere. I like the growth and progress one sees in students as they mature and develop their own careers. This is the most exciting part of my career.

There are ebbs and flows to everyone's career. The periods of normalcy are sometimes interrupted by intense high and lows. One such low point occurred in 1987. I was then a second-year doctoral student attending a professional conference in Washington, D.C. on a hot, humid day in August. Somewhat apprehensively, I walked into a social gathering of people in my field. I met a few professors and students from other universities and was just starting to feel comfortable when an older gentleman walked over to me - I was the only minority person in the room - and said in a loud voice, "What are you doing here? Deliveries are in the rear!" Nothing prepares one for moments like this and all the things you tell yourself you should have said or should have done completely escape you (they usually comeback after the moment has passed). The room went silent. All fifty or so people in the room stared at me. I looked at the man and said, "The same thing everybody else is doing here." I don't quite remember what else I said. I knew I took a sip of my wine and turned back to the person I was conversing with before being interrupted. For the next little while, two competing thoughts raced through my mind - leave the room and conference immediately or stay. Instinct took over, I stayed. It also occurred to me that no one said anything; after an awkward pause lasting a few seconds, everyone went back to their wine, cheese and conversation.

I later learned that the man who confronted me was a "big name" professor in the discipline. Indeed he is quite renowned in the field and has a reputation as a liberal thinker. About an hour after initially confronting me, the man approached me again and quietly said, "I am sorry I said that to you. You were wearing white and I thought you were the server. I just came out of a long meeting, I am tired and I just snapped." No one else in the gathering ever said anything about the event till last year. The young man I was talking to when the incident occurred sent me an email out of the blue raising the issue again. As it turned out, he was a first-year doctoral student studying under the professor and felt powerless to intervene.

In the few seconds I pondered staying or leaving the room, I didn't think of the larger ramifications of the decision. Leaving the room would have meant leaving the discipline (and if I was going to do that I wanted to do it on my own terms). As it turns out, to this day, just about every article or book submitted for publication, research grant submitted for funding, even my review for tenure go through some of the people who were in that room. Though I did not know it at the time, a decision to stay in the room really meant I had to figure out how to have some kind of long-term professional relationship with the people in that room.

I haven't allowed events like this to cloud my view of field or the people in it. Over the years, I have met and worked with many people who have been incredibly gracious and generous with their time. My advisors at Yale, William Burch, Paul DiMaggio, Wendell Bell and Kai Erikson helped me how to think more analytically at the same time they pushed me to produce work of very high standards. They were willing to give advice when I sought it. Throughout my profession, I have always sought advice from people who are more senior and who understand how systems, institutions and networks function. I maintain contact with people who understand the unwritten and informal rules of the game since these are often crucial to one's career. At the University of Michigan, senior colleagues like Paul Mohai and Bobbi Low helped me to understand the intricate ways in which academic departments functioned. On a larger scale, I have maintained contact with a large number of people who I can always count on to give me aperspective that comes from outside the institution in which I work. Mentoring is only as good as the protege's ability to recognize good advice and act on it. To young people considering a career in the environmental field, if you don't have a mentor, get one! Once you do have a mentor, be aware that the protege plays an active role in the mentoring process. That is, the protege sets goals, seeks out good mentors, solicits advice, acts on the advice given, and makes the adjustments necessary to mature, meet their goals and flourish.

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Female Profiles

Claudia Benitez-Nelson

(1972-Present)

Assistant Professor, Marine Science Program, Department of Geolgocial Sciences

University of South Carolina

"There are now good strong networks comprised of successful minority women for people coming into this field.. You don't have to feel like you're the only one." - Claudia Benitez-Nelson, 2006.

Benitez-Nelson is one of five children born to Raoul St. Pierre, a physician, and Nurith, a nurse practitioner. Though the family lived in New York when she was very young, they moved to Seattle when she was six, and Benitez-Nelson says growing up there had an impact on her budding intellectual interests. "Seattle is a very environmentally conscious city," she notes. "I couldn't help but be aware of environmental issues."

Water is also a big part of Seattle's livelihood, and Benitez-Nelson was always attracted to it. She began her college career studying chemistry "because I was good at it;" she then took an introduction to Oceanography course and found that she was good at that too. However, it took the guidance of a mentor to make her realize that she could pursue her scientific interests professionally. "At first, it didn't occur to me that I could study these subjects or have a career in them," she admits. "[But] one day, my professor told me to think about Marine Science as a career. He really got me involved and interested, and sent me to an advisor in the Oceanography Department. That's how it all started."

Benitez-Nelson earned her B.S. in Chemistry and Chemical Oceanography from the University of Washington in 1992, and her Ph.D. in Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joint program in 1999. Three weeks after receiving her doctorate, Benitez-Nelson took a job as a research faculty member at the University of Hawaii. "I had worked in labs as a research assistant up until then, but that was my first real environmental research job," she says. "I wasn't required to teach or mentor students, I just did research." Benitez-Nelson's research there involved examining how and in what forms phosphorous is utilized by marine organisms for growth. She also looked at how carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by examining the formation and sinking of carbon containing particles in the ocean.

Benitez-Nelson is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of South Carolina, where she teaches and continues to do research. She is now in her fourth year at the institution. "I found out the job was available, thought the position looked great and applied for it," she says simply. She is also the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the school's Marine Science Program, where she plays an additional role: "I'm basically mom to the undergraduates here. I make sure everything is going well." Benitez-Nelson is still interested in phosphorus cycling, and is currently developing new techniques to examine the chemical composition of phosphorus in marine systems. She recently served as the lead investigator of a large interdisciplinary project examining the role of cyclonic eddies (large oceanographic whirlpools) in marine plant and animal production.

Benitez-Nelson's role as both mentor and surrogate mother to her department's undergraduates stems in part from experience with her own mentors, especially her relationships with female professors and other female scientists. "In my field there are few to no minorities, so my mentors have mostly been women I saw who were successful," she explains. "Those women became great academics and research scientists. They were married with kids and could do it all. They weren't perfect, of course, but they were getting it done. I liked them and wanted to be one of them." She was also encouraged by her "outstanding" Ph.D. advisor, Ken Buesseler, and continues to look to her colleagues at the University of South Carolina for mentorship, especially Drs. Billy Moore and Bob Thunell: "Whenever I have questions, I go to them." She notes that her diverse range of mentors share one important characteristic: they are people who take their science seriously, but aren't consumed by it. "They thought it important to communicate science in a way that all people could understand, and they also thought it important to be with family," Benitez-Nelson says. She tries to follow their lead as much as possible, and have, as she puts it, "a life outside work."

Benitez-Nelson is now a mentor to developing scientists herself, a role that she cherishes. "Integrating research with teaching and mentorship has been the highlight of my career so far," she says. She admits mentorship wasn't something that initially attracted her, but through experience she discovered she loved it, and now "I try to do it all the time." She is currently involved in a number of diversity-related mentorship activities, including the South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation, the Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science initiative (MSPHDs), and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She also runs a program that takes graduate students into middle schools to do science projects with at-risk kids, and has mentored high school students in her lab. Benitez-Nelson notes that all of the programs she's a part of are mentoring programs because "that's how you get people involved. As a mentor, I can show people that they can go into the environmental science field, they can get a good job, and they might like it. That's how I increase diversity directly."

Although Benitez-Nelson describes her career as being "wonderful" overall, there have been a few rough spots. One was the birth of her first child. "After my son was born, I loved being with him," she recalls. "It suddenly put things in perspective in terms of what was important and what wasn't." Benitez-Nelson says that at times, lack of sleep became a problem, and it was difficult to manage the shift in focus between her career and her son. "My career wasn't as important at that point-instead, my son was the highlight of my life," she says. However, she was able to get through that period with the support and encouragement of her mentors and her family, especially her husband and mom. "Life's been pretty good in general," Benitez-Nelson says. "Everyone has hardships, but you get through them."

Benitez-Nelson acknowledges that it can sometimes be difficult working in the scientific field when "[I] look like I do." She notes that she has sometimes been mistaken for a secretary because of her race and gender, and people have at times assumed she'd be more "comfortable" in certain areas of a city solely because that's where "minorities live." She realizes that such mistakes are often made out of ignorance rather than malice; however, educating others can become tiresome after awhile. Fortunately, Benitez-Nelson notes that attitudes like these are slowly improving. "I think it's changing," she says. "There is a lot of progress being made in people's perceptions, and how they think."

Benitez-Nelson is hopeful about engaging more minorities in the environmental field. "Once they consider it, a lot of minorities are excited about it," she notes. "It's getting them to consider environmental science as a career that's problematic." As for minorities pursuing careers in the field, Benitez-Nelson has this advice: "There are now good strong networks comprised of successful minority women for people coming into this field. You don't have to feel like you're the only one."

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Gillian Bowser

Adjunct Professor and Research Scientist

Texas A&M University

"Find something or someone that gives you strength." - Gillian Bowser, 2006.

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Gillian Bowser didn't have much exposure to environmental issues or the natural world. However, her New York upbringing did provide her with something that helped her succeed as an African American woman in the environmental field. "New Yorkers are just so darn proud of who they are," Bowser says, laughing. "Living there, you're introduced to so many different things and cultures, that it's easy to see things as challenges rather than barriers."

Bowser attended high school at the LaGuardia School of Music and the Arts in New York City, and started out majoring in medical illustration at Northwestern University in Chicago. She soon realized how much she enjoyed biology, and it ended up as her major. Her career interest in the environment and conservation was also launched in college, when she had a seasonal job at the front desk of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. She was introduced to the National Park Service (NPS) by friendly park staff, and started as a wildlife biologist at Yellowstone through the NPS in 1980. Bowser continued to work at Yellowstone through the NPS cooperative education program as an undergraduate and beyond; by 1984, she was a full-time employee, doing research on elk, bison, mice, and butterflies. NPS has sponsored Bowser's research ever since, including her master's work in Zoology at the University of Vermont, and her doctoral research in population genetics at Badlands National Park through the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Contrary to her original plans, "I've been an ecologist and wildlife biologist my whole career," Bowser says.

In her current position, Bowser still works for the NPS but is stationed at Texas A&M University. The unique position gives her the flexibility to mentor undergraduate and graduate students, do research projects with professors, give guest lectures, and serve as the NPS liaison to the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. Bowser relishes the opportunities a university setting allows her, especially her ability to mentor students coming up in the field. She calls her mentoring opportunities "the greatest joy of being back at a university," especially when she gets to work with minority students. "The university field at the grad level is very white-there's not much diversity in the student ranks," Bowser laments. "It's important for them to have diverse mentors. It can be a different, strange environment for them, and I like to make sure they feel ok and they know that their challenges are understood." Bowser recognizes the importance of minority mentoring at least in part because of her own experience coming up in the field. Her biggest mentor, spanning her career at NPS, is J.T. Reynolds, the Superintendent of Death Valley National Park. "When I started at NPS, there were no blacks," she says. "He was the first black person I met in a Park Service uniform. He immediately took me under his wing as a mentor, and has been a guiding force for me ever since." Bowser says Robert Stanton, the first black NPS director, was also a tremendous role model. She worked as Stanton's assistant in Washington, D.C., and says that seeing Stanton handle the political pressures that accompany conserving national park lands was tremendously influential. "It was eye-opening to be in D.C., and see the pressures on the parks from all sides," Bowser says. "And it was amazing to watch Mr. Stanton do his job. He is such a gentleman, so committed and so poised. Most people say he was the most incredible director we ever had."

Bowser also credits her major advisor, Bette Loiselle, and post-doc advisor, Jill Baron, for their commitment to diversity in science and continuing friendship. Bowser says that Loiselle "Developed a lab that was so multi-cultural that we all felt welcomed, challenged, and groundbreaking at the same time. Of fourteen people there, only two were Caucasians. The environment was so supportive for me, to have that background, and to know that you can help people foster that strength." Baron ran a similarly multicultural lab that thrived on diversity and support.

Bowser still keeps in touch with all her mentors, and draws on their examples in her own mentoring endeavors. "The people that nurture you throughout your career are just so critical," she notes. Bowser is especially proud of her involvement in a Student Conservation Association internship program that matches students with a mentor and places them in national parks. She is mentoring two female African American students from Prairie A&M University through the program. "Neither of them had ever been in a national park-it was so fun to see them, and the other students, go and get excited about stewardship of our natural resources," Bowser says. "I got them together with my mentor J.T. Reynolds, and they plan to go on to grad school. I hope they go into conservation as a career, but even if they don't, maybe they will take their own kids to a park, and know the kind of possibilities that it offers."

In addition to the mentoring opportunities, Bowser says she remains happy in her field because she can study a subject that she loves and make a visible difference. She considers her greatest scientific achievement to be assisting with taxa surveys of all the national parks, working in partnership with her colleague Keith Langdon at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "It helped the parks understand the importance of invertebrates, how much things like bugs are the linch-pins of complicated ecological systems," Bowser explains. Even a project that she initially thought of as a career low point eventually had its rewards. "They decided to run a highway construction project through an area where we were trying to protect the desert tortoise in Joshua Tree National Park," she says. "It was very discouraging, and I left while the project was still going on." However, the builders eventually took Bowser's groups' advice and put passages in cubs to protect the tortoises and the low turned into a high. "It was really neat," Bowser says. "Seeing those returns is what is cool about the environmental field. You can take people places and show them what you've accomplished."

Bowser says that for minorities especially, learning to view certain circumstances as challenges rather than barriers is key to success as a minority in the non-diverse environmental field. "The majority has given us images of who we are-images that blacks don't use the natural environment, that there's a cultural history of blacks being intimidated by the natural environment," she says. "As African American women, we're taught to think that things like spiders and snakes are scary. But you can work through that, and realize that these things are not so scary. You can grow and become much stronger." She emphasizes the importance of a supportive network to the process of growing and facing those challenges. "Find something or someone that gives you strength-whether that be church, family, or mentors," she says. "You can also draw strength from being a pioneer. Even though it feels far from the civil rights movement, if you can get one more minority out there, it's an accomplishment. Take advantageof that...use it as a strength."

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Renae Brodie

(1970-Present)

Assistant Professor

University of South Carolina

"I truly can't imagine doing anything else." - Renae Brodie, 2006.

Growing up in South Dakota as the daughter of medical professionals-mother Jane Gidley was a neo-natal intensive care nurse, and father Leon Brodie was a dentist-who excelled at math and science in school, it was assumed that Renae Brodie would become a doctor. But after working in a hospital as an undergraduate pre-med, Brodie found that she "didn't like it [medicine] at all." However, she did like research science. And despite the fact that her only real exposure to water had come during her family's yearly trips to Los Angeles beaches growing up, she was especially interested in marine science. When she found out that she could, indeed, make a living out of that as well, Brodie switched her major from pre-med to marine biology "almost as a default," and has remained in the field ever since.

Brodie graduated from the University of California-Santa Barbara in 1991 with a B.S. in Aquatic Biology, then moved on to the University of Washington for a Ph.D. in Zoology. It was there that she would meet her most important mentor, her graduate advisor Alan Kohn. Despite the fact that Brodie was both the only woman and the only minority in his lab, she didn't feel like she was treated any differently. "I was one of his last students-I came in at the end of his career," she recalls. "He was old school...he had no problem showing displeasure, but he took a lot of time to mentor me and look over my work." Brodie says that minorities can sometimes face lower expectations in academic situations, especially in the sciences, but she didn't feel that was the case in Kohn's lab. "Sometimes it seems like, 'You're the smartest black person we could find," Brodie says. "For me it was nothing like that. I found that really refreshing. I don't remember him ever referring to me as a black person. I was just another person in his lab."

After obtaining her Ph.D., Brodie got a post-doc fellowship at the Smithsonian's Marine Station in Florida, where she conducted research on the development of land-crab gills during the transition from marine to terrestrial environments. During that period, she was offered a tenure-track faculty position with the University of South Carolina's Department of Biological Sciences. She deferred that temporarily to do more research on evolving animal morphology in Panama, but eventually accepted. Today, Brodie is an Assistant Professor of Biology at USC; though she spends most of her time conducting research on eco-physiology and larval biology, she also teaches courses in bio-physical ecology and animal behavior.

Brodie mentors a number of undergraduate students in her lab; in fact, she considers being a good mentor the main focus of her career, and her most significant achievement thus far. "I'm still working on it," she says. However, like her own mentor Alan Kohn, expectations for her mentees are high. "I recruit undergrads every semester, and one or two come with me every research season. [But] I don't have to recruit so much anymore...I can screen and take the best ones. I get the very best people I can in here."

Brodie is also the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER grant, which finances her work to increase minority representation in research science. Her diversity work emphasizes both research and education. In addition to mentoring a number of minority students in her lab, Brodie does science outreach programs in local, predominantly black elementary schools. "We go into a school once a month and do hands-on science work directed by the children's interest, usually a one to two hour lesson centered around a certain topic." Though Brodie admits that list can be somewhat eclectic-one unit was entitled "Dangerous Birds"-and certain topics don't get covered, the idea is to get kids excited about science. "The main point is to interact with the kids, and foster their enthusiasm for science," she says.

Brodie says she remains in the environmental field because of the intellectual freedom and stimulation it provides. "I develop my own approach to research-it's completely self-directed and self-motivated," she says. "As long as I can find someone to fund my ideas, I can do whatever I want. It's intellectually invigorating...I love exchanging ideas with bright colleagues, and I get the opportunity to do a lot of traveling. I truly can't imagine doing anything else." Brodie notes the friendships and professional collaborations she has developed with colleagues as being the highlights of her career. Though it was difficult for her to establish herself each time she moved to a new position, she finds her ongoing relationships with her colleagues, students and mentees to be the most rewarding aspects of working in academia.

"What helped me get through grad school was hooking up with other minority grad students," Brodie says. Though the University of Washington did not have a diverse student population at that time, Brodie sought out other minority women in the sciences and formed a support network. "I found two other minority women in science departments, and the three of us stuck together and encouraged each other to finish," she says. Though she had friends within her own department, Brodie says it was a comfort to have others who understood the minority perspective. "It really helps to have other people who are actually experiencing the same thing and could empathize. It lowered my stress level considerably." Brodie recommends that young minorities pursuing environmental careers do the same: "If there are no minorities in their lab/department, seek out minorities in other science departments and build relationships with them."

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Nilda Burgos

(1963-Present)

Associate Professor of Weed Science

University of Arkansas

"Pick up an area of interest and go with it, and you will do very well." - NNilda Burgos, 2006.

Nilda Burgos, Associate Professor of Weed Science at the University of Arkansas, says that her career as a weed scientist has "everything to do" with her upbringing in a subsistence farming community in the Philippines. "It influenced my career 100%," she says. "I acquired an understanding of how a plant is developing, and interactions between crops and their environment." Burgos says that beyond providing inspiration and basic knowledge about agriculture, her background also instilled a kind of fortitude that helps in her line of work. "Doing research in the field presents different kinds of challenges," she says. "One has to be physically tough and mentally resilient. I got that all from where I grew up. Heat and humidity down in the Mississippi River Delta are not so bad for me."

Burgos earned her B.S. in Agronomy with a Soil Fertility major at the Visayas State College of Agriculture, Philippines. After graduating, she worked on a research project examining the uses of nitrogen-fixing trees as natural soil ameliorants for corn production on hilly land, and continued to work on similar research projects in the Philippines from 1983-1991. During one of those projects, she met a consultant who was a weed science Professor (Dr. Ron Talbert) from the University of Arkansas; realizing her potential for further scientific study, he recruited her for graduate school. She excelled there, earning her Master's degree and later her Ph.D. in Weed Science. After earning her doctorate in 1997, Burgos worked as a researcher for an agro-chemical company. However, a vacant faculty position sprung up at Arkansas, and Burgos soon found herself a faculty and researcher in the same department where she had been a student. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Burgos has now established a solid reputation as a researcher examining questions of weed physiology; weed population diversity in terms of genetics and morphology; and their implications for crop production and agricultural environments.

Burgos credits Dr. Ron Talbert, her advisor while in graduate school and major mentor when she returned to Arkansas as faculty, and two other colleagues, Dr. Dick Oliver and Dr. Jim Barrentine, as "excellent mentors. They guided and supported me and made things a lot easier for me since the beginning," she says. Burgos says she has also benefited greatly from her collaborations with other department faculty in different research specialties; for example, she has teamed with specialists to examine nitrogen uptake in rice and weedy rice, and with rice breeders and weed science extension specialists to examine gene flow in that crop. She also has collaborators outside of the Crop Science department. Currently, she works very closely with a vegetable breeder, Dr. Teddy Morelock, at the Horticulture department and an extension specialist at Oklahoma State University, in finding weed control options for cowpeas and other vegetable crops. "I have been enriched a lot by these collaborations," Burgos says. "I also consider my collaborators my mentors."

Burgos says that mentors have also played a critical role in helping her transition to, and succeed in, an American university setting. Since then, she has advised a number of minority and international students in similar situations, and does her best to help them adjust to what may be an unfamiliar and intimidating environment. Burgos is also actively involved in efforts to promote diversity awareness and Filipino culture, including serving as the secretary of the International Student Organization as a graduate student, and as a former President and regular member of the Northwest Arkansas Filipino-American Association. "The one constant thing I've been involved in has been community service and charity work," she says.

Burgos says she continues to work in the environmental field because "I feel connected to it. I can make the best contributions in this field because I truly understand a lot of the problems that are plaguing this area, and my training has been in this area since the very beginning." Burgos says the more knowledge she gains in her field, the more she enjoys doing research and learning even more. She notes that the field offers a wealth of opportunities, both in terms of research questions and employment, and she encourages minorities to pursue the environmental field if they have the desire to see it through. "Just do your best, be tenacious, and have an open mind," she advises. "It's mind-boggling how much needs to be done in this area. Pick up an area of interest and go with it, and you will do very well. There are lots of opportunities for employment, and innumerable resources you can use to learn."

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Adrienne Cooper

(1962-Present)

Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering

Temple University

"Not working in the environmental field, especially as someone who's in technology, would be irresponsible." - Adrienne Cooper, 2006.

"When I look and see the things that are going on around me every day, it makes it that much clearer to me that the work I do needs to be done, and we need more people doing it," says Adrienne Cooper. Cooper, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at Temple University, says finding Green applications for new technologies is the primary motivation for her work-indeed, she believes it is the only responsible thing for someone with her skills and background. "We still have people dying in this world from lack of access to clean water," she says. "In lots of ways, our environment is getting worse, not better. We still have a group of people-people in power-who refuse to accept that we need to make changes in order to maintain human existence. Not working in the environmental field, especially as someone who's in technology, would be irresponsible.""

The daughter of a university librarian and physics professor, Cooper always knew she was interested in science. However, she didn't start out pursuing an environmental path. She majored in Chemical Engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee, where she did some work in water management and wastewater treatment (beginning with the Tennessee Valley Authority's river management division) and also worked with nuclear waste. After graduating, Cooper worked in various jobs for DuPont Chemicals for the next eight years.

At one point during Cooper's career at DuPont, when she was working in a facility that manufactured Freon, a group from Greenpeace showed up to protest. "They hung a huge banner on the water tower that said 'Number One Ozone Depleter,'" Cooper recalls. "It was then that I sort of realized the impact of what I was doing on the environment." Cooper's environmental consciousness grew slowly over the rest of her time at DuPont, to the point where when she was offered a "wonderful opportunity" in the company's CFC's division, "My first thought was, 'You mean a wonderful opportunity to deplete the ozone layer?'" Cooper recalls, laughing. She took the job, but knew that she would soon have to move on and do something else.

Cooper decided to get her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. Soon after earning her doctorate in 1998, she was hired as faculty at the University of South Carolina, moving on to Temple University in 2003. Her current research focuses on the uses of catalytic processes, with two primary applications: designing biocatalytic processes for Green engineering, and photocatalytic water treatment and remediation.

A variety of people have played a role in shaping Cooper's career choices and interests, each in their own way. "I've had a number of people who have played very specific roles, as opposed to one individual who was my go-to person," she explains. In addition to the help and support of her dissertation advisors (Tom Crisman and Yogi Goswami), Jonathan Earl, an Associate Dean at the University of Florida, "Was there for me all throughout my graduate career and ever after," Cooper says. "His whole family became my substitute family." In terms of finding her way as an African American woman in a predominantly white, male field, Cooper was inspired by a group of women she worked with at DuPont. "This was a group of women who were about as high a flyer as a black woman could be in corporate America at that time," she says. "They helped me clearly identify who I was and where I wanted to go, and how to do the things I wanted to do without compromising."

By inspiring her ability and desire to be a scientist, Cooper says her father was probably her first and most important mentor. "He taught physics, and I would sit in on his classes," she recalls. "He would get up at four in the morning to help me with my algebra until I could figure out what was going on. He had more patience than any one human being should be allowed to have." Cooper says her father would also take every opportunity to point out instances and applications of science in the every day world, something that influenced her as a teacher as well as a scientist. "He was an excellent teacher," Cooper says. "I remember not understanding why he was a teacher-he could have made much more money doing other things. But now I understand."

For someone who had no intention of being a teacher herself, Cooper has found unexpected satisfaction in mentoring students. While she sometimes finds formal mentoring programs to be "forced," she takes opportunities to mentor in whatever capacity she can. "Given the opportunity, I do it-inside of the field or outside, I don't separate them out," Cooper says. "I've had a number of students, many African American, work with me. I have a McNair scholar right now. In any of those cases, if the students are doing what they want to do, I count it as a success."

Though making the transition to teaching hasn't always been smooth-"my first set of class evaluations were a disaster"-Cooper enjoys the having a positive impact on students' lives, even if she does so unknowingly. She says a highlight so far has been her relationship with a student from South Carolina, who asked her advice about whether or not he should take a job opportunity in Ohio. "I basically told him he would be stupid not to take it-in retrospect, I probably should have been more diplomatic about it," Cooper laughs. "As it turns out, I was the only one who encouraged him to. He did, and it opened up a whole new world for him." Cooper says her most challenging and rewarding mentorship role has been as mother to her young son. "It helps that I'm doing work to make sure he has something to look forward to when he grows up," she says.

While very satisfied with her unanticipated career in the environmental field, Cooper expresses frustration with the environmental apathy she sometimes encounters from students, colleagues, and people in power. She finds such apathy especially distressing when it comes from the African American community, who often suffers the brunt of environmental degradation. "Quite often, as an African American, it's not always clear to those in our community the connection between the environment and our everyday lives," Cooper says. "It really ends up being a very strong connection. I think Hurricane Katrina made it a little more obvious, but it's still hard to get people to see it." A whole host of environmental issues-from cancer and asthma rates to water and air quality-disproportionately impact black and other minority communities, but are often dismissed as being "less important" than other issues. However, Cooper thinks remedying such inequalities requires not only more minority participation in the environmental field, but a greater awareness that environmental issues are directly related to the other problems. "I think that as black people in this country, we tend to think that we have more pressing, immediate needs than the environment," she says. "But in the end, it turns out that many of those issues that we think of as pressing and immediate are tied to the environment. We can't make all those other things go away without considering it as part of the equation."

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Deidre Gibson

(1964-Present)

Assistant Professor of Biology and Marine Science

Hampton University

"The field needs a diverse eye on how to solve some of these problems and issues." - Deidre Gibson, 2006.

Like many minorities in the environmental field, Deidre Gibson didn't come to a career in marine science in a straightforward way. Though she enjoyed boating and crabbing with her family while growing up in New Orleans, she never imagined a career in the research sciences. "[Growing up] I never thought about a career in any kind of environmental science field-I had never seen or been exposed to anything like that," she says.

Gibson first got exposed to marine science while taking undergraduate courses at the University of New Orleans. "I was just searching...trying to have some fun," she remembers. "I took a SCUBA diving class, and that opened my eyes to a lot of different things that I hadn't thought about. I started doing research, and looking at different books." After taking a number of different science classes and doing her own independent research, Gibson made the decision to pursue marine science as a career, and transferred to Shoreline Community College in Seattle. After earning both an Associates Degree in Science and an Applied Associates in Marine Biology and Oceanography, she moved on to the University of Washington, earning her B.S. in Oceanography in 1991.

After earning her undergraduate degree, Gibson worked as a research technician at Louisiana University's Marine Consortium for five years. "I worked as a biological oceanographer, looking at the effects of nutrients from the Mississippi river on the zooplankton community in the Gulf of Mexico," she explains. While she found the work meaningful, she also cites her later years there as the most difficult of her career. Her boss did not encourage her aspirations; in fact, she actively discouraged Gibson from going to graduate school, saying she was "not good enough." Fortunately, Gibson didn't listen: she earned her Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Georgia in 2000. While in grad school, she worked as an EPA "stay in school" intern doing water collection and sampling, and also did research at the Skidoway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah. She then went on to do more marine research at two post-doc positions, with Savannah State University and the University of Connecticut-Avery Point.

Gibson began her current position as an assistant research professor at Hampton University in 2002; she became a tenure-track assistant professor in 2004, and now holds a dual position in both the biology and marine science departments. While her primary focus is teaching (mainly zoology and marine science), she also performs research, writes grants, and is involved with a number of mentorship and professional development efforts to bring more minorities into the environmental sciences.

Gibson says the highlight of her career so far has been working with such diversity programs. "There's a big push in marine science now to increase diversity-being involved in these programs has encouraged me to stay in [the field], and be a part of making that difference," she says. She is most proud of her involvement in the Diversity in Research in Environmental and Marine Sciences (DREAMS) project. DREAMS is an ongoing collaboration is between Hampton and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), that aims to expose Hampton marine science students to research opportunities. "While they're taking classes, they're doing small projects on the Hampton campus to get a feel for research and working as a group. That gets them ready for an internship experience at VIMS," Gibson explains. In addition to her involvement with DREAMS, Gibson also participates in the Hall-Bonner program (a fellowship program for minority Ph.D. students), is a mentor in both the MS PHD and Aslow minority programs, and works with the Mid-Atlantic Center of Ocean Science Education Excellence to expose K-12 students to the marine sciences.

Gibson has benefited from the guidance of many mentors throughout her academic career. Jack Serwald, her advisor at Shoreline Community College, saw her scientific potential and encouraged her to take all the science classes she could there. At the University of Washington, Oceanographer Mary Jane Perry inspired and encouraged Gibson, and continues to serve as a mentor today. Gustav Paffenhofer was Gibson's graduate advisor; she notes that not only did he encourage her to pursue her goals and pushed her work ethic. "He was very honest with me...we were very different, and learned a lot from each other about different cultures," she says. Ben Suker, who runs a diversity program aiming to bring minority students to scientific meetings, helped her meet other minority students-and potential mentors-in her field. "Until then, I was the only one I would ever say," Gibson notes. She credits that program with helping to nurture mutual mentorship among African American female scientists, including for her Ashanti Pyrtle, Dionne Hopkins, and "too many others to name."

Gibson takes her own role as a mentor very seriously. She first realized her potential to be one when leading students on tours of the Skidoway facility and talking about research there. "I didn't realize it at the time, but I was kind of a mentor to some of these students," she says. Later, when working with programs designed to attract minority students to scientific meetings, she was surprised by how excited other minority students often were to see "someone like them" going on to grad school. One of those students calls Gibson her mentor to this day; she is now a second-year oceanography student. Currently, as the only black professor in marine science at Hampton, Gibson is a mentor to other students at the historically-black school, a role she considers a major accomplishment in itself: "I would say my most significant achievement is being considered a role model myself."

As for her career, Gibson says, "A lot of good things are starting to happen." She was able to finish her Ph.D. in only four years; that accomplishment was made even more special when she got to show it to her former boss who told her that she would never succeed in graduate school. Currently, Gibson is encouraged by the success she's had providing minority students with access to the research sciences. She counts getting DREAMS funded as a major accomplishment, and is excited that it's allowing a number of African American students to pursue higher education in the sciences. "When I started at Hampton, many students were not thinking of grad school as an option," Gibson says. "Getting DREAMS funded has increased the level of interest in research and doing internships, and eventually going on to grad school." Gibson also enjoys the "small atmosphere" in her program, and the ability it gives her to work directly students.

Gibson notes that as those in the environmental field grow to see diversity as more important, opportunities for minorities in the field will grow as well. "There's a reason why there's a big push [from funding agencies] for minorities to be involved in the field...because we're all affected by the environment," she says. "Sometimes it takes a different point of view, a different culture to see things in a way the mainstream may not think of." She encourages minorities to get involved in the environmental arena: "Part of our responsibility as a community is to be involved in environmental issues. It's not always lucrative, but it can be lucrative because there's a lot of programs and funding that you can access to do different things. The field needs a diverse eye on how to solve some of these issues and problems."

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Yvette Huet-Hudson

(1962-Present)

Professor of Biology

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

"Without people to help you, success can be very difficult." - Yvette Huet-Hudson, 2005.

Yvette Huet-Hudson has always been fascinated by science. One of four children raised in Kansas City by parents Yolanda, a school psychologist, and Raul, a physician, Huet-Hudson remembers both of her parents-her mother especially-being very supportive of her love for science. As a child, Huet-Hudson always had mice, rats and fish at home so that she could discover "how things worked." Later, as a senior in high school, she chose to fulfill her week-long internship requirement at a pharmacology research laboratory. Though short in duration, this experience proved to her that she should follow her dreams of working in the biological sciences.

Huet-Hudson went on to attend the University of Kansas, where she double-majored in Human Biology and Microbiology. Before going on to graduate school, Huet-Hudson worked for a year as both an Intro to Biology prep technician, and a research assistant to a geneticist. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Huet-Hudson did two years of post-doctoral research in Monsanto's molecular immunology group. She worked on a variety of projects; the corporation was especially interested in her experience making transgenic animals. Huet-Hudson says her experience at Monsanto was a great one, as it gave her the ability to learn more about immunology in practice.

Huet-Hudson went directly from Monsanto to her current position at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. She began as an Assistant Professor, and is now a full Professor in the Department of Biology. "I was hired at the beginning of the University's efforts to move its research program forward, at a time when they were interested in hiring new people to do that," Huet-Hudson says. "I was lucky to be part of that process." Huet-Hudson played an instrumental role in making the institution more research-intensive; she helped form the PhD program, and set up the infrastructure so it would be much easier for emerging scholars to conduct research on the Charlotte campus.

Huet-Hudson says she is fortunate to have had many mentors. She names her mother as the first and most important; she was very supportive of Huet-Hudson's passion for science, and always encouraged her daughter to be the best she could be. Huet-Hudson also continues to benefit from the advice of her graduate advisor. In addition, she credits her many mentors at the University and at the Ford Foundation Fellows program for teaching her how to get what she needed from her employers, and easing her down the path to promotion and tenure. Other faculty members in Charlotte have also offered help, advice, and most importantly, acceptance. "No one in my family has ever been a faculty member anywhere, so I didn't know what to expect or what I would need to do after I accepted the position," she recalls. Faculty members in other university departments also helped ease the transition process. "I'm especially grateful to the other female faculty members, who taught me how to navigate being a faculty member and a mother at the same time," Huet-Hudson says.

Throughout her career, Huet-Hudson has mentored other minorities in the field, including high school students, undergraduates, and other faculty members. "I see mentoring as a role that I should and have to do," she says, "because I have benefited so much from my mentors." Huet-Hudson's contributions were recognized in 2004, when she was given the UNC-Charlotte's "Woman of the Year" award for her role in mentoring women. "To be acknowledged is very gratifying because mentoring is so important to me," Huet-Hudson says. She considers receiving this award, as well as becoming a full professor at the University, to be among the highlights of her career.

Huet-Hudson is involved in a number of diversity-related programs on campus. She currently works with the Dean on diversity issues, and as the PhD Coordinator, she works to ensure diversity in the student population. Additionally, Huet-Hudson has worked with the Ford Foundation as a North Carolina liaison for many years, and has helped to mentor fellows there. Huet-Hudson helped secure an NIH grant to bring minority high school students to do summer research at the University, and is also a part of the McNair Scholars program and the Minority Science Education Network on the Charlotte campus.

"Being able to continue to succeed at my career, to work with students, publish, and still juggle my family...those are what I consider to be my most significant achievements," Huet-Hudson says. She stays in the field because she finds the work exciting, and the opportunity to work with students makes her daily life interesting. "My work is a never-ending process. I'm excited by the puzzle, and there are always new questions-even when I find a new piece. I'm really fascinated by that," she says.

To minorities considering a career in the biological sciences, Huet-Hudson provides this advice: "Find mentors that can help you. They can be anywhere; they may even be a bunch of different people. Without people to help you, success can be very difficult."

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Clara Elena Irazabal Zurita

(1963-Present)

Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design

University of Southern California

"There are a lot of racial and environmental injustices that impact minorities. In order to redress some of these issues, it's very important that more minorities become part of the field." - Clara Irazabal, 2006.

"I've always been fascinated by cities," says Clara Irazabal, explaining her choice of career in urban planning and design. Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela as the daughter of architect parents, Irazabal was fascinated not only by her surrounding urban environment, but by the intense inequalities she saw manifested in it. "Caracas offers many contrasts in terms of environmental injustices, in how the poor and rich live," she explains. "It was something that always caught my attention, and I felt a lot of responsibility to redress it." Irazabal has devoted her career to studies of comparative urbanism in Latin America, the link between social and spatial inequalities, and how minority groups, especially Latina/os, create and utilize public spaces in the U.S.

Following in her parents' footsteps, Irazabal earned her undergraduate in architecture and master's degree in physical planning and urban design from the Central University of Venezuela. As a master's student, she worked as a teaching assistant, and helped develop a comprehensive plan for neighborhoods in metropolitan Caracas to better develop socially, economically, and spatially. After completing her master's degree, she was offered a scholarship to get her Ph.D. in architecture at the University of California-Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Irazabal worked on a number of research projects, and developed a further interest in the association between spatial and social inequalities. "I began to study how it is that some inequalities that we suffer as part of a social group are also expressed spatially, such as access to spatial resources in cities...for example, accessibility to affordable housing, open space, jobs, and the like," she says.

Upon completing her Ph.D. in 2002, Irazabal was offered her current faculty position at the University of Southern California, where she teaches, mentors, does service work, and conducts research. Irazabal's current research efforts focus on two broad subjects: comparative urbanism in Latin American, and how public spaces in Latin American capitals reflect ideas of citizenship and democracy; and "ethnic urbanism" in Southern California, focusing on how Latina/os in Los Angeles create and re-create public spaces. For Irazabal, the ability "to select my own topics for research and study, and the support I have gotten to develop those projects" has been the highlight of her career.

Mentors have played an important role in helping Irazabal define her research interests, and jump-starting her career in academia. Her Ph.D. advisor at Berkeley, Nezar AlSayyad, was an especially important influence. "He really taught me about comparative urbanism internationally and in the Third World," Irazabal says. "Also, through him I was able to start networking with other international colleagues, which expanded my opportunities to conferences and research." Irazabal also continues to rely on the mentorship of USC colleagues, most notably Dowell Myers and Tridib Banerjee, as well as female faculty (Jennifer Wolch, Laura Pulido, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo) who have been both personally and professionally supportive of her.

Irazabal now mentors and supports other minority students "all the time. The opportunity to make a difference through teaching and mentoring, writing papers and doing projects with them, and sending them out to make a difference is a strong motivation to stay in this field." In addition to much of her research and mentoring being minority-focused (most notably on L.A.'s Latina/o community), Irazabal has served on several university-wide diversity initiatives, including the Multi-Faith Committee, and scholarship committees focusing on minority students. However, she believes that perhaps her most important contribution might be bringing her ability to "impact developing knowledge and practices in the field from my own perspective as a minority-an international woman of Hispanic background."

For Irazabal, maintaining a commitment to her work, and doing it with honesty, integrity, and to the utmost of her ability has been her most significant achievement. Although she has faced some difficulty as a woman and as a Latina who speaks "English with an accent", she remains committed to making a difference through her work. "I'm just persevering and doing my best," she says. She encourages other minorities to consider the field as a way of redressing injustices and inequalities that disproportionately affect communities of color: "There's a lot of racial and environmental injustices that affect minorities. In order to redress some of these issues, it's very important that more minorities become part of the field."

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Robin Kimmerer

(1953-Present)

Professor of Botany

State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry

"I was born to be a botanist." - Robin Kimmerer, 2004.

Robin Kimmerer was born in 1953 to Robert and Patricia Wall in rural upstate New York. Growing up, she spent most of her time in the woods and fields. It was in this same naturalistic setting that she started to observe plants and cultivate her appreciation for nature. Her parents were also an important factor in her growth as an environmental scientist. It was very important to her parents to conserve the environment, and to appreciate it in all of its glory. When she was a child, her parents gave her a book written by an ecologist, and soon thereafter, she found out that she could have a career based on the study of plants. It was based on this realization that she began her educational track towards a degree in botany.

Kimmerer attended the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry for her undergraduate studies; she earned a degree in Botany in 1975. She attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, obtaining a master's degree in Botany in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Plant Ecology in 1983. Kimmerer held many positions in various companies while she was a student.

In 1975, Kimmerer began working as a microbiologist in an optical division of Bausch & Lomb. Two years after she started her job, Kimmerer decided that corporate America was not for her, and went to grad school. After graduate school, Kimmerer started a family and worked part-time at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY while raising her children. At Transylvania University, Kimmerer taught field biology and botany. She left Transylvania University to work at Centre College - a liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. There, she taught general biology, botany, ecology, field biology, plants and culture, and tropical ecology. She got tenure at Centre College but longed to return to her roots.

Kimmerer returned home to teach at the State University of New York because she felt it was more rewarding to give back to her home state. She was also interested in working with Native Americans, the issues that pertain to this group of minorities and conducting research that was not possible to do at Transylvania University or Centre College. Kimmerer applied for and got a position at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and has been there for the past eleven years. Her success is attributed to many people that made a great impact on her life.

Kimmerer had a several mentors and advisors who helped to guide her. An undergraduate professor Ed Cetchledge, gave her the confidence to persevere even when she did not think she could be a scientist. Mr. Cetchledge was such an important part of her life that they have kept in touch over the years. During graduate school, Kimmerer had advisors and peers who were a great source of support. Specifically, Dr. Orie Loucks took great interest in her work, and counseled her about possible career moves that could be beneficial to her. Because of the help she received, Kimmerer now extends herself to help other minorities in the field.

For example, Kimmerer has helped sponsor the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) project, which pairs students of color with faculty members in the enviro-bio sciences while they work together to research environmental biology. Kimmerer is also a part of the United States Department of Agriculture's Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program. The purpose of this program is to provide students with real-world experiences that involve complex problem-solving. Kimmerer is also a mentor to students on the SUNY campus - a campus on which there are few female and minority environmental faculty. She enjoys the community in which she can mentor native and non-native students. Kimmerer is also involved in the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), and works with the Onondaga nation's school doing community outreach. Kimmerer also uses traditional knowledge and science collectively for ecological restoration in research. Lastly, Kimmerer fosters diversity in the field by showing how multiculturalism makes a significant difference in the way that science is carried out. This is particularly true in the field of ecological restoration. Kimmerer enjoys her job and duties, and has experienced many highlights in her career.

In 2003, Kimmerer published her first book entitled, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. In the book, she was able to offer several insights into herself, including her experiences as a plant ecologist and her understanding of traditional knowledge. She feels the combination of indigenous and scientific perspectives gave an "authentic voice" to her work. Kimmerer will also be credited with starting a program at the university - one dedicated to the study of traditional ecological knowledge. She currently strives to further the aims of that unit. It is important to her to be accepted in the science community, but she would also like to be known for bringing a unique perspective to the understanding of plant ecology. Although Kimmerer has had many achievements that she is proud of, times have not always been easy.

A low point of Kimmerer's career is the sense of isolation she has felt throughout her career. The feeling of isolation she experienced is not always in the forefront, but it is there nonetheless. She also says that although it is necessary to be a part of "the group" by following the traditional path set by others in her field, she struggles to do her work her own way. Despite these ups and downs, Kimmerer loves her job.

Kimmerer loves to create a community of people interested in strengthening the environmental field. Most importantly, she gets lots of support and recognition from her students; this makes a huge difference, and puts a value on her work. Her most significant achievement was raising two daughters as a single parent while pursuing a career. Her achievements and status within the environmental field make her a great person to turn to for words of wisdom.

Kimmerer speaks to minorities who are considering a career in the environmental field with many words of wisdom. First, she says they should learn about how the system works in order to have credentials, and to bring all of themselves selves to the process of becoming the best in the field. She continues to say that science suffers from narrow vision because it is a self-perpetuating domain riddled with roadblocks. Consequently, students should bring their own unique perspective with them, because it is much needed.

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Patty Loew

(1952-Present)

Associate Professor of Life Sciences Communication

University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Having an environmental vision is absolutely consistent with who I am as a Native person." - Patty Loew, 2006.

Patty Loew is committed to her career as an environmental journalist and teacher in large part because it is consistent with her tribal philosophy. A member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Ojibwe, Loew was raised to make decisions with a mind towards the effects her decisions will have on the next seven generations. "It's part of who I am as a Native American. I'm 'planting oaks instead of pine.' It's about sacrificing short-term gain for long-term fulfillment," she says. "Focusing on the seventh generation encourages long term vision. We need to consider the environment in our decision making."

Loew grew up in Milwaukee, a city that helped to develop her environmental consciousness in two ways. As a stronghold of socialism, Milwaukee was a place where socialism's traditions were evident all around her. "A basic tenet of the socialist movement was the struggle for shorter work days and weeks, and for more recreational areas so that workers would have places to enjoy their time off," she explains. "Milwaukee has the most square feet of parkland of any city its size in the country." Loew worked for the city's Recreation Department for years while going to school, and spent much of her time in these areas. However, Milwaukee was also a city with very blighted areas, and Loew, who was raised in a housing project, decided early on that she did not want to live in a city like that. Green space had made a big impact.

Loew received her bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse, and would later receive her master's degree and Ph.D. from UW-Madison in Mass Communications. However, she was far from a traditional student-Loew had a career in television for 25 years before she began teaching at UW.

Loew began her career as a reporter and anchor for a TV station in LaCrosse. A year later she took a similar job in Madison, a city that has had a visionary recycling program since the 1960s. In the 1980s, the community was looking toward county-wide recycling programs and ways to encourage plastic recycling-well before other communities around the nation. Loew began to focus her reporting on local environmental issues, and soon made a documentary on a town south of Madison that was coordinating a massive recycling effort of every conceivable material. Her focus soon grew from recycling to failing toxic waste sites and landfills in the area. As soon as environmental reporting was recognized as a field, Loew joined the Society of Environmental Journalists, and her career in environmental journalism took off from there.

When Loew returned to UW for her master's and Ph.D., she broadened her reporting focus to reflect her personal interests as a member of an Indian nation, expanding her coverage to include topics such as tribal hunting, fishing, and gathering rights. "It seemed like my professional, academic and personal lives just harmonically converged on this topic," Loew reflects. "It's been what I've done in all facets of my life." Loew currently teaches a course on Native American Environmental Issues and the Media, and another on Digital Documentary Production.

Loew was hired by the Department of Life Sciences Communication in 1999 to teach two classes each year; she soon earned tenure, and is now an associate professor. The UW Extension office bought out the other half of her contract so that she could continue to host programs on Wisconsin Public Television and produce documentaries. Her weekly news and public affairs program, In Wisconsin, has environmental information as its primary focus.

Loew did not have the benefit of mentors in environmental reporting when she began her journalism career in the mid 70s. She remembers, "There really wasn't anyone doing that kind of thing; it just sort of evolved as community awareness grew about environmental issues-as did my own awareness." Most of what Loew learned came from reading as much as she could and from seeking out publications; she often turned to her colleagues in the Native American Journalism Association for support as well. Loew got a lot of inspiration from people she considered to be very good reporters, even if they were not specifically environmental. Richard LaCourse, Mark Trahant, and Dave Iverson are just a few of the journalists she refers to as mentors in the field. In terms of her academic career, Loew has benefited from the mentoring of colleagues such as Jacquie Hitchon, Larry Meiller, Shiela Reaves and Ada Deer, all of whom took interest in her and helped her along the path to gaining tenure.

Loew tries to mentor other minorities in the field at every opportunity. She is a past board member of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), an 800-person organization that has always placed special emphasis on high school and college students. Young, Native journalists who will work in mainstream and tribal press have always been a very important focus of NAJA; the organization runs student programs at their annual conventions, and members have taught a high school journalism class in Madison. WHA-TV, the television station where Loew works, hires interns. Loew is also a member of various professional organizations that matches minority students with mentors in their communities. The courses that she teaches put her in contact with Native students; in addition, she is also affiliated with the Native American Studies program, through which she works with independent and directed studies programs that deal with environmental issues.

In addition to her mentoring activities, Loew is involved in a number of diversity programs. She served on the program committee for Unity 99, a collaboration of national Black, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American journalism associations. The coalition holds a joint conference every five years, and reaches out to other under-represented groups like LGBTQ and disability rights journalists. Among the other diversity programs Loew is involved in are the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences' Equity and Diversity Committee, and the Steering Committee for the UW system's Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

Teaching has been the highlight of Loew's career. "I didn't know how much I'd appreciate it until I started," she says. "To see my students find success is so satisfying-it's wonderful." Loew's contributions were honored recently when she received honorary doctorates from Northland and Edgewood Colleges, in recognition for her work in the community with regard to awareness of treaty rights and environmental issues. However, Loew's overall highlight is still teaching, and being able to see the next generation of environmental journalists find its voice.

In terms of her most significant achievement, Loew hopes that the best is yet to come. She believes her most successful achievement is having raised two children with strong environmental ethics. "To a lesser extent," Loew says, "the material I've written dealing with environmentalism as it relates to Ojibwe treaty rights was a significant achievement, but I think that the way I raise my kids is the best way to contribute to the next generation."

Loew says she is more comfortable providing advice for Native Americans interested in the environmental field than for minority groups as a whole, because their issues are so different from those in other communities. "For me, having an environmental vision is absolutely consistent with who I am as a Native person," she explains. "We were the original stewards of the land. Initially we hunted, fished and gathered, and had a subsistence lifestyle. Our relationship to the land is symbiotic; if you look at the histories of native people on this continent-the agreements, treaties and laws passed-our own stories tell us of our relationship and responsibility to the land. Native people have tried to protect the landscape over time."

"To a Native journalist coming up," she continues, "I'd say keep at the center of what you do. Let that principle of land stewardship guide you as you undertake a career in the environmental field, whether you are working for an NGO, as a journalist covering agencies responsible for pollution, or as an advocate working within a governmental agency. Understand that we have this responsibility to our ancestors, who conducted themselves like this, to the next generation, and to generations seven times removed."

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Xiangyi Lu

(1962-Present)

Research Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

University of Alabama-Birmingham, School of Public Health

"It is a very exciting time right now with all of the tools that are available...you can do so much more now than before." - Xiangyi Lu, 2006.

As a child growing up in rural China, Xiangyi Lu lived in a community where homes were made of mud and straw, and there was no running water. Lu and the children in her neighborhood had no access to television, and she remembers having plenty of free time to play, but few organized educational activities. However, the hardships she experienced as a young person turned out to be important life lessons. "I got used to difficulties and now I'm not intimidated by them," Lu explains. "I appreciate opportunities when they come by, and I take the opportunity to do the work that I am doing very seriously."

In high school, Lu excelled at math and physics, and was poised to take up an engineering career. However, by chance she came across a book about chromosomes in living cells, and found the subject fascinating. She decided to pursue cell biology instead, and from there progressed to medicine and finally, to the environmental health sciences. Lu received her BS from Wuhan University in China, and continued on to get her Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She then went on to Harvard Medical School for her post-doctoral work, where she was trained in genetics. After four years, Lu received her first independent investigator position at the University of Kansas, where she remained until she accepted her present position in 2000.

Lu currently conducts her research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is a Research Associate Professor in Environmental Health Sciences. Lu's research revolves around a protein found in cilia that causes polycystic kidney disease, and is presently studying cilia's sensitivity to different environmental factors. Many of those factors can affect the motility and function of cilia, and may result in increased susceptibility to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, asthma and even obesity.

Lu credits her Ph.D. and post-doctoral mentors for providing her with the expertise to pursue her chosen areas of study. Dr. Charles Rubin at Albert Einstein is the Chair of the Molecular Pharmacology department; he gave Lu the basic knowledge of the field that allowed her to branch out in different directions, and formulate new questions for further investigation. At Harvard, Dr. Norbert Perrimon, known for his pioneering work in developing genomic tools, helped put Lu on the track to studying gene/environment interactions.

Lu laments her lack of opportunities to work with and mentor students. She has worked with two master's students, both of whom have since graduated and published independently. She cites the opportunities she has had as amongst the highlights of her career. "Seeing students who come into the classroom naïve, and later become more independent and learn to think more on their own, is very fulfilling," Lu says. "Also, finding new things in research, the progression and evolution of research, and getting exciting results are highlights as well." Lu is about to move to Wayne State University in Detroit, and hopes that her new school will bring her into contact with more students.

Although Lu expresses some concern about the lack of adequate administrative support for her research at the university, she is quite satisfied with her career as a researcher. She remains in this position because there are so many questions yet to be answered, and more tools than ever to work with. "It is a very exciting time right now with all of the tools that are available...you can do so much more now than before," she says. Thus far, Lu's most significant achievement in her field has been helping to discover a new role of a protein in cilia that contributes to kidney disease in humans. She continues to make advances in that trajectory by studying the sperm flagellum, the largest motile cilium, in fruit flies.

For minorities considering a career in the environmental field, Lu has this advice: "You must be persistent. Follow your interests, and if you find something that intrigues you, then that is what you should be doing."

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Leticia Marquez-Magana, Ph.D.

(1963 - Present)

Associate Professor of Biology

San Francisco State University

"It's a real achievement...I craft my position in such a way that it meets my commitment to my community and to my science." - Leticia Marquez-Magana, 2004.

Leticia Marquez-Magana was born on August 15, 1963 as the first of four children. She was raised in Sacramento, California by her parents Lupe Marquez, a former factory worker and housekeeper, and Jesus Marquez, a former construction worker. Growing up in Sacramento, Marquez-Magana felt a strong sense that Mexican citizens were second-class. She has been dedicated to changing that mentality.

Marquez-Magana attended Stanford University where she received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Biological Sciences in 1986. She went on to receive her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California-Berkeley in 1991. She became interested in a career in the environmental field as a graduate student at UC Berkeley where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Chamberlin. Members of his laboratory studied the genetics of a soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis.

Marquez-Magana's first job was at San Francisco State University where she remains a Biology professor and scientist. More specifically, she is a microbial geneticist, studying the genes responsible for particular behaviors in several bacteria that reside in the soil. She divides her time between research, teaching and doing educational outreach service. Currently, Marquez-Magana is a tenured professor at San Francisco State where she has been teaching for eleven years. She is the first Latina to be tenured and promoted to full professor in the College of Science and Engineering at San Francisco State and she says, "It's a real achievement...I craft my position in such a way that it meets my commitment to my community and to my science." Marquez-Magana also has a commitment to empowering minority students to pursue research careers.

Despite Marquez-Magana's success, she says that she has never had a typical mentor. She believes that the best mentoring happens when a team of individuals work together to promote an individual's work. In fact, several individuals have provided Marquez-Magana moral and professional support. Michael Chamberlin, professor of Biochemistry at UC-Berkeley, taught her to be precise in her scientific thinking and effective in her scientific communication. Rhoda Cales, owner of Weekend in Español, a Spanish emersion program for adults, taught Marquez-Magana teaching techniques. She learned that teaching is more than sitting in class and giving presentations; it is also engaging students.

Marquez-Magana showed her dedication to becoming an effective teacher by attending workshops focused on teacher training. She aspired to be a Latina scientist committed to both her job and her family. Unfortunately, that type of mentor was not available to her, so she became that person. Marquez-Magana's lack of a typical mentor makes her fully aware of the importance of being mentored. Through her endeavors, she makes certain that others can have what she did not. As a graduate student, she started Scientists of Color, a graduate student organization aimed at creating minority social support and a professional network on campus. At Stanford, Marquez-Magana was involved with the Stanford Multicultural Scientists that helped to create a summer research program for underrepresented minorities. She served as a mentor for these undergraduate students and also assisted in their training.

Marquez-Magana mentors undergraduate students from all over the country. She also mentors new and younger faculty at San Francisco State. She acknowledges that in the beginning, there is so much for them to learn and know; it can be overwhelming at times. She let's them know that she is there to help them. As for the recognition that she receives for this work, Marquez-Magana says that the appreciation of her students is enough. Her mentees often thank her and she finds their gratitude to be rewarding. Marquez-Magana advises minorities considering a career in the environmental field to find mentors that can make them feel that they belong in the science field. These mentors should promote their best interests and encourage networking. She believes that mentors should be able to demystify the whole process of going forward into the environmental sector and give students ideas and options regarding their next steps. Marquez-Magana says that while many scientists recognize the need for diversity in nature, they are reluctant to promote racial diversity in science research. She feels that diversity in science research and work brings creative thinking, new views and solutions to problems.

When asked what had been the greatest obstacle that she had encountered in her biological studies, she replied that it was the fact that the professors neither looked like her, nor did they sound like her, and in turn, she felt that she could not communicate with them. Later, when she decided to become a professor, she knew that it would allow her the opportunity to be a person with whom students of color could connect.

Marquez-Magana cites the highlight of her career as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mentor Award that she received in 2001 for her outreach efforts as a graduate student at UC Berkeley and as a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford. She finds her most significant achievement to be the work that she did on the role of Sigma-D in controlling motility functions in Bacillus subtilis. She was responsible for much of this work and it demonstrates the role and regulation of this factor in controlling the bacterium's ability to move in its soil environment. Undoubtedly Marquez-Magana's fortitude and dedication have enabled her to achieve success in her profession. She is a committed mother, scientist, professor, and mentor; these roles have served to make her a great source of inspiration as well.

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Lee Ann Martinez

(1957-Present)

Associate Professor

Colorado State Pueblo

"[We have] problems with environmental justice, under representation of minorities in the movement, and yet we're the ones who experience the most problems with environmental degradation." - Lee Ann Martinez, 2004.

Lee Ann Martinez was born in 1957 in Lake Arrowhead in Southern California. She is the second of five children born to Daniel Martinez, a Spanish teacher and Barbara Martinez, a children's librarian. Growing up in Lake Arrowhead California, a rural mountain community, Martinez spent a great deal of time outdoors. She also spent time with her grandmother who lived near the beach. When visiting with her grandmother, Martinez would often do a lot of camping as well. She says that her early experiences with nature greatly influenced her decision to pursue a career in the environmental field. After high school, Martinez attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Aquatic Biology. The summer before she graduated, she had a student internship with the Brookhaven National Laboratory. As an intern, Martinez did research on the acidification of lakes in the Adirondack Mountains. She graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree and secured another student internship as a backcountry ranger at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. There, Martinez assisted in prescribed burning, fire fighting and science research with a focus on fire ecology. It proved to be a great opportunity for Martinez as she was able to combine her love for the outdoors with fieldwork.

Martinez went on to obtain a master's degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1982. While pursuing her master's, Martinez was also appointed as a teaching assistant. Martinez went to Cornell University to study for her doctorate. She received her Ph.D. in ecology in 1987. While at Cornell, she had more teaching assistantships in introductory biology and aquatic insects courses. Martinez describes her advancement in her career as incremental because each experience opened another door for her. The work she did on the acid lakes project at Brookhaven was her introduction into field research and gave her the background to be hired as a ranger. By graduate school, she had had three summers of field research that helped her get into graduate school. Martinez is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Colorado State University - Pueblo. In 2003, Martinez, on temporary leave from Colorado State University, worked for the National Science Foundation as a Program Officer for the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Martinez's professional advancement was due, in part, to the support of people who have helped her with her academic endeavors. When Martinez was an undergraduate, she did an independent research project on the effects of acid on algae and her advisor, John Melack, helped her with experimental designs and thinking through data collection techniques. During her graduate studies, Martinez's master's advisor, Mary Silver, taught her how to give polished presentations at science conferences and gave her numerous teaching tips. Lastly, Martinez credits Barbara Peckarsky, her Ph.D. advisor, with being helpful in teaching her how to write grant proposals. Both Silver and Peckarsky have children of their own, so they demonstrated to her that having a family and a career was definitely possible.

Fully aware of the importance of having a good mentor, Martinez mentors other colleagues and students in a variety of ways. She was profiled in an article in the National Science Teachers Association's magazine (Quantum Magazine). She was a member of the board of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science from 1996-1998. She gets one to two inquiries a month from students who are doing biographies on her for science classes and enjoys discussing her career with them. Martinez also advises her own students on career and academic issues.

Martinez has had a successful career thus far, but there have been some challenging moments as well. The most discouraging experience occurred when she applied for faculty positions and felt that she was not being seriously considered. At times she feels like universities are only interested in having minorities in the candidate pool, not in hiring them. Martinez has had some highlights in her career also. One such highlight came when her master's research was published on the cover of a science magazine. She is also very proud of her two daughters and her ability to juggle a career and a family.

Another of her significant achievements was the recognition she received for an outreach project related to the Mars Pathfinder Mission that she did with schoolchildren through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She also considered it a significant achievement when she was invited to be a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation. She has also received the Fulbright award to do work in West Africa. She worked on adaptive technology, introducing composting toilets in communities.

Martinez says that the type of work that she does is important in global science and for the future of the environment and this has made her stick with the environmental field. Most of all she finds that she gets enough recognition along the way to keep her going and that it is a worthwhile way to spend her time.

Martinez encourages more minorities to consider a career in the environmental field because she believes that their viewpoint is needed. She believes that minority communities have more at stake than other communities, so it would be in their best interest to continue to do the work that would positively impact those communities. Martinez feels that minorities are most affected by issues such as environmental justice and environmental degradation, so minorities should be most concerned with these issues.

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Sowmya Mitra

(1966-Present)

Associate Professor of Plant Science

California State University, Pomona

"Keep yourself focused on doing a wonderful job, and you will be recognized." - Sowmya Mitra, 2006.

Sowmya Mitra is the youngest of two children born to Sachin, a mining engineer, and Madhurika, a homemaker. Due to Sachin's career as a miner, the family lived in many parts of India throughout Mitra's childhood, and Mitra believes his father's career influenced his decision to pursue the environmental sciences professionally.

Mitra attended the Agricultural University of West Bengal (B.C.K.V.) near Calcutta, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering with a minor in Soil Science. As an undergraduate, Mitra worked with pesticides; he saw firsthand the damage they could cause, and became determined to reduce their usage. Mitra then moved to the United States, where he attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, ultimately receiving a master's degree in Agronomy and Weed Science, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Soil Chemistry. After receiving his doctorate, Mitra began working in industry as a product manager. He soon became involved in product development in the Research & Development sector, where he worked with microbials to reduce plant diseases and promote growth.

Mitra joined the faculty at Cal State-Pomona as an Assistant Professor in 2001. He received an early promotion within two years, and was granted early tenure in 2006. Mitra splits his time between teaching and research. His largest current project focuses on developing water conservation solutions for urban landscapes; he also studies heavy metals and mapping their distribution in urban environments, and continues to be involved in product development for major agrochemical corporations like Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF, Dow AgroSciences, and Bayer Environmental Sciences. Mitra also studies irrigation efficiency, and participates in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program.

Mitra credits his graduate advisor, Dr. Prasanta Bhowmik, for helping develop him into the professional he is today. Bhowmik has mentored him since graduate school, and Mitra continues to turn to him for advice. In return for the guidance, Mitra mentors his own graduate students and helps develop their careers. Mitra says that in addition to the satisfaction that comes with seeing how his work benefits the environment, he has stayed in the environmental field because of the mentoring opportunities it provides.

Mitra says his single most significant achievement has been developing into a good teacher recognized by his students and colleagues. He also cites getting early promotion and tenure as a highlight. "I've been able to achieve many things relatively quickly," Mitra acknowledges, "and I've received a few awards which have been really great." Two of those awards include the Outstanding Young Scientist award from the American Chemical Society's Division of Agrochemicals, and the Excellence and Innovative Design in Agricultural Engineering award from the European Society of Agricultural Engineers.

For minorities considering a career in the environmental field, Mitra has this advice: "Keep yourself focused on doing a wonderful job, and you will be recognized."

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Vijaya Nagarajan

(1961-Present)

Associate Professor of Religion and Environmental Studies

University of San Francisco

"Get some mentors! It makes all the difference in the world." - Vijaya Nagarajan, 2006.

Vijaya Nagarajan was born in a small village in India, the first of Raj and Pichammal Nagarajan's three daughters. Her family moved to the U.S. when she was five, moved back to India four years later, only to return to the U.S. in another two years when Raj's job was transferred yet again. Nagarajan describes the natural world as a subtle thread connecting the different experiences she had growing up in both India and the U.S. She has particularly vivid memories of being in her grandparents' southern Indian village, where she experienced a certain kind of "agricultural rhythm of life" where rice fields dominate the larger landscape-memories she would later contrast with her urban, park-filled life in Delhi and Washington, D.C. Nagarajan reflects that the vibrant questions of culture, economics, and ecology that she ponders and teaches about today are rooted in her bicultural childhood and adult experiences, steeped in the powerful landscapes of India and America.

Nagarajan's interest in the natural world also developed through her relationship with a childhood friend in Maryland. This friend's older sister studied wildlife biology at Humboldt State University, and passed along her love of the natural world to her sibling, who shared it with Nagarajan. Nagarajan and her friend would often take walks together while identifying plants and flowers along the way, discussing the importance of recycling, and so on. However, there were no high school classes offered in environmental studies at that time, and Nagarajan planned on going to college to become an engineer.

In the late 1970s, Nagarajan spent the first two and a half years of college at the University of Maryland, where she was one of only a few female engineering students. She would continuously ask her professors questions about the impact of engineering designs on social equity and there environment, but as there was not yet a field of environmental engineering, she was told her questions were outside the field. Disappointed, Nagarajan kept her questions in the back of her mind.

Halfway through her studies at Maryland, Nagarajan was given the opportunity to transfer to UC Berkeley, where they not only had a College of Natural Resources, but also a program in environmental economics. Nagarajan felt that this track was a better reflection of her true interests, and subsequently transferred to Berkeley. There, she learned a tremendous amount working with her advisor, Richard Norgaard. In the summer of 1981, he helped her find an internship in applied technology at the Murugappa Chettiar Research Center in India under the direction of C. V. Seshadiri. There, she did a research project on cowdung bio-gas plants and "untouchability", an experience she describes as "transformative."

After graduating from college, Nagarajan worked at Friends of the Earth for six months, then at Friends of the Ganges for about a year. She also worked on various art projects. "I tacked back and forth between manual labor and environmental research jobs for environmental organizations," she recalls. "I ended up going back to grad school, with my interests in ecology in the back of my head." Nagarajan stayed at Berkeley for her graduate studies, where her research combined women, ritual, folklore and anthropology, art, and ecology. Though she did not have any formal focus on environmental studies/science in graduate school, she continued to build on her undergraduate experience in the field.

In 1984, Nagarajan and her husband, Lee Swenson, created the Recovery of the Commons Project-to create a community space for dialogue on questions related to literature, environment, and power. Over the next twenty years, they organized and hosted countless workshops, conferences, and small group dialogues with a number of well-known philosophers, poets, and writers. Two years later, in 1986, Nagarajan and Swenson founded the Institute for the Study of Natural and Cultural Resources. These projects were going on while Nagarajan was in graduate school and beginning work on her scholarly career. "I was always working two jobs," she notes, "one paid by a graduate scholarship, and one unpaid in salary, but expenses-paid. It is the energy of youth, I suppose, where working over a hundred hours a week is felt as nothing special. I look back astonished at my own immense energy and devotion to issues larger than myself."

Nagarajan received her Ph.D. in South Asian Language and Literature with an emphasis in Anthropology and Art History in 1998; she had been hired at the University of San Francisco the previous year. Shortly after arriving at USF, a meeting was called for those interested in forming an Environmental Studies department at the school. Nagarajan was involved in the new department from its beginning; she and other interested faculty continue to hold monthly meetings to this day. In that same year, Nagarajan also had the opportunity to attend a conference in Religion and Ecology at Harvard. This was around the time that the ecology sub-specialization that she had been thinking about for so many years was beginning to develop as a recognized discipline, and ecology became her specialization within religious studies.

Nagarajan is currently a professor of Religion and Environmental Studies at USF, where she has been for the past nine years. She teaches world religions and ecology; her course material focuses on how nature is imagined and structured through world cultures and religions, and how those ideas can have both positive and negative impacts on the environment itself. Her next major research project will focus on tree temples, sacred groves, and the commons in south India, and will consist of three potential volumes: literature, anthropological discourses, and environmental policy implications.

The philosopher Ivan Illich was Nagarajan's intellectual mentor up until the time of his death in 2002. "He was a genius," Nagarajan says. "I was always in awe of him. He took a special interest in my work, and would spend hours discussing it with me. He paid attention, and that really helped me to know that he was interested in knowing what I was thinking about something."

Dick Norgaard, Nagarajan's advisor at Berkeley, was another important mentor. Despite the fact that theirs was a more formal advisor/advisee relationship, he had a big impact on the direction of her studies and developing interests. "I saw him for an hour a semester, during our formal advising time," Nagarajan recalls. "I remember him asking me, 'What is your dream? What do you want to do for the summer?'" She desperately wanted to study in India, and Norgaard helped her to find a project there, as well as find some loan funding. Norgaard was a "bridge-maker" to what would become Nagarajan's first active environmental research project.

One of Nagarajan's career highlights to date was her 2001 fellowship in the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. She describes her experience there as "extremely special," and is still in touch with some of the grad students in that department. Her time at Harvard also allowed her to work on her manuscript (tentatively entitled Drawing Down Desires: Women, Ritual and Ecology in India---the Kolam), which she hopes to finish within the next year. This too will be a major highlight.

Amongst Nagarajan's most significant achievements has been combining a successful professional life with family-she has been able to "do the dance" with a full-time career and professional life, while maintaining a close relationship with her husband and young twin daughters. On a more professional level, Nagarajan is very proud of having organized the Voice, Memory and Landscape lecture series at USF in 1999. The series brought 9 prominent speakers, including Arundhati Roy, Catherine Sneed, Ivan Illich, Peter Matthiessen and Maxine Hong Kingston to campus; audiences numbered as high as 1000 people. "It felt good to put that out there," Nagarajan remembers. "People still remember it; it was the most amazing series of public discourses from leading intellectuals and writers."

Nagarajan describes the period after she graduated from college as the lowest point of her career. This was due to the fact that she sought an environmental career, but couldn't find out how to have one without working for an oil company. The fact that the environmental science/economics track at her college was geared toward making money made her search especially difficult. "It was frustrating because I couldn't find a foothold," she remembers. "I couldn't find any mentors, and I didn't know how to talk to people about job possibilities at that time."

Though Nagarajan had a degree from a prestigious university, she did not know that she was supposed to-or even that she could-have a mentor. Since then, she has found her mentors by accident or through "serendipitous" interactions with people. "People who know [the benefits of a mentor] at an early age really have a head start," she notes. Looking back on her experience, Nagarajan can see how having several strongly engaged, interested mentors when she was in college would have been an enormous help-especially as a minority in the environmental field. "I know few environmental professionals in my field who are minorities-that was also hard," she says. Even today, Nagarajan sometimes finds herself the only or one of a few persons of color at environmental/activist events, and it feels very strange to her. "You don't feel the same, you don't connect...because you're not from the same background," she says.

Nagarajan's love of the natural world, and her sense of deep sadness at its continued depletion, is what makes her stay with a career in the environmental field. "It doesn't feel like something I 'stick with'," she says. "It's just something that is." Nagarajan advises minorities who are considering a career in the environmental field to be persistent despite any obstacles they may come across, and perhaps most importantly: "Get some mentors! It makes all the difference in the world."

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Stacy Nelson

(1968-Present)

Professor

Center for Earth Observation, Dept. of Forestry, North Carolina State University

"Form a support structure." - Stacy Nelson, 2005.

Stacy Nelson was born on January 25, 1968 to Fred and Jenny Nelson, a professor and social worker. Growing up, he developed an interest in fisheries and oceanography, and he pursued that interest into college and beyond. Nelson's love and aptitude for the field is reflected in his academic and professional successes.

While attending Jackson State University as an undergraduate, Nelson did internships with the Duke University Marine lab, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). After receiving his masters degree from the Virginia Marine Institute at William and Mary, Nelson taught marine science at the Southern University in New Orleans, and also conducted research through the NASA Stennis Space Center. NASA later granted him a graduate research award, which he used to pursue a doctoral degree at Michigan State University. Following the completion of his doctoral degree in limnology, Nelson obtained his current position at North Carolina State University. His research interests include the use of remote sensing and GIS technologies as they pertain to land use/cover change, and the impact of such change on inland lakes, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems.

Nelson has been mentored by several individuals over the course of his life. His parents were one early influence; they were strong believers in the value of education, and encouraged their son to cultivate his passion for science. Nelson credits his home structure and parental encouragement as major components of his professional success. His academic advisors at Jackson State and Michigan State were also important influences. His undergraduate advisor encouraged him to seek broader professional opportunities; his doctoral advisor, Professor William Taylor, recruited him, and also provided professional support throughout his doctoral career.

Nelson, in turn, has mentored graduate students and participated in internship programs, as well as diversity-related programs at the national and local levels. In particular, Nelson has worked with NSF and the University of South Florida's program MSPHDS (Minorities Striving to Pursue Higher Degrees in Science), an organization that brings minority graduate and undergraduate students together to work as teams. Nelson also speaks at numerous symposiums and lectures, and notes that "my phone rings from seven in the morning to midnight with calls from students from around the country." The ability to provide support to students has been the highlight of his career thus far; conversely, the greatest challenge of his work is losing promising students who are unable to overcome their personal challenges and life circumstances. Nonetheless, Nelson values being in a professional position in which he has the potential to help more students make an effective contribution to his field, one in which he believes there are many avenues yet to be explored.

Nelson cites completing his graduate degrees, and finding the funding and support to facilitate that process, as the most significant achievements of his career thus far. He notes that the creation of a professional network does not always come easily; these relationships need to be built over time, and involve the intersection of work, integration, and trust.

Having benefited greatly from such a network himself, Nelson makes it a priority to help his students construct similar networks of their own. "Network to get to know other minorities," he says. "Form a support structure because unfortunately, as much as you would like to be part of the broader system, you will appear as a rarity which attracts curiosity from academics, and from students, some of whom will have preconceived ideas about you...so support is very important. Even if you are not the majority there are others who have had similar experiences, and the experiences of people who have been through the ranks already are especially important."

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Firooza Pavri

(1970-Present)

Assistant Professor

Department of Geography-Anthropology,
University of Southern Maine

"Look for the next challenge and work hard." - Firooza Pavri, 2006.

Firooza Pavri was born in 1970 in Bombay, India. Her father, was an architect and her mother a kindergarten and school teacher. Pavri's parents took her and her sister on a number of trips across India while they were growing up. Pavri says those travels allowed her to experience India's cultural and environmental diversity, and "that sparked an interest in me. I didn't know I would make a career out of it [environmental science], but it was something that was in back of my mind."

Pavri completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Bombay, graduating with a BA in Geography in 1991. As an undergraduate, she developed an interest in the emerging field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is a method used to look at satellite images of the earth, and can be used to document and monitor environmental change over time. Pavri saw GIS and Remote Sensing as perfect mergers between her interest in technology and environmental studies; however, that technology was not widely available in India at the time. "That was my primary reason for coming to America - to gain access to that new technology", she says. Thus, following her undergraduate studies, Pavri left India to attend the University of Toledo in Ohio, where she obtained a master's degree in Geography and Planning in 1994. She went on to pursue doctoral studies at Ohio State University, and received her Ph.D. in Geography in 1999.

After receiving her Ph.D., Pavri spent five years as an assistant professor at Emporia State University in Kansas. She taught classes that melded geography and environmental issues, and emphasized her expertise in GIS and remote sensing. Pavri says as her first teaching experience, the position was challenging and sometimes overwhelming (she taught classes of up to ninety students) but though "it was daunting initially, it was also great." She also developed a love for the Kansas landscape: "It was the first time I lived in the Great Plains and the environment and culture was unique. It was a wonderful experience."

Pavri is currently an assistant professor of Geography at the University of Southern Maine, where she teaches courses in geography, environmental studies and remote sensing. Her research seeks to explain environmental change in two geographic contexts; the Western Ghats of India, and the American Great Plains. Pavri's move to the University of Southern Maine allows her to serve as both a formal advisor and informal mentor to students in the field, a position she enjoys. "Interacting with these students has been my greatest reward since moving to this University," she says.

Pavri knows from personal experience how helpful a mentor can be. She cites two as being particularly important in her academic and professional career. The first, Lawrence Brown, was a geography professor and her doctoral committee chair at Ohio State University. Pavri says Brown was instrumental in helping her navigate the doctoral process, and was always available to answer her questions. She says Brown has continued to shape her professional development over the past ten years, and the two remain friends to this day. Pavri's second mentor, James Aber, is a professor at Emporia State University. Pavri has worked with Aber on a number of published scientific articles and research projects. "Because our research interests in satellite imaging coincide, Jim Aber and I have collaborated on research projects aimed at documenting changes in rural resources (both forests and wetlands), due to human influence and climatic factors," Pavri says. Though he was a more informal mentor, Pavri cites Aber for his encouragement and re-enforcing her professional goals.

Pavri says she loves her chosen field, and that love has been reflected in her professional success. She has received numerous grants for her research, perhaps the most notable being a NASA grant for her research involving the use of satellite imagery in documenting environmental change. "The research I've accomplished thus far has been related to resource use and sustainability in forest and wetland environments," Pavri says. These grants have allowed her to pursue her areas of interest, and have also gained her recognition in the scientific community. She is currently conducting studies in both the Western Ghats of India and the American Great Plains, both of which examine the decline of biodiversity in those areas. Pavri says that in addition to her research, she also enjoys teaching. "Teaching is my way to give back to the community," she says. While working at Emporia State University, she co-directed a GeoSpatial Analysis Program. She has also published articles in several scientific journals, including Geoforum and Physical Geography.

Despite her many accomplishments to date, Pavri believes that she still has a great deal of work to do. She says it's too soon for her to cite career highlights. She acknowledges that she has also faced challenges in her career, but says she does not dwell on them. "Challenges are temporary, and can be learning tools when necessary," Pavri says. One of the challenges Pavri faced was the experience of being an international student at an American university. As a result, Pavri has been active in diversity and international student issues throughout her academic and professional career. She first joined an international student association while teaching at Emporia State, and says she found the group to be very positive and supportive. Pavri is currently involved in the international student group at Southern Maine, where she enjoys a mentoring relationship with many students.

Pavri says she remains in geography and the environmental field becausee her work is fulfilling, and combines her interests with pressing challenges. "I have always been keenly interested in environmental change and resource scarcity issues," she says. "There is much to be done in promoting awareness, and identifying more appropriate policy mechanisms to deal with environmental degradation." Drawing on her own experiences, Pavri advises students of color interested in an environmental career to get involved in something that they are really passionate about. "Look for the next challenge and work hard," she says. "That's what keeps me in this field, and interested in the work that I do."

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Anupma Prakash

Associate Professor, Geophysical Institute

University of Alaska-Fairbanks

"Don't give up. It [the environmental field] is worth it if you want to give something back to your community and the world." - Anupma Prakash, 2006.

Anupma Prakash has been fortunate enough to realize her dream of a career in the earth sciences, one that enables her to do international research while contributing to the betterment of her native country, India. Prakash says she knew growing up that she wanted to work in education and a university setting in some capacity. She studied and excelled at Geology, Botany and Zoology at Lucknow University, India, and earned a master's degree in Geology from the same University. While choosing what to focus on for her doctoral work at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Prakash decided she wanted to study something that would bring tangible benefits to her community. "Coming from a developing country, I wanted to do something that wasn't just theoretical-something that would benefit India operationally," she says.

Prakash did geoenvironmental studies of the Jharia coalfield for her dissertation research, concentrating on the prevalence and impact of coal mine fires. As a post-doc at the International Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in the Netherlands, she went on to publish several papers about the problem of coal mine fires and the resulting pollution. Those papers helped earn her a faculty job as assistant professor at ITC, where she served as the principal remote sensing scientist in a joint Chinese-Dutch governmental project examining coal mining areas in China. In 2002, Prakash got a position as an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute where she splits her time equally between teaching and research. Her current research focus is on using satellite imagery and GIS techniques to study and monitor Arctic processes.

For Prakash, a career highlight has been the ability to learn, experience, mentor and be mentored in several different countries and cultures. "Having research exposure on three different continents has been amazing," she says. "I not only got to visit, but actually live and work in three completely different research, teaching, and living environments. It's been such a rich experience for me." Prakash has benefited from the mentorship of her Ph.D. advisor Dr. R. P. Gupta, who taught her how to do research, and Dr. J. L. van Genderen, with whom she worked in the Netherlands as a post-doctoral fellow. "He was a phenomenal mentor," Prakash says. "He was a really dynamic person who brought out the best in me, and provided me with international connections and exposure I never could have gotten in India. He also showed me that it's not just what you know, but who you know that's important."

Prakash says the most significant achievement of her career so far has been playing a similar mentoring role to students in the field. "My ability to mentor so many different people from different communities and cultures, people who will be able to put their knowledge to good use in those communities, means I've been effective," she says. At ITC Prakash mentored a number of students, nearly all of them from countries in the developing world. She is currently mentoring several graduate students, and has already graduated one young man of Native Alaskan descent. "I'm very happy that he is doing so well-he is on an academic track and wants to become a professor at a tribal college," Prakash notes. She has also worked on a NASA-sponsored project to get students in minority communities involved in interdisciplinary sciences, and has received NSF funding to teach remote sensing to school teachers in rural Native communities. Although quite a change from anything she has experienced previously, Prakash says she has also come to enjoy what Alaska has to offer for living and researching. "Alaska is a place that really grows on you," she notes. "I really like it."

As for why she sticks with a career in the environmental field, Prakash says simply, "Because I love it. I just think that this is the field where all the investment in your academic upbringing really pays back to society. For me it is really important that I reach out to society through my work. I think it's the best repayment I can make for the taxpayers' dollars." Although following her career path has had its own challenges-for Prakash, the most difficult period was being separated from her husband while caring for their young child-she says the rewards of her work have far outweighed any temporary difficulties. For people like herself, who want to give back to their communities and countries through work in the environmental field, Prakash has this advice: "Persevere. Don't give up...I sometimes see people getting lost and turning back midway. The perseverance is worth if you want to do something for your community and the world. There are rough spots, but it will pay back."

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Ashanti Pyrtle

(1970-Present)

Assistant Professor

College of Marine Science, University of South Florida

" There are a lot of opportunities, and with continuous effort and perseverance [students] can be successful." - Ashanti Pyrtle, 2006.

Ashanti Pyrtle has always been intrigued by the ocean. Despite being raised in inland Dallas, Texas, as one of Don Johnson and Vivian Williamson-Whitney's children, Pyrtle recalls being fascinated by PBS environmental documentaries as a child. In high school, she volunteered at the Dallas Aquarium, and would often visit the Dallas Museum of Natural History and the Planetarium on her own. She was also enrolled in talented and gifted programs throughout her primary education, and from third grade on, her independent school projects were always focused on some aspect of the ocean.

Pyrtle attended Texas A&M University-Galveston as an undergraduate. In 1990, after her freshman year, she was awarded an internship at Texas Instruments Inc. in the Polymer Characterization Laboratories, where she would continue to work during summer and winter breaks throughout her undergraduate and early graduate academic career. While working there, Pyrtle supervised interns and did analytical work to determine if there were any contaminants on electronic devices. In 1993, she obtained a B.S. in Marine Science, and began her doctoral work immediately thereafter, while still employed as a polymer chemist at Texas Instruments. She left the company to pursue her studies full time in 1994. Prior to completing her graduate education, Pyrtle gained additional industry experience while working as a geochemist in Exxon Production Research Company's Fundamental Geological Studies group.

Pyrtle obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from Texas A&M University at College Station in 1999. Afterwards she went to work as a research scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where her research focused on radiogeochemistry in the estuarine environment, specifically on radionuclide behavior and transport through river systems. She resigned that job in 2003, as both she and her husband had offers for assistant professor positions at University of South Florida (USF), where she continues to teach and research today.

Pyrtle's courses at USF focus largely on aquatic radiogeochemistry and biogeochemical sensors (http://www.marine.usf.edu/faculty/ashanti-pyrtle.shtml). She also uses her courses to actively develop the next generation of scientists and scientific educators: her Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Professional Development course helps graduate students prepare for scientific careers, and her Scientists in the Classroom course gives graduate students the opportunity to get teaching experience. In addition to teaching, Pyrtle also supervises graduate students, and conducts research examining man-made and naturally-occurring radionuclides.

One of Pyrtle's most notable accomplishments outside the classroom has been her establishment of the highly-regarded Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science initiative (MS PHD'S) (www.msphds.usf.edu). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project targets students of color throughout the country, with the purpose of increasing the participation of underrepresented minority students in Earth system science. Pyrtle is very proud of the program, noting that more than seventy-five students have participated since the program's inception.

Pyrtle is also involved in another NSF-funded initiative called The Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) NSF Bridge to the Doctorate Program (www.msphds.usf.edu/BDFellowship), which provides two years of funding to graduate students who have received undergraduate educations at LSAMP institutions. Pyrtle says the NSF LSAMP aims to strengthen the scientific training of minority students, as well as increase the number of underrepresented minority students who finish their baccalaureates in STEM fields. The program's long-term goal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority Ph.D.'s in STEM fields. The Florida-Georgia LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Program, launched in 2004, has provided two-year fellowships to thirty eight students. It is anticipated that this program will continue providing fellowship opportunities for additional students for many years to come.

Throughout her career, Pyrtle has been able to rely on the guidance of many mentors, including Dr. Thomas Windham, Dr. Frank Hall and Dr. Robert Duce. Windham directed the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research program (SOARS) at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), prior to assuming his current role as Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering Workforce at NSF. Windham has engaged in diversity initiatives for many years, and Pyrtle credits him with giving her a lot of support. "He offered important advice when I began my own initiative...and [he] still gives me guidance to this day," she says. Another mentor is Frank Hall, formerly an associate professor at the University of New Orleans, and most recently a Program Officer for the Ocean Studies Board at The National Academies. When Pyrtle was a graduate student, Hall used his own funding to cover Pyrtle's travel costs to attend her first international meeting so that she could do an oral presentation on her Arctic research. He has also helped her network with other scientists throughout the years. Another mentor is Robert Duce, who was dean of the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University when she was a graduate student. According to Pyrtle, Duce is a scientist with an international reputation for research excellence and "is just a good person morally...he is a really good role model." Duce mentored Pyrtle through some difficult periods, and encouraged her to remain in academia and to get her Ph.D.

Helping students of color to achieve their goals at the undergraduate and graduate levels has been a career highlight for Pyrtle. Her desire to help them stems from her own experience of being one of the very few minorities in her field, something she notes as a career low point. Despite its current lack of diversity, Pyrtle refuses to leave the field she has loved since she was a child. She notes optimistically that the number of minority faculty and scientists is slowly increasing, particularly in chemical and biological oceanography. As a distinguished woman of color in her field, Pyrtle has received wide recognition for her work. She has been profiled in a variety of school textbooks and magazines, and has served on the NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education.

For minorities considering careers in the environmental field, Pyrtle has this advice: "There are a lot of opportunities, and with continuous effort and perseverance they [minorities] can be successful."

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Nina Roberts

(1960-Present)

Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies

San Francisco State University

"Determine and understand your own values and judgments and how they may shape your attitudes and beliefs about the natural world and other peoples' connection to it." - Nina Roberts, 2005.

Nina Roberts was born on December 10, 1960 in New York City to James and Colette Roberts, a retired businessman and freelance artist respectively. Roberts, along with her parents, two sisters and brother, moved frequently throughout the Northeast living in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC areas. She attributes her life-long quest to find a sanctuary to having lived in such densely populated areas during her childhood. For Roberts, this sanctuary is the outdoors. She regularly attended camp as a child then moved up the ranks to be a camp counselor. This sparked her interest in recreation, natural resource management and environmental education. Thus, she embraces the value of being able to develop a career and make a living in the outdoors.

Roberts has taken her education and interest in the environmental field seriously. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education and Outdoor Recreation from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts , a Master's Degree in Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management from the University of Maryland , College Park , and, in 2003, she earned a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resource Management.

Roberts began her work in the environmental field with a job as the Assistant Director of a recreation community center affiliated with the Boston AreaYMCA. While her job description and goals were very broad, her overall responsibilities focused on providing recreational and environmental activities for youth whose families resided in low-income communities. This position solidified her interest in the field of outdoor recreation. She has since held a variety of positions including work with the National Park Service, Student Conservation Association, and other non-governmental organizations. She is currently preparing for a new position (starting the fall of 2005) in California as an Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies where she will focus on teaching and research in regards to youth development, outdoor recreation and leadership.

Roberts' career is filled with many great accomplishments. However, she is most proud of her work as the National Coordinator of the "Take Back the Trails" initiative in 1997. This initiative involved over 30,000 women and male allies across the country to hike, backpack or go camping over the Memorial Day weekend to demonstrate their commitment and belief in opposing violence and senseless homicides against women while participating in outdoor recreation activities. Roberts led the national committee that coordinated the event and made it a huge success. This event, along with others, has given Roberts significant visibility in the environmental field. Consequently, she has been in a position to connect with and mentor young minorities across the country .

Connecting with those she works with has not always been an easy task. Roberts cites the difficulty she had in communicating with the director at a small non-governmental agency as a particular low point in her career. The actions of the director uncovered his bias and prejudice, making it a struggle for Roberts to relate to and communicate with him. However, the goals that she accomplished for the young people in this program, combined with her respect for the outdoors, has kept Roberts in the environmental field.

Roberts respects the environment as her "teacher". She finds that she discovers more about herself and the world through spending time outdoors than any other place. Further, maintaining a career in the environmental field allows her to not only work towards educating people about environmental protection but also allows her to have a voice in political decision-making. These aspects of the environmental field have kept her active and engaged even during the challenging times .

The advice and examples set by Roberts' mentors have also played a role in her successes and perseverance. When asked who Roberts considers to be her mentors, five individuals immediately came to mind; Jan Harris, Flip Hagood, Liz Titus, Iantha Gantt-Wright, and Bill Gwaltney. Jan Harris was her undergraduate academic advisor. Harris was influential in shaping Roberts's career decisions. Flip Hagood was her supervisor during her time with the Student Conservation Association (SCA). Hagood demonstrated tremendous faith and trust in her and the decisions she made. She appreciates this confidence as well as the amazing advice that he provided. Liz Titus is the founder of the SCA. She opened the doors to women in natural resources in many ways and provided opportunities for girls and young women to learn about natural resources. Iantha Gantt-Wright is the former cultural diversity manager at the National Parks Conservation Association. Together they have brainstormed ways to create change. They possess a similar energy that allowed them to work well together. Finally, Bill Gwaltney supervised her research fellowship at Rocky Mountain National Park. He opened many doors for her with the National Park Service and has been her champion as she pursued one aspect of her career.

Just as others have served as important mentors for Roberts, she has served as a mentor for others throughout her career at various universities and with the variety of youth programs she has worked. In addition, her unusual heritage of East Indian, British and West Indian affords her the opportunity to mentor others in very different and unique ways. Roberts' work as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland, George Mason University and Colorado State University allowed her to spend time with students, including minorities, interested in the environmental field. Through her work with the SCA, for example, she was in constant contact with young women and minorities. She was able to share the value of natural resources and the benefits of an environmental career with them.

As Roberts interacts with young women and minorities, her greatest piece of advice is to learn to effectively cross cultural boundaries and to communicate about one's goals and love of nature. She also suggests for individuals to put themselves in leadership positions as often as possible, especially those that will provide multiple perspectives to traditional settings. Finally, Roberts advises that individuals find ways to better understand themselves. That is, "Determine and understand your own values and judgments and how they may shape your attitudes and beliefs about the natural world and other peoples' connection to it."

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Ratna Sharma-Shivappa

Assistant Professor

North Carolina State University

"Everyone has something they like and can do in this field-that's the beauty of it." - Ratna Sharma-Shivappa, 2006.

Ratna Sharma-Shivappa was raised on an agricultural university campus in India. "Everyone around me was an academician, a student or a faculty member," she remembers. "It was always about being in the university." Both of Sharma-Shivappa's parents were professors, and the family lived in on-campus housing. There was no question in her mind growing up that she too would go to college, earn her Ph.D., and eventually end up teaching at a university. As a young adult on an agricultural university campus, Sharma-Shivappa was surrounded by questions about agricultural issues, such as crop production, farm use, and use of resources and equipment. "I knew I wanted to look at aspects related to both the environment and agriculture," she recalls. "I ended up in bioprocess engineering."

Sharma-Shivappa attended college at Punjab Agricultural University, where she received her bachelor of technology degree in Agricultural Engineering. She then went on to get her master's degree in engineering at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, and received her Ph.D. at Penn State University in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Sharma-Shivappa got her current job as an assistant professor at North Carolina State University within six months of finishing her Ph.D. In fact, she had already secured the job before she submitted her Ph.D. dissertation. "It was quite a jump from being in graduate school to being a faculty member," she says. "I thought, 'Okay, now I have a lot of responsibility. I'm guiding grad students.' Besides, I have a lot of things to deal with,in addition to grant writing and teaching."

Sharma-Shivappa feels that getting her current position has been a real highlight in her still developing career. "It's really made me learn a lot over the past three years," she says. "I've grown a lot both personally and professionally." She also enjoys the interactions and collaborations with other people in the field. Her current job has also increased her awareness of the need for more research in biofuels development.

Sharma-Shivappa credits her husband, Dr. Raghunath Shivappa, for helping her get to where she is today; without his support, she says, she would not have been able to get her job and finish her PhD. She is also mentored by her Ph.D. advisor, Dr.Ali Demirci, who has inspired her, given her confidence and put her in a position where she can now guide others. And perhaps most importantly, "I was inspired by my parents in the first place," Sharma-Shivappa notes. "Both were faculty members, and I grew up seeing their work and watching them guide their students."

Though Sharma-Shivappa has found much success in her chosen field, she did have to overcome some obstacles to get to where she is today. "When I finished high school, my parents wanted me to become a doctor," she explains. "I couldn't go to medical school because I really wanted to be an engineer. Not many women in India pursue unconventional engineering fields. I had always wanted to do something different. I had to pull against my parents wishes."

Since Sharma-Shivappa's career is still in its early stages, she feels that she still has a lot to achieve professionally. However, she believes that coming to the U.S. and leaving her family and home behind were very significant achievements for her. Being an only child, it was especially hard to break the tie with her parents and move so far away to pursue her career.

Sharma-Shivappa is excited to continue teaching and researching in the environmental/bioprocessing field. She sticks with it primarily because she enjoys interacting with students, and the opportunities it provides for innovation. "I have to be creative-it keeps me active, looking for new things to do," she says. "There is no way to get bored. I keep getting into new research and new ideas. Students keep you active too."

Sharma-Shivappa has this advice for minorities who are considering a career in the environmental field: "The most important thing is that this is a very exciting field; it's very applied, so you can apply what you learn in the field to a variety of things. Being a minority shouldn't stop you from getting into this up-and-coming field. We all have something to give. Everyone has something they like and can do in this field-that's the beauty of it."

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Beverly Wright

(1947-Present)

Founder and Executive Director Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

Xavier University of New Orleans

"We don't go into communities to try to help. We want them to see what we are about and come to us. It's easier that way." - Beverly Wright, 2005.

Beverly Wright attributes some of her success to her innate ability to recognize injustice and willingness to fight to correct it. Her early childhood experiences influenced her decision to embark on a career in the environmental field. Growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wright was no stranger to blatant racial discrimination. Born on October 1, 1947 to Evelyn and Morris Bates, Wright's parents were quick to explain to her the wrongness of racial discrimination. Once when she was a little girl riding a bus with her mother, Wright asked what was meant by the sign behind the driver's seat that read "No Colored," her mother quickly responded, "It's wrong." The early lessons about racial injustice prepared Wright for a future fighting for equality and justice.

Wright received her B.A. in Sociology at Grambling University. She then pursued graduate studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) - Buffalo. Her interest in environmental issues was first kindled by Dr. Adeline Levine who introduced her to the events occurring at Love Canal, New York. Through Levine, Wright learned of the dedication and trust needed in social justice activism. The Love Canal experience proved to be a valuable lesson in scholar activism for Wright.

Environmental justice moved to the forefront of Wright's career when she began working with fellow environmental justice scholar and activist, Robert Bullard. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Bullard was documenting cases in Houston, Texas in which predominantly African American communities were witnessing highly-polluting industries relocating in their neighborhoods. The collaboration with Bullard led Wright to start examining the relationship between ill health along riverine corridors in New Orleans and industrial pollution. Her research uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial mapping techniques to examine the relationship between race, space and the incidence of disease in the region.

After participating in the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment's conference on "Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards" in 1990, Wright got more involved in political activism around environmental justice issues. She was one of the original members of the Michigan Coalition - a group of conferees who attended the Michigan conference and decided to form an advisory committee to work with the Environmental Protection agency on developing environmental justice policies and to plan the 1992 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. She served as a member of the Leadership Summit's National Advisory Committee. She was also a member of the Planning and Protocol Committees for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences' Health and Research Needs to Ensure Environmental Justice National Symposium. Wright has testified at environmental justice hearings and helped to develop an environmental transition paper for the Clinton administration. Wright and several others witnessed President Clinton's signing of the Environmental Justice Executive Order (12898). She also served on the U.S. EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC).

Wright considers her work at the grassroots level the most rewarding of her career and the work she is most proud of. She is the founder and currently the Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) at Xavier University in New Orleans. DSCEJ was established to create a bridge between communities experiencing environmental injustice, policymakers and academic scientists and researchers. Focusing on the Lower Mississippi River corridor, DSCEJ has adopted a "communiveristy" approach wherein university researchers collaborate with activists on community-driven projects. According to Wright, "We don't go into communities to try to help. We want them to see what we are about and come to us. It's easier that way."

DSCEJ offers workshops in which community members are taught about environmental-justice-related issues like legal procedures, pollution prevention, computing, GIS mapping, and environmental monitoring and reporting procedures. As Wright sees it, one of the most important programs at DSCEJ is the Worker Training Project. The program is designed to get young men and women into the workforce. The program trains workers to become licensed abatement specialists; they work to remove asbestos and other hazardous materials. "Enabling local citizens to work in their communities to clean up the pollution is an effective tool in creating jobs for young men and women," says Wright. She also collaborates with Bullard's Environmental Justice Resource Center (EJRC) at Clark Atlanta University on projects like these on many occasions.

Wright received an award for her outstanding achievements and national recognition in the field of environmental justice from her alma mater, SUNY Buffalo. She continues to serve on several prominent committees. She is a member of the New Orleans Mayor's Environmental Advisory Committee and is a member of the Mayor's Office of Environmental Affairs Brownfields Consortium. She has chaired the New Orleans Mayor's Committee on Solid Waste. Wright has also been appointed to the Army Corps of Engineers' Environmental Advisory Board, the U. S. Commission of Civil Rights for the state of Louisiana and to the City of New Orleans' Select Committee for the Sewerage and Water Board.

Wright is currently developing a new project called "Clean and Just Production." The aim of the project is to work with industries in Louisiana to get them to subscribe to the Clean and Just Production criteria. The goal is to encourage industries to consider the entire life cycle of a product and develop mitigation strategies that will reduce health and environmental impacts. Wright hopes that the pilot project will be implemented on a larger scale soon.

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Dawn Wright "Deepsea Dawn"

(1961-Present)

Professor of Geography and Oceanography

Oregon State University

"The trick is to keep that passion and excitement going. The way to maintain it is to have success, to do well in school, but also to have a balance of other interests. Keeping yourself a well-rounded person is a good recipe for success." - Dawn Wright, 2006.

Growing up on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the ocean was a natural inspiration for Dawn Wright. However, she also owes her eventual career as an oceanographer to influences from books, TV and film. "I started out reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Mutiny on the Bounty, Treasure Island, anything that had to do with sea adventures," she explains. "TV was also a big influence...my generation grew up with Jacques Cousteau whether we were interested in oceanography or not. That had a tremendous impact on me." Though early on she dreamt of being a pirate or an adventurer, it didn't take her along to realize she could make a real career out of her love for the ocean. By the time she was eight, Wright knew she would be an oceanographer.

What kind of oceanographer was a question that took longer to puzzle out. Wright toyed with many different aspects of marine science, including the idea of underwater photography, before she decided that geology was what really fascinated her. "I was really interested in geology...I really liked rocks and volcanoes, so I decided to put myself on the path to geological oceanography," she says. She left Hawaii to pursue that subject at Wheaton College in Illinois, later earning her M.S. in Geological Oceanography from Texas A&M University. Despite the fact that there are many career options for those with masters' degrees in oceanography, Wright knew she wanted to be the "mistress of her own destiny"-someone with the ability to choose her own science projects and oversee oceanographic expeditions. To do that, she had to get her Ph.D.

Before beginning her doctoral studies, however, Wright wanted to get more firsthand experience working directly with the oceans. To that end, she worked for three years as a marine technician on a scientific ocean-drilling project. The experience proved to be worthwhile. "It was a great way to learn more about how ocean science works, how people on a ship interact, and the culture of science," she says. It also gave her time to think about where she might like to pursue her Ph.D. She decided on the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she developed another interest that dovetailed well with oceanography: geography, and the combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with oceanographic work.

While still working on her dissertation at UCSB, Wright was recruited for a faculty position at Oregon State University . She began as an Assistant Professor in 1995; in 2002 she achieved the status of full professor in the Department of Geosciences. She now teaches courses in introductory and advanced GIS, oceanography, and physical geography, and has been involved in a number of research efforts. So far, she has examined fissures along mid-ocean ridges, in hopes of better understanding hydrothermal vents and underwater volcanic eruptions; used GIS to create a seafloor map of Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa; and examined recent volcano eruptions along the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Northwest coast of Oregon and Washington while aboard the submersible Alvin. Several years prior to that, while on an expedition to the East Pacific Rise, she became the first African-American woman to dive to the ocean floor aboard Alvin. She has also helped build a new research program in seafloor mapping at the Oregon State University, and is a pioneer in adapting GIS for use in the study of oceanography. Overall, Wright counts herself fortunate to have had such a successful and stimulating career, and says she wouldn't trade her job for anything. "This work really does capture the imagination," she says. "It's fascinating science that may have great values in ways we don't even understand yet. But even more than that, it's a blast."

Wright says despite the relatively low number of women, especially minority women, represented in her field, she has been able to pursue her career surprisingly free of discrimination. Though she's frequently had the experience of being the only woman or minority "in the room," she has never let that hold her back. "Even if you are the only one...it does not have to defeat you," she says. "If one person gives you a hard time, there will always be someone else who does not and reacts to you in a wonderful, positive manner." Wright is thankful for the support and mentorship provided by several people: her mother, who in addition to being extremely supportive of her daughter's goals, had a 50-plus year career in academia herself; her doctoral advisor Ray Smith, who met with his students on a weekly basis, a practice Wright emulates with her own advisees; and her former department chair at Oregon State, Gordon Matzke, who was extremely supportive of Wright during her first few years as a faculty member.

Wright acknowledges that the field would benefit from greater diversity, and she works hard to interest more young women and minorities in oceanography. When time allows, she gets involved in science fairs and workshops for middle and high school students, has written articles for K-12 publications, and has been profiled in science and math textbooks, magazines, and even a permanent exhibit in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. A 2004 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration allowed her to sponsor two graduate fellowships to a female and minority student. "I really try to connect," Wright says of her work as a mentor. "They can see me up there functioning and enjoying my role as a teacher and a scientist in this area, so hopefully that makes an impact."

Wright says she remains in the environmental field largely because of the inspiration she derives from her students and colleagues alike. "When I read about the advances my colleagues are making in science-when someone discovers a new hydrothermal vent, finds a new way to calculate something, or makes a new discovery of a volcano-that's really exciting," she says. Wright notes that she is particularly inspired by the achievements of her fellow female scientists. While she notes that women's numbers in the scientific ranks have improved recently, "it's still somewhat of a novelty seeing women achieving in certain areas," she says. "When one of us does well, I really like to see that."

Wright attributes her professional success largely to her passion for her work. However, she notes that having interests outside of science is key to maintaining that passion. "The trick is to keep that passion and excitement going. They way to maintain it is to have success, to do well in school, but also to have a balance of other interests. Keeping yourself a well-rounded person is a good recipe for success."

Wright advises young people interested in environmental careers to sharpen their computer and math skills, and do as much personal research as they can on the field. "With the internet, it's so easy because you can go to so many websites," she says. "The more personal research each person does, the better." And for all those launching a scientific career-especially minorities and women-Wright stresses the importance of building a strong support system. "These need not be people who necessarily look like you physically, but are of a kindred spirit, and believe in you and your abilities."

*Some material for this profile was derived from the following sources: www.womenoceanographers.com

Francisco, Edna. "Diving into the Deep." From the Minority Scientists Network (MiSciNet), 2005.

ASLO Profiles of Minorities in the Aquatic Sciences (www.aslo.org/mas/profiles.html)

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Ruth Yanai

(1958-Present)

Associate Professor

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

"It has been fun all the way!" - Ruth Yanai, 2005.

Ruth Yanai was born in suburban New Jersey to Hideyasu (Steve) Yanai, a PhD chemist, and Esther VanDeWart Yanai, a housewife and environmental activist, in 1958. As a young child, Yanai gained a comfort in the chemical sciences due to the influence of her father and an appreciation of nature and wild areas, including the Pine Barrens, from her mother.

Yanai's first job after college was part-time in a rock fracture lab at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Yanai states that the location of the job was more important than the job itself. By remaining in New Haven, Yanai was able to spend half her time on political organizing and attend more classes in geology. Yanai did not intend on a career in academia but a graduate student friend recommended that Yanai pursue a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship. By receiving this prestigious fellowship, Yanai was able to write her ticket to graduate school. Thus, Yanai returned to New Haven for graduate school at Yale, after a year teaching math and computer science at the Putney School in Vermont.

Since obtaining her PhD in 1981, Yanai has worked in the research and academic field, including work with the Center for Environmental Research at Cornell University and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research. She is currently an Associate Professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. She appreciates the small size of the school as well as the balance between teaching and research. She also appreciates the opportunities to travel abroad. Yanai has been afforded the opportunity to live in both France and Scotland for one year each. She is hoping to spend most of 2006 in Japan. Most importantly though, Yanai describes her job as fun. She especially has fun in the early, creative stages of research and in the writing phases.

With her creativity, passion, competitive drive, and strong writing skills, Yanai has been successful in securing grants. Over the past five years, she has secured over $2,000,000 in research funding. Thus, she finds it rewarding to be able not only to see her ideas and research happen but also to be able to support students financially. She has also been successful in publishing papers. She and her students have published 46 papers in the last five years, one-third of which appeared in peer-reviewed journals. For Yanai, the environmental field has been fun all the way and that, in combination with her desire to positively impact the world, is what has kept her in both the environmental and academic fields.

Describing her career as fun all the way does not mean that there have not been challenging and frustrating moments along the way. With hectic research and travel schedules, it has been difficult to coordinate research, writing, and deadlines with all of the people involved in producing a piece of meaningful work. Specifically, the final year of writing her dissertation was a challenge as key support individuals were not readily available. Overall, there have been times when Yanai struggled to complete her work with her usual positive attitude and energy. However, she has worked through those moments and continued with the fun.

The support and advice of mentors played a role in shaping Yanai's career. Yanai credits Herb Borman, Phil Sollins, Tony Federer, and Tim Fahey as important early mentors. These individuals' combined talent and advice helped to shape her dissertation, publications, and career.

Yanai's role as a mentor for students is a subject to which she has been giving a lot of thought recently. She is active in the ESF Women's Caucus, which organizes an annual seminar series to increase faculty and student exposure to the work of women in environmental professions. Potlucks are held regularly and members of the ESF Women's Caucus often invite young girls onto campus to expose them to the work that women in science are currently doing. In addition, she is recognized by female Asian students as a positive role model in regards to self-expression and assertiveness. However, Yanai notes that not all students and colleagues view her as an Asian woman due to her mixed Japanese and Caucasian heritage. Yanai advises that potential academic researchers possess the desire to write as writing both grant proposals and papers is an integral piece of the profession.

With her strong record of publications, grants, and teaching, Yanai is certainly proud of her professional accomplishments. However, she values balance and works hard to balance not only the activities within her professional life but also to balance her professional and personal life. Yanai is a runner who has won national and regional masters women's championships in track and cross-country. Finally, Yanai is most proud of her success as a single mom.

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Male Profiles

Richard Anderson

(1969-Present)

Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences and Policy Division

Duke University

"There are so many different ways to come at the environment-legal aspects, advocacy, science. It's certainly important to think about what you're good at and what you enjoy." - Richard Anderson, 2006.

Richard Anderson describes his growth into an environmental science professional as an evolutionary process. "It was always a latent interest, but emerged in a way I don't fully understand," he explains. "I think growing up in Jamaica might have had something to do with it. I have wonderful memories of growing up there...it was very much a tropical paradise. I have always had a love for the outdoors, and was driven by that."

Anderson began his college career studying engineering. He received his B.S. in engineering mechanics from Johns Hopkins University, and went on to work as a nuclear safety analyst for Westinghouse Electric in Pittsburgh. However, a summer program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed him the different applications his skills could bring to the environmental field. Inspired by the experience, Anderson returned to Johns Hopkins to earn his Ph.D. from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering.

Anderson's doctoral thesis would prove to be a springboard to a number of opportunities in the field. The major paper that developed from his research, applying decision analysis in the Lake Erie ecosystem, earned him recognition from professional colleagues in the group INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences). Additional thesis work in watershed hydrology helped him secure a post-doc position doing hydrologic modeling research with the National Weather Service. Subsequently, he also spent a year in Washington D.C. at the U. S. Department of Agriculture as an American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science-Policy Fellow, where he was involved in water quality modeling research, and had the opportunity to observe the interaction of science and policymaking. Three years after completing his Ph.D., despite having shifted his attention away from academia as an immediate career goal, he was invited to interview for a faculty position at Duke's Nicholas School for the Environment. There he was ultimately offered a job as an assistant professor.

Anderson is still settling into his role as a professor, and acknowledges that getting started as an academic is challenging. "The first year is the toughest," he says, "because you have to get going in terms of teaching, as well as decide where to devote your efforts research-wise, all the while avoiding the tendency to compare yourself to more established researchers." Anderson is moving into his second year at Duke, when he will add advising a Ph.D. student to his other tasks of teaching and research.

Because his career is still very new, Anderson says he doesn't have "sufficient perspective" to reflect on his achievements yet. He is pleased with the success his dissertation research has earned him, both in terms of professional positioning and opening up opportunities for research collaborations. However, he hopes the defining moments of his career are yet to come. "There will be opportunities for me to get in involved in other research contexts that will hopefully lead to significant things," he says. "One important aspect of what I want to do is get involved in 'real' decision-making contexts." In terms of advising, Anderson cites his undergraduate and Ph.D. advisors as examples of good mentors, both of whom "went beyond the call of duty in many ways, and pushed me into opportunities."

Anderson says that his enjoyment and care for the outdoors, in combination with perseverance, accounts for his decision to stick with a career in the environmental field. "I think that we need to develop ways to make better decisions for the environment," he says. "That needs to be the focus of more research-developing systematic, rigorous ways for making environmental decisions." He notes that there are a variety of ways to get involved in the environmental field, and encourages minorities interested in environmental careers to know their interests first and foremost. "There are so many different ways to come at the environment-legal aspects, advocacy, science," he says. "It's certainly important to think about what you're good at and what you enjoy." He suggests the Internet as one resource to get started looking for internships or summer experiences that give students a taste of the environmental field, and helps bolster their credentials.

Whatever aspect of the environmental field they may be interested in, Anderson advises young people to know the science surrounding environmental issues. "Regardless of how you want to get involved, be familiar with the science that's involved as best you can," he says. "There's too much alarmism going on about many popular environmental issues, and not enough understanding of what different scientific opinions and perspectives say, and what the uncertainties are. Even at the most basic level, you have to be familiar with the science."

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Seth Appiah-Opoku

(1965-Present)

Assistant Professor

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

"There's no other way to touch so many hearts than to teach." - Seth Appiah-Opoku, 2005.

Seth Appiah-Opoku was born in Ghana on December 30, 1965, one of six children born to Sinclair and Akua Asaama Appiah-Opoku. His father was an architect who owned his own firm. Influenced by his father's career path, Appiah-Opoku decided to pursue a degree in planning. He received his bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Planning in 1990 at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Ontario. He then attended the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, where he received a master's degree in Rural Planning and International Development in 1992.

Appiah-Opoku became interested in an environmental career path during undergraduate school, when he realized the impact of environmental considerations on planning and policy decisions. "Humans have been degrading the environment for many years, and we're realizing that we need to reverse that trend," Appiah-Opoku says. He realized that planners can be positive agents for environmental change, and decided to focus on environmental planning.

Appiah-Opoku obtained a Ph.D. in Environmental Planning from the University of Waterloo in Ontario in 1997. He was then hired as an instructor at the University of Northern British Columbia, where he taught classes in environmental planning, air pollution, hazardous waste management, and gender and the environment. In 1998 he moved to the University of Vermont, where he added courses in international environmental issues, indigenous ecological knowledge, and environmental awareness. In 1999, he began as an instructor in an environmentally-focused study abroad course in Ghana. The course examined how culture impacts the environment and environmental discourse, and has proved very successful; Appiah-Opoku continues to teach there. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, where he teaches environmental management, planning, and land use regulation at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Appiah-Opoku credits his success in academia to "the basics": hard work, publishing outstanding research, being an excellent teacher, and engaging in service to his students, his community, and the world at large. He also benefited from the inspiration and guidance of several mentors. Appiah-Opoku particularly notes one undergraduate professor at Ryerson, whose course on environmental impact assessment sparked in him a realization of the urgent need for new, innovative methods of protecting the environment. Appiah-Opoku also cites his graduate adviser for making him aware of his full potential. He says that adviser told him he could go as far in his career as he was willing to work for, a principle Appiah-Opoku applies to this day.

Following in the footsteps of his mentors, Appiah-Opoku, in turn, encourages his students. He says he endeavors to give them direction, and he strongly urges them to recognize potential problems and learn how to navigate around them. He says experience has shown him that many students have difficulty because they lack effective time and money management skills. Appiah-Opoku says these are problems that students can overcome with proactive strategies, personalized organization skills, and a good budgeting system. Appiah-Opoku shares anecdotes of his life as a student as examples of how school, work, and other pressures can be effectively managed.

Many of those anecdotes come from Appiah-Opoku's days as an undergraduate student in Toronto, when he attended classes by day and worked at night to finance his education. Through this experience, Appiah-Opoku says he remained committed to pursuing a career in the environmental field. As a student, he came to believe his work could have a positive impact on the world; he says environmental planners are in a position to "spread the gospel about the need to conserve and protect the environment." It's for this reason that he also relishes his position as a professor. "There's no other way to touch so many hearts than to teach," he says.

Appiah-Opoku's career accomplishments are numerous. In 2005, he passed the American Institute of Certified Planners exam, joining only about 13, 400 other certified planners in the U.S. He also published his first book, The Need for Indigenous Knowledge in Environment Impact Assessment. In 2003, Appiah-Opoku was invited to serve on the international editorial board of the journal Environment Impact Assessment Review, an opportunity that gained him international recognition. He has also received numerous awards, including the Young Canadian Researcher's award from the International Development Research Center (Ottawa, Ontario) in 1995; a Rural Research Development Award from the University of Guelph in 1992; and academic merit awards from both the University of Waterloo and Ryerson Polytechnic University.

In addition to his current duties as teacher and researcher, Appiah-Opoku serves on a diversity committee at the University of Alabama, where he advises university officials on how to increase diversity among the faculty and student body, and explores some of the unique obstacles that minority students face. When advising students of color, Appiah-Opoku urges them to have self-confidence, discipline, organizational skills, and, most importantly, a strong work ethic. In his own words: "Don't be discouraged by obstacles that may come your way. Face your problems and keep going forward."

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Omar Bagasra

(1948-Present)

Professor of Biology,
Claflin University

Director,
South Carolina Center for Biotechnology

"I know I'm making a difference in other people's lives." - Omar Bagasra, 2006.

Omar Bagasra was born on October 9, 1948, in an unknown location on the plains of India. He is the first of Amina and Habid Bagasra's eleven children. Soon before his birth, the former British colony gained independence, and Bagasra's family joined an exodus of twenty-five million people who left India for the newly-formed nation of Pakistan. Bagasra remembers many difficulties growing up in the "newly born country", where social instability and a lack of resources made life a challenge. "Financially, socially, it wasn't a stable place...there was always the threat of war," Bagasra remembers.

Bagasra says those difficulties influenced his education. He recalls his school having to implement double shifts to accommodate all the students: "We had almost no books; what we did have were mostly used or discarded from libraries or donations from the developed nations. Our education system was not much of a system at all. We had inherited it from the British, and it was completely inadequate for our people." Despite these hardships, Bagasra remained intellectually curious, and would take any available opportunity to read.

Bagasra's desire to learn propelled him to academic success. He received both a BS and an MS in Microbiology from the University of Karachi in Pakistan. Bagasra then emigrated to the United States, where he obtained his doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville. Bagasra also received his medical degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1985. He has completed his residency in Pathology, and a fellowship in Clinical Laboratory Immunology as well as in Infectious Diseases.

Bagasra became interested in connections between the environment and health while studying the AIDS virus in Philadelphia, and his mentor and Ph.D .advisor, Dr. John Wallace, developed, and died from, an aggressive form of prostate cancer. His sorrow over his mentor's death compelled him to pursue further research on the disease. Bagasra became convinced that a combination of environmental factors and genetic predisposition were to blame. Later, he would focus his studies more specifically on zinc and the prostate.

Bagasra says Dr. Wallace's influence on him as a young Ph.D. student was tremendous. Bagasra had left his family in Pakistan to pursue his education, and Wallace became a combination of father figure, friend, and advisor to him. Bagasra describes Wallace as "an outstanding advisor. I learned many skills from him, including how to be a good speaker, thinker and analyzer. He would give anyone who had even the slightest bit of potential the chance to be a scholar-regardless of grades and so on. I try to be as open, and I use all his teachings in my life." Wallace was also the only African American chairman of a Microbiology department in a majority-white school. Bagasra tries to carry on Wallace's legacy by mentoring minorities in his undergraduate and graduate biotechnology programs.

Currently, Bagasra is a professor of Biology at Claflin University, a historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and is also the founder and director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology. His research combines environmental medicine with molecular biology and health disparity issues. Dr. Wallace's legacy continues to influence his research topics: Bagasra is particularly interested in finding out why African Americans have the highest rates of prostate cancer (as well as diabetes, hypertension, and female breast cancer) in the world. He has also made a notable contribution to his field by discovering in situ PCR, which allows researchers to determine the percentage of HIV-infected cells in a body. Bagasra cites working in the university environment at Claflin as a career highlight; he says it provides him with the opportunity to pursue meaningful research, while surrounded by friendly, supportive colleagues.

Bagasra says it's his life-long intellectual curiosity that keeps him in the environmental field. "I've been very inquisitive since a young age, and my job gives me a great deal of opportunities to answer all kinds of questions," he says. "I can work freely without much hindrance, and I love to teach. I know I'm making a difference in other people's lives."

Bagasra has this advice for minorities considering environmental careers: "Go for it-because you are really needed in this area. For those of us already involved, for minority communities, and even for the world, it is very essential that we have more people of color involved in this field. We need to know what is going on out there; we need more minorities to become experts in the field to make significant contributions to the future."

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Paul Barber

(1968-Present)

Assistant Professor

Boston University

"You need to find people that care but your personal success...[If] you know this field is what you want to go into, you need to lay the ground work as soon as possible." - Paul Barber, 2006.

Paul Barber says that because he grew up in Tucson, Arizona, many people find it odd that he devotes his career to studying marine organisms. "People think it's weird that I come from there," Barber says. "[But] if you grow up in the desert, you become fixated on water. So my physical environment had a big effect." He spent a lot of time catching wildlife and hiking in the mountains near his childhood home, as well as watching Wild Kingdom and Jacques Cousteau on TV. "I've always had lots of opportunities to do a variety of field work type things, largely from a desire to do fun stuff outside," Barber says. "Those field work experiences put me on a path where I kept looking for opportunities to do those sorts of things, and that's how I ended up where I am today."

Barber majored in both music and biology at the University of Arizona. During his summers, he worked as a Southwestern Field Biologist doing spotted owl surveys. "I spent all my time hiking around mountains looking for spotted owls-essentially, I was paid to go backpacking," he says. "I thought that was cool." Early in college, Barber thought he would pursue music performance, but finding he had more biology credits as a senior, decided to follow a scientific path instead.

After graduating from college in 1991, Barber began a doctoral program in Integrative Biology at the University of California-Berkeley. While finishing up his Ph.D., he also taught field courses for Columbia University out of the biosphere in Tucson, and found that he enjoyed the experience. "It was a six week long field course focused on a variety of aspects of environmental sciences," Barber explains. "I felt like the course taught itself. It's not as difficult to get someone excited about cool things seen in the field as it is to get them excited about concepts in a book. You get to use the environment around you as a classroom, and it sticks with students a lot more." Following a three-year post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, Barber took a position as an assistant professor at Boston University, where he remains today.

At every stage of his advancing career, Barber found mentors that guided and supported his decisions. The earliest was a faculty member and Fisheries Biologist at the University of Arizona, whom Barber met while he was still in high school. He remained his mentor through college, where he taught Barber about fisheries science, despite the fact that Arizona didn't have a program in the subject. Barber also performed research for two professors, Marilyn Houck and Richard Strauss, as an undergraduate. "I think they have a lot to do with the fact that I pursued graduate school," Barber says. "They had I lot to do with where I went to graduate school as well. They were really important." His post-doctoral advisor, Steve Palumbi, also helped him translate his skills from terrestrial to marine biology, and influenced the way he thought about working in marine environments.

Perhaps Barber's most important and influential mentor was his friend Tyrone Hayes, a professor at UC-Berkeley. Hayes and Barber were initially students together, but Hayes finished his Ph.D. in four years and was hired to replace Barber's advisor. Barber ended up finishing his Ph.D. in Hayes's lab. "We were good friends before and after he [Hayes] got the job, and he shared with me his experiences as a junior faculty member, experiences that students don't typically know about," Barber explains. "He taught me that nothing as a student prepares you for a job as a faculty member...he was also influential in teaching me how to develop networking skills and build relations with funding agencies." Barber also admired Hayes's commitment to mentoring other students, and inspired in him a desire to mentor other students in the future. He remembers that Hayes's lab was always "packed with undergrads that he works with, because it's important to him that he build those relationships with his students early." Overall, Barber says of Hayes: "I can't say enough about the importance of his role. The fact that he was essentially a few years ahead of me and constantly sharing the knowledge that he was developing at the time; that was really helpful to me. It was invaluable."

Now a professor himself, Barber takes his role as a mentor very seriously. In addition to mentoring undergraduates and students in his lab, he has developed a program called The Diversity Project, which aims to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in the marine sciences. He takes a number of students to Indonesia every summer to do fieldwork; they then return to Boston University to get trained in molecular genetics, and apply modern population genetic approaches to studying the origins of marine biodiversity in Indonesia. "We're not just working with students in the field and in lab," Barber explains. "We're really trying to help them develop an appreciation for the sciences that are involved." The program also aims to develop more practical skills, like identifying professional goals, selecting and applying to graduate schools, and career planning. "This way, when the time comes and the students are applying, they'll be competitive and actually get into the lab and the program they want to," Barber says. Although he notes that the program is "still in its infancy," Barber already notes it, along with his other mentoring activities, as a career highlight.

Barber has struggled through the occasional low points in his career as well. He cites apply for post-doc and faculty positions as the single most difficult period he has experienced so far. "It's an incredibly competitive endeavor," he notes. "There are so many getting Ph.D.'s every year than can be absorbed by the academic job market. Each job available in your field may have 400 people applying, and you get rejected a lot. I got thick skin after awhile." Barber did eventually get a post-doc position at Harvard, but says he thought about quitting occasionally during that time. "I don't know what I'd be here if everyone rejected me that year," he says. "What kept me was someone saying yes." That turned out to be a good decision-in 2005, Barber was recognized as one of the best young scientists in the country when he was awarded the Presidential Early career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Barber says the best thing minorities looking to pursue the environmental field can do is find mentors, the earlier the better. "You need to find people that care about your personal success, because very often undergraduates don't think about these things until it's time to apply to graduate school, and then it's too late," he advises. "If you know this is the field you want to go into, you need to lay the ground work as soon as possible."

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Bunyan I. Bryant

(1935-Present)

Professor

University of Michigan
School of Natural Resources and Environment

"A strong support system makes the difference in how one runs the race. It determines if one will be a sprinter or a long-distance runner." - Bunyan Bryant, 2005.

Bunyan Bryant was born on March 6, 1935 to Bunyan and Christalee Bryant in Little Rock, Arkansas. At the age of eighteen, Bryant moved with his family to Flint, Michigan. In his childhood and teenage years, the role models Bryant encountered led him to limit his aspirations.

After graduating from Flint Northern High School, Bryant obtained a position at General Motors Plant Six. The work was tough with early mornings, long hours and an accident-prone environment. However, as Bryant began meeting more people from the Detroit area, his interests and goals broadened. Bryant's mother always valued education highly and this value, along with the influence of his friends, led him to enroll at Eastern Michigan University. He earned his bachelors degree in 1958. He went on to complete a Master's of Social Work at the University of Michigan in 1965. He also got a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Michigan in 1970.

Bryant was also an Assistant Project Director at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) from 1968-1979. Much of his work at ISR focused on the Civil Rights Movement and providing intervention, mediation, and negotiation in racial conflicts within schools and educational arenas. He was also active in the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) as a process consultant. However, a series of events unfolded that led Bryant to the School of Natural Resources (later renamed School of Natural Resources and Environment - SNRE).

The Institute for Social Research was undergoing a priority shift in terms of the funding provided to projects. At the same time, SNRE was undergoing an organizational and curricular change. While Bryant was working at ISR, he received a call from an SNRE professor, William Stapp, encouraging him to consider a position at the school. Stapp was familiar with Bryant's work in the civil rights, negotiations, education, and group process. He thought that these would complement the ecology curriculum quite well. Thus, Bryant found himself as an Assistant Professor of Natural Resources at SNRE.

The year was 1972 and social issues were just emerging within the traditional ecology and forestry curricula. By lobbying others and developing a strong support network, Bryant and his colleagues were able to succeed in putting in place an Environmental Advocacy curricular track at the school. Bryant emphasizes the important role that Jim Crowfoot, Bill Stapp, and students played in this success. Together they built a strong learning community that included student-led workshops, retreats and dinners. Bryant was able to progress throughout his career - which includes 34 years at the University of Michigan - by being dedicated to his work and earning the respect of others.

In addition to teaching in SNRE, Bryant has also been involved in hosting workshops regarding racism and race relations for the University of Michigan's Medical School and the School of Social Work. He is also active with a host of community groups working to increase capacity in minority areas.

In addition to the support of his immediate colleagues, Bryant looked to several mentors for guidance. Bryant names Mark Chesler, Ron Lippitt and Miles Horton as being important figures in his career. These mentors provided perspective and feedback on issues related to consulting, writing and pedagogy. While Bryant does not mentor others in the formal sense, he actively serves as a resource for students in SNRE. He is often unaware of his impact on others until he receives a letter or postcard in the mail from a former student or acquaintance thanking him for his support and guidance. Thus, in his everyday activities as a professor, he is able to shape and mentor students.

Bryant's career has been full of many accomplishments. However, he is most proud of helping to develop the Environmental Justice Program at SNRE and of his creation of the Environmental Justice Initiative (also in SNRE). The Environmental Justice program has attained the status of one of the major programs in the school. SNRE's Environmental Justice Program - the first in the country to offer a full slate of environmental justice courses and specializations leading to bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in environmental justice - serves as a model for similar programs. The Environmental Justice Initiative is able to provide information, resources and support to environmental justice organizations and communities in need of help.

Bryant has also gained a national reputation for his scholarly work and environmental justice activism. He and colleague - Paul Mohai - played important roles in the early environmental justice movement by organizing a seminal conference on "Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards" at SNRE in 1990. Bryant and Mohai were also active in the Michigan Coalition - a group of conferees who formed an advisory group to the Environmental Protection Agency and worked with the agency on developing early environmental justice guidelines. The Michigan Coalition also helped to organize the First National People of Color Summit. Bryant and Mohai also collaborated to publish an edited volume containing the papers from the conference that was published in 1992. The book, Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards, is an important volume in early environmental justice writings. Since then Bryant has sat on numerous local, state and national environmental justice committees. He has also published many articles and book chapters on the topic.

Bryant acknowledges that environmental justice work and research has not always been fully supported. However, he has continued to work in the field because he believes it is important for minorities to be able to have access to all resources and to protect their communities. Bryant has received many awards including the Outstanding Alumni Award from his high school in Flint and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship at the University for outstanding teaching and work with undergraduates.

When asked what advice he would give to individuals interested in a career in the environmental field, Bryant replied, "It is hard to facilitate change. One should be careful to pick his/her battles. It is also important to build a strong support system. A strong support system makes the difference in how one runs the race. It determines if one will be a sprinter or a long-distance runner."

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Robert D. Bullard

(1946-Present)

Professor, Clark-Atlanta University

Founder and Director, Environmental Justice Resource Center

"We have to work even harder to hold the ground and for the notion that equal justice is for all communities and that we're all created equal." - Bob Bullard, 2005.

Robert D. Bullard was born to Myrtle and Nehemiah Bullard in Elba, Alabama, the fourth of five children. He began his academic career at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he majored in history and government with a minor in sociology. He studied sociology at the graduate level, receiving his master's from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

Though Bullard is one of the pioneers of environmental justice research, scholarship and activism, his environmental career began somewhat unexpectedly. His first environmental job was as an Urban Planner in Des Moines while he was still graduate school. The job, which involved working on community development, transportation and housing issues, provided the early foundation for some of the environmental justice work he did later on. When Bullard began his urban planning work, the memories of growing up in segregated Alabama during the 1950s and 1960s, were still fresh in his mind. His childhood experiences made him aware of how communities developed and grew, residential patterns were created and perpetuated, and how benefits and sanctions were distributed along racial lines. However, those experiences provided an important lens through which he would view and analyze urban and rural dynamics in other parts of the country.

After Bullard graduated from Iowa Sate, he moved to Houston to teach at Texas Southern University (TSU). Bullard continues to aspire to the model he finds in the career of W. E. B. DuBois. To this end he has molded his career to combine teaching, research, and activism. The job at TSU allowed him to devote half his time to being the Research Director of an urban research center and the other half to teaching. The activism component of his work came through his research. Bullard collaborated with Linda McKeever Bullard, an attorney representing an African American community in a law suit (Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management, Inc.) where she employed civil rights law to protest environmental discrimination. Bullard collected data for the lawsuit from 1978-1979 and published an article about the case. This set the tone for doing sociological research by applying social inquiry to questions and events related to law, civil rights, environment, and policy. So, when asked how he became interested in a career in the environmental field, Bullard laughingly replies, "I was backed into it!"

He elaborates further on his philosophical approach to his work. "From my earliest moments in academia," he says, "I wanted to make sure I kept my feet grounded in the community while publishing in mainstream journals and cutting-edge publications that were left of center that looked at racism and African Americans. I wanted to make sure my research was used, like DuBois', and that it pushed the envelope, whether it was smart growth, transportation, or housing."

Bullard now directs the Environmental Justice Research Center (EJRC) at his alma mater, Clark-Atlanta University, where he also holds the Ware professorship - an endowed chair in the Department of Sociology. The EJRC sits at the intersection of research, teaching, policy, and technical assistance to communities. Because of the institutional support the university provides, the center is able to provide broad-based assistance to many people.

Throughout his career, Bullard has mentored many students from a wide variety of backgrounds. For instance, the majority of his students in Texas were black, but in Tennessee they were mostly white. He spent his time at more than one campus in the University of California system - there the students were from an array of ethnic backgrounds. Bullard feels mentoring students is very important, and he has been surprised over the years how many students have kept in touch with him who are successful in a variety of fields. "Education is about training and learning and teaching and sharing," he says. "I am surprised...how many lives I have touched."

Because of the pervasiveness of environmental racism and great interest in the topic, many students seek him out as a thesis advisor. One of Bullard's former proteges, Glenn Johnson, who moved from University of Tennessee to Atlanta, worked with and co-authored several publications with him. Johnson is now one of Bullard's colleagues in Sociology Department at Clark-Atlanta University. Bullard sees a need for diversifying the scientific field as well as creating venues for publication for young scientists of color. He tries to facilitate this process offering them publication opportunities in books and journals. He also tries to help young scholars advance in their careers environmental organizations, government and academia in any way he can.

Perhaps Bullard's emphasis on mentoring comes from the experiences he had with his own mentors. Bullard's uncle was an educator and influenced him a great deal. He explained, "Educators, scholars, and activists have always been a big hit with me!" He recalls that his grandmother "was a strong advocate of education, of standing on your own two feet and not letting anybody ride your back. She instilled that in me, in my father, and my parents [also] instilled it in me." Bullard explains that there are others he admires who have influenced also. "There are lots of heroes and sheroes in my life, but the people who came before me-Martin Luther King, Jr.; Malcom X; Fannie Lou Hamer; Frederick Douglass-who really combined telling the truth and not letting things come back and get you-repercussions-just because you're standing for social justice" are the ones who stand out the most.

Bullard has written several influential books including: Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality; Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color; and Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Routes to Equity. Bullard says, "My upbringings did not shelter me from the fact that all societies are not created equal, (including) access to paved roads, sewer, and water. Nobody had to get me a movie ticket to see this. I saw it with my own eyes. And some of this exists today, the residual of Jim Crow in southern rural communities" is still alive and well.

Bullard has served on a number of prominent committees and boards. He was a member of President Clinton's Transition Team in 1990, where he served in the Natural Resources Cluster. He also served as Chair of the Health and Research Subcommittee of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which was formed to advise the EPA Administrator. He and other environmental justice advocates collaborated with the National Institute of Health Sciences to organize the "Symposium on Health and Research Needs to Ensure Environmental Justice," Bullard was also one of the witnesses to President Clinton's signing of the Environmental Justice Executive Order 12898.

The evolution of the way "environment" has come to be defined is what keeps Bullard in the environmental field. According to him, "Environment is everything: where we work, play and live, and if we continue to keep that definition, we can advance the movement for justice in almost every field, from housing to employment...." Today environmental justice "is a household concept," says Bullard. He considers his most significant achievement to have been the publication of Dumping in Dixie in 1990. When Bullard first tried to get it published, he had great difficulty convincing the publishers that books using "environment and race in the same sentence" would sell. Today the book is in its third printing and there are hundreds of environmental justice books and articles in circulation.

To have watched the "environmental justice movement break out of the closet" has been the highlight of Bullard's career. In the 1970s and early 1980s, "hardly anyone acknowledged environmental justice or environmental racism. To see it blossom and grow and to have had some small part in it-and to see lawyers and doctors and students and toxicologists deal with it-and to see it as a field that can expand with any other field" is what amazes Bullard the most. As for current activity in the environmental justice movement, Bullard looks forward to increasing interest and activity among diverse populations, particularly as the linkages between environmental justice and health increases.

Bullard finds the recent political "rollbacks" to be the most disappointing moments of his career. "The gains made over the past twenty years are being dismantled, whether is it the EPA and environmental justice or trying to increase the numbers of people of color scientists through affirmative action. Even to see conservative people of color attacking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act-people who are part of our constituency-it's a low point not only in my career but in advancing a movement." Bullard's disappointment with the current state of affairs has not discouraged him. He believes that "We have to work even harder to hold the ground and for the notion that equal justice is for all communities and that we're all created equal."

Bullard's message to people of color who are considering a career in the environmental field is: "It's a great field. The opportunities are unlimited. The fact is that we're still under-represented in almost every [component of the environmental field], so it's an area where you can have not only a great career, but great impact. The latter is where a legacy can be left. The field is growing and advancing. It's important that minority students have a significant stake in what happens in communities of color-not to say that every black student lives in a black neighborhood-but you can have an impact, whether on a reservation, a barrio or an ethnic enclave. The issue of environmental health is not a sexy topic or a sexy career, but a matter of life and death. We have to be researchers and advance the field, but if you can get elected to office or direct an environmental office-government or organization-you can contribute beyond the individual level and have a huge impact." Bullard's advice comes froma lifetime of research, teaching and activism.

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Tsing-Chang "Mike" Chen

(1945-Present)

Professor of Meteorology

Iowa State University

"Meteorology is a very exciting and challenging field." - Tsing-Chang Chen, 2005.

Tsing-Chang "Mike" Chen remembers becoming interested in science as a small child. His father was a high school teacher, and often brought his son to school when the family could not find a babysitter. When Chen was just four or five years old, he would sneak into the Chemistry lab and watch as the older students mixed solutions together. "I remember watching the two solutions combine and change colors," Chen says. "As a child I was absolutely fascinated; that was how I was first exposed to, and became interested in, science."

As a young man, Chen had his sights set on pursuing a career in Physics, and he graduated from Taiwan University with a Physics degree. However, in the midst of his studies, an advisor suggested that Chen apply his strengths in scientific interpretation to Geophysics or Meteorology. Chen says that initially, he wasn't all that interested in either field; but the more he learned about Meteorology, the more interested he became. Following college, Chen came to the United States, where he obtained a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Michigan.

Chen did post-doctoral work at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and later at MIT, where he stayed for close to two years. Following his post-doctoral research, Chen planned to return to Taiwan, but was denied re-entry for political reasons. Chen was involved in a church that was outspoken against Chiang Kai-shek; his father-in-law was part of the church's clergy, and the Taiwanese government used this affiliation to bar Chen from the country. After several unsuccessful attempts to return to Taiwan, Chen accepted a teaching position at Iowa State University, where he remains to this day.

Over the years, Chen has conducted a number of successful research projects, a fact he notes as a career highlight. His efforts have included research in the areas of energy transformation, tropical meteorology and monsoons, the global hydrological cycle, and severe weather systems in the Great Plains. In 1993, Chen and his mentor, Dr. Aksel Wiin-Nielsen, co-authored a book called Fundamentals of Atmospheric Energetics; the work went on to become a landmark in the field. Chen's outstanding research led his colleagues to elect him as a fellow of the American Meteorology Society, from which he has received an Editor's Award. He also gained tenure within three years of joining the faculty at Iowa State, and was eventually nominated for the school's Distinguished Professor Award.

Both Wiin-Nielsen, with whom Chen wrote his book, and Dr. Fred Baer (both originally University of Michigan professors) have provided Chen with inspiration and guidance throughout his career. Both men were successful in the field of Meteorology, and served as excellent mentors to Chen as he shaped his own career goals. Unfortunately, Chen does not have many opportunities to mentor young minorities at Iowa State, simply because the University does not have many minority student in meteorology. Iowa State has a goal of seven to eight percent minority enrollment, but falls short of that goal, Chen says. However, he notes that the university does have many international students, some of whom are in Chen's department.

Iowa State University is located in mid-Iowa, a politically conservative area. Chen feels this may explain why diversity issues do not have a strong root on the campus. Chen says he has tried on occasion to become involved in campus Diversity activity, but was told that Asians don't qualify as a minority group.

Chen would like to interest more minorities in Meteorology and other environmental sciences; he advises interested young people of color to start by getting involved in outdoor activities. Chen faults the American educational system for not nurturing minority environmental talent. However, he also notes that many universities are still eager to attract minority students, and higher-education opportunities remain for students of color.

Chen says that ultimately, he remains in his field because the weather never stops being interesting. Meteorology is a dynamic field with many real-world applications, as Chen illustrates with this anecdote: "In September, we had a tornado touch down right in the middle of campus. Everyone around here wanted to know why, so myself and a graduate student studied it for a month. It's really an exciting field."

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Michael Dorsey

(1971-Present)

Lecturer, Dartmouth College

Board Member, Sierra Club and the Environmental Leadership Program

"I'm certainly interested in teaching people about the environment." - Michael Dorsey, 2005.

Michael Dorsey was born on May 28, 1971 to Michael Lee and Katherine Dorsey, former employees of the Xerox Corporation and American Airlines respectively. Dorsey grew up in the Midwest, in Michigan and Ohio. While growing up, Dorsey witnessed hyper-segregation firsthand. This early cognition of racism and segregation combined with Dorsey's involvement in the Boy Scouts of America and the Sierra Club allowed him to develop a firm understanding of ethics, justice and the environment.

Dorsey received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment in 1993. He continued his education at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where he earned his Master of Forest Science degree in 1996. Dorsey completed a second Master's degree in Anthropology at John Hopkins University. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan.

Dorsey has always had an interest in teaching and educational systems. After finishing his BS degree at the University of Michigan, he remained on campus and taught an environmental justice course in 1994. He now holds a lecturer position at Dartmouth College in the Environmental Studies Department. Dorsey hopes to be promoted to an assistant professorship when he completes his dissertation.

While Dorsey has spent a lot of time in academia, he has also been active in the Sierra Club. Dorsey joined the Sierra Club when he was 13. His participation increased when he studied at the University of Michigan in the early 1990s because he was able to be active in the Ann Arbor chapter. As a member of the U.S. State Department delegation to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, Dorsey met Michele Perrault, an International Vice President of the Sierra Club. It was Michelle who suggested to Dorsey that he run for a position on the Board of Directors for Sierra Club. In 1994, Dorsey decided to act upon her advice and he interviewed for the position. While interviewers did not nominate him for the board position, all was not lost. Dorsey was approached by Chad Hanson the founder of the John Muir Project to end commercial logging on public lands. Hanson suggested that Dorsey run for the board as a petition candidate. With Hanson's help, Dorsey was able to collect enough signatures to be placed on the ballot and he was soon elected to the board. Dorsey has since worked in a variety of capacities with the Sierra Club. He has also served on the board of the Environmental Leadership Program.

Dorsey acknowledges three individuals who played important roles in mentoring him and shaping his interests: his grandmother, Bunyan Bryant and David Brower. Dorsey's grandmother was, and still is, a trade-unionist. She previously worked for a Ford factory and is very pro-union. She understands the role of unions in balancing the inhumane treatment of workers in global capitalism. She impressed upon Dorsey that the union is an important voice of labor and thus, an important voice for the oppressed. Bunyan Bryant is Professor at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and a pioneer in the field of Environmental Justice. Dorsey describes Bryant as being very humble, even in the face of immeasurable difficulty. Bryant helped to guide Dorsey through the maze of options and requirements in academia. Dorsey also admires David Brower whom he describes as a "lifetime environmentalist." As the founder of Friends of the Earth, League of Conservation Voters, and former Executive Director of the Sierra Club, Brower was always pursuing new avenues. Dorsey said, "What most impresses me about him is his voracious appetite for change... [He worked for change] literally until he fell in the grave." These three striking individuals provided Dorsey with much appreciated guidance and inspiration.

Dorsey's strong involvement with the Environmental Justice movement also led to an intense low point in his life. Dorsey recalled obtaining a copy of a memo from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discussing the potential of the environmental justice movement to integrate social justice, environmental justice, religion, peace, and human rights and merge these disparate constituencies. The memo urged government officials to take steps to block the environmental justice movement before it reached the "flash point" and outlined a strategy for preventing this from happening. Dorsey cried when he read the memo because it "gives you insight into how apartheid still works in this country...it was very disturbing." Despite this low point, Dorsey remained strong and active in the environmental field as the field provides a provocative means to deal with many of the world's problems.

In his capacity as a faculty member at Dartmouth College, Dorsey is in a position to provide students with advice regarding career choices and opportunities. Over the years, Dorsey has had a great variety of opportunities that have allowed him to meet, interact, and befriend a variety of people. He sees "the meaningful and insightful relations I've established with a broad cross-section of colleagues around the globe" as the highlight of his career.

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Stephen I.N. Ekunwe

(1948-Present)

Associate Professor of Biology/Assistant Chair

Jackson State University

"Focus on what you are passionate about." - Stephen Ekunwe, 2005.

Stephen Ekunwe was born in Nigeria, the second of Gabriel and Mary Ekunwe's seven children. He observes that in Nigeria, the incentive to get an education is great: "You either get an education or you are nothing." His mother was a self-employed businesswoman, while his father worked for the country's public health department treating people with leprosy. Ekunwe dates his interest in public health to observing his father go about his job.

After completing his secondary education, Ekunwe got his first job in Nigeria, teaching mathematics and physics at the high school level. Ekunwe's first environmental job was also in Nigeria; he worked in the laboratory at a Guinness brewery. One of his responsibilities was to take samples of effluent flowing from the brewery into a nearby river, which served as a source of drinking water for the local population. Ekunwe sampled water upstream and downstream of the effluent point of entry, then analyzed its composition and impact on the ecosystem; in this way, he was able to bring a quantitative perspective to human impact on the environment and public health.

Ekunwe eventually left Nigeria to pursue further studies in the U.S. He completed his undergraduate degree at Jackson State University, worked briefly in hotel management, then returned to school to obtain his masters degree in molecular biology. His teaching career began at Tougaloo College, where he worked for two years before beginning his doctorate in molecular biology and microbial genetics at Michigan State University. Upon receiving his Ph.D. in 1998, Ekunwe was hired as an assistant professor at Jackson State with funds from a Research Center in Minority Institutions (RCMI) grant. That grant, awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), helped establish a Center for Environmental Health at the university.

Ekunwe says a number of mentors have contributed to his professional success. He specifically cites his doctoral advisor Professor Larry Snyder, who taught him new ways to think about microbial genetics and create experimental designs; his current department chair Paul Tchounwou, who provided guidance on navigating a career in academia; and Professor Terrance Leighton of the University of California-Berkeley, who interested Ekunwe in bio-remediation, and with whom he has collaborated on a number of projects.

Ekunwe, in turn, has served as a mentor to a number of (primarily graduate) students. He has advised masters' students working on their theses, and served as a committee member for doctoral students. Ekunwe proudly notes that he has had five African American students prepare for their masters in biology within his laboratory, where he models research practices and helps the students with their analysis, writing, and project presentation.

Ekunwe says that a high point in his career was making the switch from bacterial to cancer research. Cancer was not something Ekunwe had researched as a doctoral student, but a well-assembled study on the subject yielded good results, allowing him to make the transition with relative ease. Ekunwe is also very excited about his current project; he has discovered an edible plant which early studies indicate may act to retard the growth of certain cancers, particularly colon and prostate cancer. His work represents the first time that the herbal properties of this plant have been scientifically studied for their potential to fight cancer.

Ekunwe recalls the struggles of his professional career as well as its high points; he remembers that the choice between academia and the industrial private sector was a difficult one, and he felt torn between the two. Ekunwe's wish to give back in the classroom eventually won out; especially after completing his doctoral studies, he felt he had gained expertise that could be useful in an academic context. While at one point tempted to join a pharmaceutical company in Chicago, Ekunwe ultimately believes he made the right choice by remaining in academia. As for his fundamental choice to pursue the biological sciences, Ekunwe says has been drawn to the field throughout his life; observing his father's work as a public health professional, and attending a scientifically rigorous secondary school, compounded that attraction. Ekunwe says he doesn't remember wanting a career in anything other than the sciences; he always found the discipline to be a natural fit.

Ekunwe has vice-chaired (2004-2005), and chaired (2005-2006) the Division of Cellular Molecular and Developmental Biology of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, where he works with a diverse population of science professionals. He also works with the Jackson State Center of Excellence in Minority Health. As a professor at a historically black university, Ekunwe works largely with African-American students, but he notes there are also international students who lend a diverse presence to the campus.

While Ekunwe is understandably proud of his professional accomplishments, he feels his greatest accomplishment is his family. His wife, a doctoral student in public health, shares his professional interests. He has two sons, one a chemical engineer and the other an electrical/computer engineer, and two daughters, one a college freshman and the other still in high school.

Ekunwe tells students seeking a career in a scientific or environmental field to focus on their passion. "I have a bias for the field I am in but I will not try to force students into my area of interest," he says. His advice: Find what makes you tick, and if that happens to be an interest in bio-medicine, wonderful, because there is much good work that still remains to be done.

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Joseph R.V. Flora

(1966-Present)

Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of South Carolina

"My current position allows me to satisfy my personal thirst for knowledge, and expand that knowledge through research." - Joseph Flora, 2006.

Joseph Flora was born and raised in Manila, the Philippines, the first of Winston and Consuelo Flora's three children. In Manila, Flora witnessed environmental degradation of all kinds, from air pollution to water quality problems and flooding. "Many problems that we had in Manila could be traced back to the environment," he says. "As an undergraduate studying to be a civil engineer, we studied many different fields. Initially I was interested in structural engineering, but I later realized that the problems associated with environmental engineering were vast and diverse. I decided that was the way to go."

Flora graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1987, where he also worked briefly as an instructor. It was then that his first and most important mentor-his mother, a university professor and administrator-encouraged him to continue his education in the U.S. "She was responsible for me going to grad school," Flora says. "She knew the value of higher education. Without my mother, I wouldn't be here." He went on to earn an M.S. from the University of Illinois, and completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Cincinnati in 1993.

Immediately after earning his doctorate, Flora joined the faculty as an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. Since then, he has received tenure and been promoted to associate professor. He now teaches environmental engineering courses, and his research interests include water quality engineering and process modeling. Flora loves both the teaching and research aspects of his job. "My current position allows me to satisfy my personal thirst for knowledge, to sit in on classes and learn new things, and then expand that knowledge through research," he explains. "It's very interesting." Flora is currently participating in a U.S. Energy Department-funded study examining mercury transformations in flue gases from coal-powered fire plants; he is modeling how mercury can potentially be adsorbed and removed from the gases to avoid releasing it into the atmosphere.

Flora cherishes the intellectual freedom that his job grants him, but notes that is accompanied by certain expectations. "There's a lot of academic freedom," he says. "You can pursue what you think is interesting and important. But with that freedom comes responsibility." One of those responsibilities is mentoring students in the field. Flora benefited from the guidance of both his master's and Ph.D. advisors, and he tries to provide the same kind of experience to his students and advisees. "I treat my grad students equally, whether you're American or non-American, male or female," he says. "My management style is similar to my own Ph.D. advisor-I try to lead by example. My expectations are similar to what I expect of myself."

Flora cites gaining tenure and a promotion, graduating 2 Ph.D. students who are joining academia, and winning a National Science Foundation career award in 1998 as career highlights. However, he says the driving force behind his remaining in the environmental field is both the ability to do innovative research, and to influence the minds and intellects of a generation of students. "The things that give me joy are watching students graduate, a class that is extremely responsive to the material I teach, students who are extremely interested in the environment and really show that they like to learn," he says. "That's what I'm here for."

Flora advises minorities interested in environmental careers to take a broad view of what the environment is and encompasses. "From an engineering standpoint, you need to take a lot of chemistry and the right courses, but also be aware that problems are multi-faceted," he says. "There are communication issues, justice issues, economic issues...try to address environmental problems through a wide range of skills." Flora encourages people of diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives to apply their minds to the environmental field, because they are needed. "We need many different types of people. We need specialized scientists and engineers...we need people who can communicate between management and scientists. That is what is so wonderful about this field...you can pursue nearly anything you want."

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Gregory L. Florant

(1951-Present)

Professor of Biology

Colorado State University

"Don’t let any barriers keep you from your passion." - Gregory Florant, 2006.

Ever since he was a child, Gregory L. Florant has been interested in how animals interact with their environment. At a young age, he became interested in falconry: he began raising and taking care of birds, and would take any opportunity to read about them. As a young man, Florant worked at a local animal hospital and then at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo; the latter had an especially strong influence on him, and helped to nurture his scientific interests. His childhood fascination with the natural world led him to wonder how animals respond, survive, reproduce, and evolve in changing environments-questions which Florant would dedicate his life's work to answering.

Florant's parents-particularly his father, Lester E. Florant-were a big influence on his developing academic interests. Florant remembers his father, an electrical engineer and physicist, fostering educational involvement, and encouraging his children to excel academically. Being a scientist himself, he always encouraged his son to do his best in science. Growing up in Palo Alto, Florant also had the benefit of attending an academically rigorous high school, with great teachers who pushed him and made him realize his potential. Bob Riseborough worked with Florant on his first publication while he was still in high school, and helped him to go to Cornell University, where he studied Biology and Ecology as an undergraduate. After completing his degree at Cornell, Florant attended Stanford University where he received his Ph.D. in Biology/Physiology in 1978.

Mentors inspired and guided Florant as he pursued his interests. Among Florant's mentors--besides his father and Bob Riseborough-are the late Dr. Michael Garraway, a former Professor of Botany at Ohio State University; and Craig Heller, his Ph.D. advisor and Professor of Biology at Stanford University. Florant did his post-doctoral research at Montefiore Hospital, Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and went on to teach biology, comparative anatomy and ecology at Swarthmore College and Temple University before arriving at Colorado State.

Florant has remained in the environmental field for so many years because he loves his job. He cites as career achievements his work on the effects of fatty acids on animal hibernation, and his research on animal thermoregulation at very low temperatures. He has also been elected as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, received two Fulbright scholarships, and published articles for five decades. Raising a family has been another highlight. "I've been married for 20 years. Raising two teenage children has really been my major highlight...that and still being gainfully employed in science," he jokes. Dealing with some of the funding issues associated with life in academia have been low points. "It's a tough time to be in science right now," he laments. "Grant supports, as well as funding for federal programs, are very low."

Though funding continues to be an obstacle for many interested in pursuing careers in environmental science, Florant is able to provide opportunities through various mentoring programs. He is a Ford Fellows liaison for all minorities in three Midwestern states. He is also a mentor in association with the National Institutes of Health, and has mentored minority undergraduates in the biology program at CSU and his two previous universities. Florant uses his knowledge and experience as a model to encourage minorities to pursue their dreams in science.

Florant advises minorities considering a career in the environmental field to be the best they can be. "Don't let any barriers keep you from your passion-you need to not let anyone get in your way," he says. "Realize that you have good ideas, and then make those good ideas come to fruition."

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Myron Floyd

(1960-Present)

Associate Professor

North Carolina State University

"It's always good to be in a position where you can help people and give something back." - Myron Floyd, 2005.

Myron Floyd was born on January 23, 1960 in South Carolina. He is the youngest child of Stephen and Ernestine, a farmer and carpenter and a school teacher, respectively. In retrospect, Floyd recognizes that growing up in a rural, farming community influenced his decision to pursue an environmental career. Large, cultivated lands make him feel at home and he is attached to the mix of farmland and countryside.

Floyd earned his Bachelors Degree in Recreation and Park Administration from Clemson University in 1983. After working as a Park Ranger in the South Carolina State Park Service doing primarily maintenance work and some interpretation, he was promoted to a park management position. However, he felt that there was more for him to do. Thus, he did a Master's Degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University in 1986. He completed got his Ph.D. from Texas A&M in 1991; he focused on recreation and resources development for his doctorate.

After completing his doctorate, Floyd returned to Clemson as a faculty member. Since then he has been on the faculty of Texas A&M and the University of Florida. He recently accepted a position at North Carolina State University and will begin teaching there in fall 2005. Throughout his career, his research has focused on methodology and contemporary theories in recreation and leisure.

As Floyd has progressed through the academic ranks, several individuals have served as mentors for him; Robert Becker, Frances McGuire, Richard Conover, and James Gramman. Robert Becker was Floyd's master's advisor. He was very influential in shaping Floyd's work by providing not only advice but also funding for Floyd's research projects. Dr. Frances McGuire was an integral member of Floyd's thesis committee while Dr. Richard Conover exposed him to the politics of natural resources and outdoor recreation. James Gramman was Floyd's Ph.D. advisor. He served as a steady, positive role model for Floyd. Floyd also acknowledges that are many additional people that have been quick to give advice when called upon.

As a faculty member, Floyd is in a position to mentor and work with promising students. He has served on masters and doctoral committees for students. He also encourages students who demonstrate the potential to be great environmentalists. He accomplishes this by involving them in his research and teaching as well as by making them aware of the opportunities that are available to them. He believes that the environmental field is a good way to go and regularly encourages students to consider environmental careers. Floyd believes that the field is often overlooked which is sad because the field is filled with potential and great opportunities. As he makes his move to North Carolina State University, the idea of mentoring is on his mind. He hopes to advise more students of color who are interested in environmental science and environmental justice.

As a minority male, Floyd recognizes that he has not always received the level of respect that he should receive as a professor. He has found that individuals are often not as forgiving of minor mistakes and can be very critical. Those times are noticeable and discouraging. However, he notes that once he gets to know people that often changes. His advisors prepared him for this; he makes a point of reaching out to young people in the field to help prepare them for what they are likely to encounter professionally. As Floyd sees it, "It is important that they have someone to identify with as it can be rough being the only black faculty member in a department."

While Floyd believes that he has not yet seen the greatest moment of his career, he has enjoyed his work to date. Regarding the environment, Floyd says, "It's good work, helping people. It challenges you intellectually and emotionally as you work with people who are different than you. I'm naturally curious. I like learning and reading. The quest for knowledge is what motivates me. When you get an article or a grant proposal accepted, those are the small things that are great about this. It's always good to be in a position where you can help people and give something back. It's something we all need and I like being in this position where I can influence others and help others reach their goals. In turn, I hope they'll do the same thing."

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JF1968

Jorge Fonseca

(1968-Present)

Plant Scientist

University of Arizona

"Always think in a positive way...don't think about obstacles, just do what you can with what you have, good luck or bad luck." - Jorge Fonseca, 2006.

The economy in Costa Rica during Jorge Fonseca's formative years there had a big influence on his career path. "When I was growing up and deciding what to do, Costa Rica was one of the only tropical countries in the Americas that could export produce to the U.S. and abroad," he recalls. "There was a lot of interest in increasing food production." Costa Rica is also a world leader in conservation efforts; Fonseca notes that about forty percent of the country's land is set aside for research, national parks and eco-tourism. These surroundings stimulated Fonseca's interest in both food production and its environmental impact.

Fonseca chose Plant Science as his focus at the undergraduate level, earning his degree in the subject from the University of Costa Rica. He also had his first job there, as a researcher in post-harvest technology for perishable products. Fonseca went on to earn his MBA through a joint program with the University of Costa Rica and the National University of San Diego, an M.S. in Horticulture from Clemson University, and a Ph.D. in Food Technology from Clemson.

During the course of his education, Fonseca developed an interest in applied food research, and facilitating ways that researchers in academia can work more closely with industry. Although he liked dealing with the business and administrative side of the industry, he opted to pursue science as his primary focus. Fonseca says that's because he has an innate love for observing the workings of the natural world. "I love to see organisms growing in harmony," he notes. "My passion is my job, and I unleash my passion through work and research."

Through a fellowship with the Association of South Carolina growers while at Clemson, and other opportunities stemming from that experience, Fonseca became very interested in different types of crops and their growing environments. He became especially interested in dry climates, and applied for his current job at the University of Arizona, a land-grant university, while still working on his Ph.D. He is now a plant scientist there, where he is responsible for running the university's research and extension program, and also has statewide responsibilities for vegetable crop production and post-harvest technology. He also does some lectures, and will take on full-time teaching responsibilities next year. "I'm very happy here because the weather is just fantastic for me," Fonseca says. "One of the things I'm really interested in is how plants survive in the desert. The highest yield in vegetable production can be achieved here in the desert under the right circumstances."

While Fonseca's drive toward his niche of the environmental field was largely the result of innate curiosity, mentors were tremendously valuable to his career success in other ways. From his parents, Fonseca says he learned the values and mindset he needed to be successful. "My father is, in one word, responsibility," Fonseca says. "And my mom taught me to never give up. She always said to be happy with what you have, but you also have to look beyond the normal boundaries for more." Fonseca's advisor in South Carolina, Jim Rushing, also had a big impact on how Fonseca defined himself as a scientist. "Among many other things, he taught me that what you do is important, even if it may not be important for some others. We have to keep in mind that our jobs are just a tiny thing, and we need to put what we know in our very tiny area in interaction with so many other things that are out there. When you start up an extension program, you can't just be a scientist." Fonseca is now a mentor himself in nearly every aspect of his job. Working in region with a largely Hispanic population, Fonseca relishes his ability to mentor students, technicians, post-docs, and anyone he works with. "I'm very interested in mentoring people," he says.

Fonseca says he finds the multi-faceted nature of his work, and his ability to integrate his scientific niche into so many different arenas, the most satisfying aspect of his work. "The fact I'm very versatile...I can sit down with a microbiologist, plant scientists, food scientists, engineers, businesspeople, and have a good conversation, is the highlight," he says. "My background is completely interdisciplinary. I'm still young and I'm still learning. That's the best thing I can provide to any program."

Fonseca also does consulting work outside the university, in both the United States and Latin America. He finds it very satisfying because he gets to see immediate results. "I work with the whole range-growers, distributors, processors," he says. "It is very rewarding to see what you have learned is working for others." Recently, Fonseca also received grant funds to do work combining science and sociology-he will study why Hispanic workers seem to be moving away from field work. "In California especially, there is a growing shortage of laborers," he explains. "We want to find out why, do a micro-examination of the workers' culture. We're going to run surveys and put workers together with growers in workshops. We may even do something on a national scale. It's a project with a lot of potential for collaboration."

Fonseca says intellectual curiosity and his continuing passion for the work is what keeps him in his corner of the environmental field. "Organisms out there remind you that you are another living organism," he says. "It makes you feel more alive, to understand that you are not alone, there's always something new to find out. You never stop learning." For minorities interested in environmental careers, Fonseca gives specific advice drawn from his own career experiences. "I think it is good to set up short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, and work hard for them," he says. "But being realistic, you also have to have other plans. You're always going to have downs no matter what...you're always going to run into situations where you're not achieving what you thought or hoped you would achieve. As a minority, sometimes you can be behind from the start. Even if you're treated well, sometimes just that fear that you won't be is an obstacle. Always think in a positive way...don't think about the obstacles, just do as much as you can with what you have, come good luck or bad luck."

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Rory Fraser

(1953-Present)

Associate Professor, Alabama A&M University, Department of Plant and Soil Science

Director, Center for Forestry and Ecosystem Assessment

"For students of color, it is particularly important for them to develop confidence in their ability to work in situations where they are in the minority and to be prepared to handle the challenges associated with race relations." - Rory Fraser, 2005.

Rory Fraser was born in Guyana on September 5, 1953. He is the second of five children of the late George Fraser, a former diplomatic service employee and lawyer, and the late Bhanu Fraser, a former geography teacher. Growing up in Guyana was a major influence in his decision to pursue an environmental career. Fraser grew up in a part of Guyana that was heavily forested. As a result, Fraser developed an interest in forest resources at a young age. As a high school student, he worked for the Forest Commission in Guyana and later he worked as a science teacher. His informal mentors included the Chief of the Forest Service in Guyana, who played an important role in arranging a scholarship for him to attend the University of New Brunswick in Canada at the age of 25.

During his time as an undergraduate he held several summer internships, including work with the Canadian Forest Service Laboratory, a sawmill project in Guyana, and a project at Virginia Tech working on improving the strength of materials. He graduated from college and worked as an Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of a forestry company in Jamaica for three years. This experience gave him an extensive overview of the forest products industry - from tree plantings to marketing.

Later, with encouragement from his Virginia Tech internship supervisor, he returned to school. He decided to pursue a Master's Degree and a doctorate in Forestry Services from the Pennsylvania State University. Upon completing his coursework in 1991, he decided to leave Penn State to work as an international trade specialist at West Virginia University while finishing his dissertation.

After graduating in 1993, the former Director of the Forest Economics Program at West Virginia University offered him a teaching position. His appointment came at a time when the Society of American Foresters (SAF) was pressuring the university to recruit more minorities to serve on the faculty and to attend the university. This caused escalating tensions during Dr. Fraser's last two years in the department. Fraser often felt that some of his colleagues viewed him simply as a minority hire who lacked the merits of other faculty.

At this low point in his career, he left the position at West Virginia University after five years and seriously questioned whether he should return to academia. He felt quite disenchanted with the systems of preference and racism in the United States. Fraser decided, however, to continue in academia. He found another teaching position in 2000 at Alabama A&M University's Department of Plant and Soil Science. Fraser found this position far more rewarding. One of the missions of Alabama A&M was enhancing the diversity of the forestry profession. At the time Fraser was hired, the university was also in the process of obtaining the SAF accreditation, a move that would make it the first of the 1890 institution to achieve such a status.

Fraser has served as Interim Director of Texas A&M Center for Forest Ecology and is currently the Director of their Center for Ecosystem Assessment. He is the Principal Investigator in several major projects, including a five-million-dollar, five- year project sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Considered the highlight of his career, this grant funds a major environmental impact assessment study of Bankhead National Forest, as well as an initiative to increase the number of African Americans involved in science and engineering. He also works on a project designed to train minority landowners about land management. Currently, Fraser is also part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Leadership Program, which assists colleges and universities in adapting to the changing economy and its impacts on agriculture. He selected the President of Alabama A& M University to be his sponsor for this initiative.

Fraser has had several mentors during his career. At the Pennsylvania State University, professors such as Dr. L. Yapa in the Geography Department and lecturers and philosophers associated with the Science, Technology, and Society Program, such as the late Ivan Illich, broadened Fraser's perspective of his field. He graduated with a better understanding of the impacts of environmental services on social welfare and economic development for developing countries.

Fraser has taken his vast knowledge and experience and has used it to develop new leaders. One of the reasons he has remained in the environmental field is his desire to give back to others, as many individuals have assisted him throughout his career. He also enjoys his work and sees his role as encouraging cultural diversity in environmental management.

Currently, he participates in the Cultural Diversity Working Group for the National Network of Forest Practitioners and the SAF's Committee on Cultural Diversity. He also mentors several current and former students, as well as faculty. He believes that every student entering his department should be guaranteed a job upon leaving. Fraser utilizes his professional networks with government agencies, such as the United States Forest Service and the Alabama Forest Commission, and private industry to connect students with employment opportunities. He advises students interested in environmental careers to be fully committed to their work and to try new experiences. For students of color, he feels it is particularly important for them to develop confidence in their ability to work in situations where they are in the minority and to be prepared to handle the challenges associated with race relations.

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Jose Herrera

(1967-Present)

Associate Professor

Truman State University

"Get a good advisor, and figure out quickly who you'll work for. It'll make or break your career." - Jose Herrera, 2005.

Jose Herrera was born in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. Herrera loved and studied biology growing up, but says his innercity upbringing limited his exposure to the natural world. After graduating from high school, Herrera attended Northern Illinois University, where he received his Bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry in 1988. Herrera continued at Northern Illinois as a masters' student, where circumstances and inspiration converged to interest him in the environmental sciences. For the first time, he seriously considered pursuing a career in an environmental field.

Herrera obtained his Masters degree in Biology in 1991, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Kansas State University in 1996. Soon thereafter, he received a tenure track position as an assistant professor at Truman State University, where he taught introductory biology, microbiology, microbial ecology and mycology. Herrera continues to teach at Truman State University as an associate professor of microbiology. He is currently on a threepart sabbatical that began at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, continued at Kansas State University, and will wrap up at the University of New Mexico.

Herrera credits his professional success to "hard work, lots of help from others, and serendipity." Much of that help came in the form of advice he received as a student. Throughout his academic career, Herrera has relied on mentors for guidance and support. He especially credits his Ph.D. advisor, Charles Kramer, who stepped in to advise him despite being on the verge of retirement. "He took me under his wing," Herrera says. Kramer also introduced Herrera to the fields of microfungal and microbial ecology, areas of study that Herrera continues to pursue.

Herrera, in turn, has helped to guide his own students. Truman State University's focus is on undergraduate research, and Herrera has mentored twenty to thirty undergraduate students in his lab during the past ten years, as well as some graduate students. Herrera takes special pride in one student, who was one of only eight applicants accepted to a medical doctoral program at the University of WisconsinMadison. Herrera notes that most of Truman's students get accepted to the graduate and professional programs of their choice, a fact he credits to the institution's academic excellence and strong work ethic. Herrera says these characteristics, as well as the university's respect for academic freedom, are what keep him there.

Herrera's love for his school and his students is mutual. He was a semifinalist for the TeacheroftheYear award at Truman State University in 2000, and again in 2003. Although he did not win, he cites it as an accomplishment because it reaffirms his talents as a teacher. That's critically important to Herrera, who says his career is based around his relationship with his students. In addition to his teaching duties, Herrera serves as an advisor to a Hispanic fraternity at Truman, an experience he has enjoyed immensely. "It's been really neat," he says. "I'm getting old enough to see the progression of their careers. It's good to have been here to see them grow up in the last ten years or so, and keep that relationship with them...to see them when they come in as freshmen, and then to see them later as professionals in their chosen fields." Another career highlight came in 1997, when Herrera and his students published a website (http://microfungi.truman.edu) dealing with ecological species of microfungi. Herrera says the subject's relative obscurity makes the endeavor even more rewarding. "It's a very esoteric little niche, but it's been rewarding because it's helped us develop nice relationships with different constituencies," he says. "We've gotten positive feedback about it from people all over the world."

Herrera says his experience in the academic world has been overwhelmingly positive, but that's not to say it's been obstaclefree. "You're going to have some low moments when your research doesn't work out and you have to start over again," he says. "It's not all glory." But he accepts such challenges as inherent to his profession. He says in the end, he's remained an academic because he believes that people who enjoy learning are inherently tenacious and determined. "There are going to be peaks and valleys, none of which, however, are too high or too low. It's part of the job," he says. "If you don't enjoy learning and understanding the world, especially from an environmental stand point, you're going to give up. But if you have good friends and mentors there to help you when things are down, you're going to get through it."

Herrera believes that it is hard for young minorities to break into the environmental field, due largely to a limited number of professionaldevelopment initiatives. "There are many programs that offer training, but few locations where people of color can break into the profession," Herrera says. He says a current emphasis on molecularbased projects also limits opportunities, and Herrera encourages minority students interested in environmental careers to study molecular biology. "It's big right now," he says.

Finally, Herrera emphasizes that a passion for the field and lots of outside help are critical to success, especially for students of color. "Get a good advisor and figure out quickly who you'll work for," he advises. "It'll make or break your career with respect to the environmental field."

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Glenn S. Johnson

(1962-Present)

Associate Professor

Clark Atlanta University

"There will be jobs in the environmental field for years to come." - Glenn Johnson, 2006.

Glenn S. Johnson grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, where his mother was involved in the height of the civil rights movement. Through her dealings with the movement, Johnson first viewed the country's problems with race and inequality through the lens of social justice. He was inspired to continue in that tradition, and became involved with one of the many movements that stemmed from it—the environmental justice movement.

Johnson attended the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he earned two Bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Academic Psychology. He went on to earn his Masters degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from Tennessee. It was as a graduate student that Johnson met his major mentor, Dr. Robert D. Bullard, and jump-started his involvement in the EJ movement. Bullard is one of the pioneering figures in EJ research and scholarship, and Johnson served as his research assistant while Bullard was working on the book Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality. Johnson did coding and cleaning the survey data of the book's case studies, and developed a great interest in the environmental field. Building on that experience, Johnson merged his interests in race and social inequality with the environmental movement.

After Johnson received his Ph.D. in 1995, Bullard recruited him as a research associate at the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University (EJRC). Bullard had established the EJRC in 1994, as a research, policy, and information clearinghouse on EJ issues. While there, Johnson got involved in policymaking, working with elected officials, federal regulatory agencies, and grassroots leaders in communities with high levels of environmental contamination. He began hosting workshops to inform and empower community stakeholders about Superfund sites in their communities; this and other forms of direct community outreach continue to be central to Johnson's work. Johnson is now also an associate professor of Sociology at Clark Atlanta University, where he teaches courses about many of the EJ issues that he is also actively involved in. "I've been teaching for ten years now, and I've seen environmental justice become a household word," Johnson says. "I can say that I've participated in that growth process. It's been a busy and exciting path."

Johnson has worked closely with Dr. Bullard throughout most of his academic and professional career, and counts him as a mentor in every sense of the word. He calls working side-by-side with Bullard as a student, colleague and protege the highlight of his career. "He showed me the importance of being an activist in the environmental justice movement," Johnson explains. "He was one of the first to point out that we should look at where landfills are placed-primarily in communities of color. He taught me that from there, we should become agents of change through our work, and include people who are normally omitted from the process of change in their own communities." Beyond Bullard's influence, Johnson has inspired and mentored many in the next generation of the EJ movement. He has mentored many undergraduate and graduate students who have gone on to work for environmental groups, colleges/universities, government agencies and community-based organizations. "I tried as much as possible to expose them to environmental justice case studies, and I taught them how to get involved in the policy-making process and find out how to best utilize their skills," he says.

In terms of his personal accomplishments, Johnson is particularly proud of several publications. He and Bullard compiled an EJ resource book titled the Environmental Justice Curriculum Resource Guidebook, and Johnson has co-edited three others: Just Transportation: Dismantling Race and Class Barriers to Mobility; Sprawl City: Race, Politics and Planning in Atlanta; and Highway Robbery: Transportation, Racism and New Routes to Equity. Johnson has recently increased his focus on transportation, land use, and metropolitan regional equity issues as key to the EJ struggle. "Over the last seven years, I have been working on diversifying various transportation boards, planning agencies, and smart growth groups," he explains. "These are groups who make transportation decisions in metropolitan areas that impact people of color who are not part of the decision-making process."

Johnson acknowledges that being a part of the EJ movement has its frustrations. "A lot of the policies concerning environmental justice in this country are being implemented too slowly," he says. "The Federal Government has been very slow to accept and enforce these policies." However, Johnson says there's been visible progress, even if it has been slower than he would like. "I'm still motivated and optimistic," he says. "We've had some victories. More people are coming on board to help with EJ issues. People of color worldwide are being exposed to the EJ framework."

Johnson says that for young people of color interested in social issues as well as the environment, the environmental field offers endless possibilities. "There will be jobs in the environmental field for years to come," he says. "But you have to be educated in a variety of subjects—sociology, political science, public health, psychology, anthropology, economics, history, and education. An environmental justice framework can very much compliment any degree."

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Pushkar N. Kaul

(1933-Present)

Professor and Chair

Department of Allied Health Professions
Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA

"...I feel that I [am] serving some purpose in teaching and motivating young minority students to embark on their careers" - Pushkar N. Kaul, 2005.

Pushkar N. Kaul is one of five children born to Radha Kishen, a forest officer in the Himalayas, and Prabhawati Kaul, a homemaker. Radha Kishen instilled in his son the importance of being focused, independent and hard working. These traits have been reflected throughout Kaul's academic and professional career.

Kaul believes that science always relates to the natural environment in some form. As a youth, he was very interested in science, especially botany. Kaul was intrigued by how plants functioned and thrived. As an adult, he actively sought to figure out these mysteries, and find ways the natural world could benefit humanity.

Kaul graduated from the Banaras Hindu University with a Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutics in 1954, and with a Master's in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1955. The same year, he was offered the opportunity to become an assistant professor of Pharmacognosy (Botany of Plants) at Birla Institute of Technology. Kaul enjoyed teaching, but left India in 1957 to begin doctoral studies in San Francisco. While obtaining his doctorate, he also worked as a part-time teaching assistant. Kaul graduated from the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco in March of 1960 with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, with a focus in Pharmacology.

After obtaining his doctorate, Kaul took a position at the University of Melbourne Medical School as Visiting Professor in Pharmacology. Subsequently, representatives of the Indian government invited him to establish a Pharmacology Division at the National Antibiotics Research Center in India. He was Chief of Division there from 1961 until 1965, when he was recruited by Hoechst AG of Germany to be the Director of a new Drug Research Center being built in Bombay, India. However, violent conflict in India during that time delayed the building process. In the interim, Kaul worked for Hoechst (near Frankfurt, Germany) with the intention of returning to India when it was safe, but after three years, it seemed increasingly unlikely that would ever happen. Kaul became concerned about his research non-productivity, and decided to return to academia. He accepted an appointment at the University of Oklahoma, and returned to the United States in February of 1968. Although he has changed positions and employers over the years, he has remained in academia ever since.

Currently, Kaul is a professor and chair of the Department of Allied Health Professions at Clark Atlanta University, a position he has held since July of 2005. Kaul says he enjoys one-on-one mentoring with his students, offering them direction and advice as they seek their academic goals. Kaul says he gets mostly positive feedback from his students, who seem to think highly of him as a professor and mentor.

Kaul had advisors for both his master's and Ph.D. programs, though much of his work was done independently. While he did not have a mentor who counseled him throughout his career, he cites Dr. Edie Leong Way of the University of California Medical Center as having an important impact on his work. Way was a professor on Kaul's doctoral thesis committee, and they worked closely together during that time. "Those years were very impacting and successful," Kaul notes. Dr. Leong Way's mentoring helped Kaul receive two national awards for his doctoral research, re-enforcing in him the belief that his scientific work could be original and have a positive impact.

Kaul says he also enjoys the challenge of creating new and innovative programs from limited resources. While at the University of Oklahoma, Kaul and his colleagues in the chemistry department researched the possible medicinal qualities of marine invertebrates; specifically, they pioneered the practice of isolating chemical compounds from marine organisms, and testing their utility as treatments for cardiovascular disease and cancer. "We were pioneers in looking at drugs from the sea," Kaul says. He continues to be recognized throughout the scientific community for his work in Marine Bio-Medical Research.

Kaul is interested in both human and ecological diversity. He began to focus on non-human biological diversity at the University of Oklahoma, with his biomedical research on marine invertebrates. His interest in social diversity began when he took a position at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Kaul says that while he enjoyed teaching at the University of Oklahoma, he recognized that the school's atmosphere suffered from a lack of diversity. "That was part of the reason why I moved to a historically black institution like the Atlanta University Center," Kaul explains. "[I moved] first to the Morehouse School of Medicine, and then to the Atlanta University which is now known as the Clark Atlanta University." Kaul realized a long-dormant desire to help students of color succeed in the biomedical sciences.

In addition to his interest in diversity, Kaul also stresses the impact of human actions on ecological systems. "In several of my courses, I emphasize the seriousness of the human contribution to pollution," he says, noting the importance of minimizing pollution for the benefit of future generations.

Kaul says that above all, he considers himself a scientist whose "personal zeal lies in research." He continues to conduct research in his current position, though he feels it is only a substitute for the hands-on research that he was truly fond of. However, he also enjoys teaching and believes that overall, staying in academia is his best option. "To stay in academia, some scholarly activity is still required, so I make the best of it," Kaul says. "I feel that I [am] serving some purpose in teaching and motivating young minority students to embark on their careers. [It is] a great satisfaction."

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Phouthone Keohavong

Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health

University of Pittsburgh

"Don't give up, because anyone can do it. The environment concerns everyone, especially minorities." - Phouthone Keohavong, 2006.

Growing up in Laos as one of ten children, Phouthone Keohavong saw how devastating a lack of environmental understanding can be. "Laos is a poor country, with poor environmental education," he explains. "There are lots of environmental issues people aren't aware of. People die of liver disease, lung and other cancers from things in the environment they eat and are exposed to." Keohavong decided he wanted to change that by studying biology and environmental health.

Keohavong received both his undergraduate and graduate education at the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France: he earned his B.S. in Biology in 1976, his Masters in Biochemistry in 1980, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1986. He then did three years of postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied how environmental factors can alter human genetics. "We hypothesized that the environment can induce diseases in humans, including cancer, by causing gene alterations in cells," Keohavong explains. "We hypothesized that any chemical in the environment that can cause such alterations in cellular DNA, whether directly or indirectly, has the potential to be a carcinogen. We tested the mutagenicity of environmental chemicals in order to understand their mechanism of action."

Keohavong moved directly from MIT to his current position at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. He has taught courses in cellular and molecular toxicology, and continues to build on his research on environment/genetic/epigenetic interactions, specifically relating to lung cancer. "I try to understand the origin and mechanisms leading to lung cancer, and to develop biomarkers for early detection," Keohavong says. He describes himself as "satisfied" with his job, which he has held since 1991.

Keohavong credits Bill Thilly, his advisor at MIT and now department chairman at Pitt, for acting as a mentor as he began his career in academia. Keohavong is now himself a mentor to a number of minority students. He worked with the Public Health Career Opportunity Program, which targeted minority students to do a guided research project, which they later presented in front of a scientific audience. He has served on doctoral committees for two minority students, and on masters committees for other minority students. Keohavong says training and developing courses for students from "various background and initiatives" has been the highlight of his career. "It helps me to like what I'm doing, what I'm teaching," he says. "I help people."

Despite having to overcome language and cultural barriers over the course of his career, Keohavong has garnered a number of professional achievements, including co-editing the book Molecular Toxicology Protocols with a colleague, Dr. Stephen Grant, and publishing many research articles. He has also served as a member of the Diversity Committee for the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health, and worked to attract more minorities to the health sciences through the Center for Minority Health, which evolved from the Diversity Committee.

Keohavong says the challenges he's faced, both personally and professionally, have taught him a lot, and he's proud of his success. "Even at the worst moment of my life, I'm a fighter," he says. "Surviving is a term I'm very proud of." He advises other minorities interested in the environmental field to do the same: "Don't give up, because anyone can do it. The environment concerns everyone, especially minorities."

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Hsiang-te Kung

(1946-Present)

Professor of Geography and Planning

University of Memphis

"Be diligent and work hard, and you can achieve your goal of making a better environment and more prosperous society." - Hsiang-te Kung, 2006.

Hsiang-te Kung was born in mainland China, and raised in Taiwan. Although he has lived in the United States for over 30 years, Kung remains deeply connected to his Chinese heritage and values, and applies them scrupulously to his work. "Chinese tradition and heritage give me pride," he explains. "It gives me the esteem to work hard to be a good person and citizen, and to help improve society." Perhaps not surprisingly for someone whose family traces their lineage back to Confucius, Kung enjoys being an academic who combines researching his own intellectual interests with educating others.

Kung has always been interested in Geography, the discipline he has devoted his career to. "Geography is the study of human environment," he explains, "and my major interest is the interactions of humans and their environments." He is especially interested in how humans influence their environment through processes like urbanization, and how that environment in turn affects human actions. Kung began his academic career at the University of Chinese Culture in Taiwan, where he graduated first in his class with a degree in Earth Sciences. He then made the move to the U.S. for his graduate education, earning his M.S. in Geography and Geology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1972, and his Ph.D. in the same subject in 1980. While he worked on his Ph.D., Kung also worked as an environmental planner in Knoxville, where he did environmental assessments and impact studies on development, studied water pollution sources related to land use planning, and developed a comprehensive energy plan to help the community choose suitable development sites and limit the impact of groundwater pollution. This work reflected what would become his research interests as a professor, especially work in urban water resources, the urban physical environment, and land-surface systems.

After seven years of working as a planner and earning his Ph.D., one of Kung's major mentors, the well-known geographer Dr. Edwin Hammond, encouraged him to apply for a faculty position at Memphis State University. Kung was hired as an Assistant Professor of Geography in 1981, was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in 1986, and became full professor and Department Chair in 1992. Kung continues to teach at the University of Memphis after the department changed to earth sciences in 2001. He has also taught and lectured extensively throughout China, and served as a Professor in the Semester at Sea program through the University of Pittsburgh.

Kung says he has thoroughly enjoyed his career. Though he cites gaining tenure, becoming department chair, and increasing the number of Geography majors as career highlights, the biggest highlight has been witnessing his students learn and succeed. "I enjoy what I'm doing now, being a good professor and mentor to the students," Kung says. "I enjoy helping them get established and get work as scientists and teachers. Some of them have done better than me!" For Kung, maintaining a view of education as a lifelong endeavor is important, and he tries to impart that education is "like the Chinese proverb-‘You can grow a tree in ten years, but to educate someone takes a hundred years.'" Kung has served as an advisor to a number of international graduate students, is a member of the university's Standing Committee on Human Relations, and an advisor to the International Study and Business Program. He is also the President of the Chinese Association of Memphis.

"I enjoy geography-I like to see what I can do to help the environment, and help people understand the environmental process," Kung says of why he remains in the environmental field. For minorities thinking of careers in the field, he suggests that interest and passion for the subject are the keys to success: "You have to be interested in people and their surroundings. If you are interested, you can find a number different ways to do what you can, from teaching to working in Green Industry. Be diligent and work hard, and you can achieve your goal of making a better environment and more prosperous society."

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Man Lung "Desmond" Kwan

(1968-Present)

Assistant Professor, Organic/Organometallic Chemistry

John Carroll University

"A career in the environmental field is just the right thing to do; it is our civic responsibility." - Man Lung "Desmond" Kwan, 2005.

Man Lung "Desmond" Kwan was born on October 16th 1968, the son of a construction worker and a homemaker. Though Kwan and his sister were raised in Hong Kong, he received his college education in the U.S., earning a B.S. from the University of Alabama and a doctoral degree from the University of Florida. Kwan's first job was also his first environmental job-he held a post doctoral position at the University of Oregon in Eugene, doing work involving green chemistry. Kwan describes the school's social and academic atmosphere as "unique," and he cites one on-campus experience with inspiring an awakening: Kwan remembers throwing away a bottle of orange juice, only to have a passerby pull it out of the trash and place it in the recycling bin. The incident caused Kwan to start thinking more deeply about recycling, and more generally about human impact on the environment.

After obtaining his doctorate, Kwan worked briefly in the private sector, but found himself lured back into academia. He cites his undergraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral advisors as important mentors; they convinced him of the value of educating future generations. With their encouragement, Kwan left the private sector and began teaching. He currently works as an assistant professor at John Carroll University, where he mentors a number of minority students; he recently mentored two female students from the Dominican Republic, who assisted him with laboratory research.

Kwan says he has not yet experienced the highlight of his career. His lowest point thus far was immediately following graduation, when he feared his status as a recent graduate would restrict his job opportunities. Despite temporary hardships, Kwan has remained in the environmental field because he believes it is critical to ensuring human survival. He encourages all his students to ask themselves the question: "Will money solve all of the problems of the future?" He asserts that it will not: societies need to initiate sustainable, environmentally sound practices, or run the risk of extinction.

Kwan considers his single most significant achievement to be sending students to graduate school. He says it is highly meaningful when he is able to influence a student to pursue green chemistry, and tries to offer such students any assistance he can. Kwan has also participated in John Carroll University Emergency Services (a community service organization), as a faculty advisor; assisted in the University's recycling program; and worked with Circle K International on the John Carroll University Campus.

While Kwan has no specific advice for minorities considering a career in the environmental field, he credits much of his success to growing up in an environment that valued education. He advises students of color to develop a love of learning, and seek out environments where that love will be nurtured.

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Kai N. Lee

(1945-Present)

Rosenburg Professor of Environmental Studies

Williams College

"The grand challenges are ones where the traditional university person is not the best. We need more minorities in that community setting priorities about the kind of questions worth investigating." - Kai N. Lee, 2005.

Kai Lee's interest in environmental science was not sparked by the environmental movement. In fact, as a young academic, he did not have a particularly strong interest in environmentalism as a social movement at all. As a physicist, Lee's early interests involved the interaction between technology and social change; he was intrigued by how changes in technology, especially health-and environmentally-related technologies, impacted U.S. society. This focus led Lee to develop an interest in the heavily politicized response to the emerging environmental movement.

Lee was raised in Manhattan, the only child of parents Chofeng Lin, a UN employee in the Chinese language section, and Hsin Chih Lee, an accountant who served Chinese-owned businesses in Chinatown. Lee's parents were always ambitious on his behalf, and strongly encouraged him to excel in school. Manhattan offered a variety of advanced educational institutions to choose from, and Lee was educated through undergraduate school in New York City. "It's weird to think of a New Yorker as an early participant in the environment academically, especially since I was not all that interested in nature per se," Lee notes. "But my interests have flowered through teaching, and through interacting with colleagues and students." Lee contends that growing up in New York influenced his academic career to include a strong public interest dimension; he wanted others to benefit from his knowledge.

After graduating from Columbia in 1966 with a degree in Experimental Physics, Lee went on to receive his Ph.D. in the same field at Princeton in 1971. Lee's first job after completing his doctorate was a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley, where he would meet his first important mentor and begin the move toward embracing environmental studies. Dr. Todd Laport, a political scientist at Berkeley and the host of Lee's first year of the fellowship, took an interest in Lee even though he had no Political Science background. "I was making a considerable leap from physics to Political Science," Lee says, "and I really needed someone who believed in me, and my ability to adapt what I already knew so that I could build-on an unorthodox foundation-the basis of a new career." Dr. Laport was just such a person; he provided Lee with encouragement, drew him into the research he was doing, and involved him in academic life at Berkeley. "I felt well-accepted there, despite my lack of academic background in the subject matter," Lee says.

From Berkeley, Lee went on to the University of Washington in Seattle, where it took him four or five years to develop similar mentoring relationships, a fact Lee attributes to the interdisciplinary nature of his research. Lee mentions two colleagues that stand out from his time at UW: Dr. Gordon Oreans, a biologist, and Dr. Don Matthews, a political scientist. Lee benefited from the experience of Oreans, an older faculty member who would listen to and discuss his intellectual concerns; Matthews was a source of organizational mentoring, and helped Lee develop his university administration skills.

Lee is currently the Rosenburg Professor of Environmental Studies at Williams College, a position he has held for 16 years. Lee calls teaching at Williams the highlight of his career, and says it has offered both extraordinary challenges and rewards. Lee has stayed in the environmental field because he feels he is doing something useful that would not be done otherwise. "I enjoy my job because I am helping to teach people something that is very important to them as citizens, as professionals, as people who want to make a difference in the world. I teach in a way that is my own, and I am not doing the same thing as anybody else," Lee explains. As an academic in an interdisciplinary field, Lee believes he is one of the first scientists to take the social sciences seriously-particularly beyond the realm of science-related public policy-and continues to push the integration of the social and natural sciences.

Although it is difficult to measure, Lee says that teaching students is his most significant achievement. He feels he has worked with his best students at Williams. Though several students he taught at UW went on to do significant things, Lee feels that his success as a teacher should not be measured by the prominence of his students, but by the much more intangible ways that he has helped to shift their thinking. Lee has also written a book that continues to be noticed 13 years after its publication; his work has influenced environmental policy, and he is pleased to have made a significant impact on thinking about environmental concerns.

Another important part of Lee's work is his mentoring of other minorities in the field. He considers mentoring to be a learning experience for both parties, and says it is an established part of what he does as a teacher. Many years ago, Lee worked with a Caribbean student who became the single most successful student in her class. Lee says working with her sparked his awareness of the benefit minority students derive from minority mentors. As Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams, Lee made it a priority to increase minority enrollment. In the past several years Lee has also worked to recruit minority students for summer research projects.

Lee offers considerable advice to minorities pursuing careers environmental careers. "This is a great field to make your mark in," he emphasizes. "The problems are gigantic and largely undefined, and it is really an arena where people who are imaginative and willing to ask questions outside of regular bounds-especially people who bring different cultural and psychological perspectives-have a comparative advantage." However, Lee also points out that the kind of support minorities receive can be somewhat uneven. He notes that while there may be a lot of money targeted toward minorities in environmental fields, there can be a disconnect between university academics, and the people most directly affected by environmental challenges. "The important environmental problems, such as development and global climate change, are increasingly located in poorer nations," Lee says. "The grand challenges are ones where the traditional university person is not the best. We need more minorities in that community setting priorities about the kind of questions worth investigating."

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Y. C. Lee

(1932-Present)

TITLE

"Don't succumb to bias or suppression." - Y.C. Lee, 2005.

Yuan Chuan Lee is the eldest of eight children born to Tzesan and Pei Lee, both teachers. He and his siblings were raised in the southern Taiwanese city of Hsinhcu, and in describing the city Lee uses a local proverb: "Swift winds make tough people." Hsinchu also boasts the finest high school in Taiwan, which Lee attended, later completing his undergraduate studies at the National Taiwan University. Lee notes that "even as a kindergartener" he was attracted to the biological sciences, but says that his choice to follow bio-chemistry in particular was more a result of chance.

In 1962, after receiving his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Iowa, Lee did post-doctoral training at the University of California-Berkeley. His first professional academic position was as an assistant professor at his current university, focusing his research primarily on carbohydrates; he soon moved on to associate and then full professor. He currently serves as Professor of Biology, where he continues to work with carbohydrates, increasingly integrating that research with an interest in nano-technology.

Lee cites as his primary mentors his doctoral thesis advisor, Professor Rex Montgomery at the University of Iowa, and his post-doctoral advisor, Professor Clinton Ballou at the University of California-Berkeley. Lee illustrates Professor Montgomery's influence with the following story: On day, shortly after joining Montgomery's lab, Lee had finished his assigned laboratory work early, and offered to help his fellow students, saying, "I have no more work to do today." Professor Montgomery, overhearing this statement, responded: "There are no such days for scientists." This comment on the nature of scientific exploration deeply impressed Lee. Professor Ballou also had an important impact on Lee's career; Lee credits Ballou with giving him "a way to view things in a broader perspective".

In 40 years of teaching, Lee has advised hundreds of undergraduate students. He also mentors graduate and post-doctoral students from around the world. His mentoring involves both the philosophy and techniques of scientific inquiry. He says the most important thing is to know when to use scientific techniques, when to be flexible, and observe the changes and trends in the field. Lee regards this as the philosophy of science.

Lee says his professional success has come "in ripples and waves", but a particular highlight was receiving the Hudson award from the National Chemical Society, which garnered him national recognition. A low point includes current difficulties in securing research funds; Lee says it's frustrating to watch funding dry up while research opportunities increase. Despite this, Lee says he remains in his field because of Professor Montgomery's observation: there is always more to discover.

Lee feels his greatest achievement was inventing neoglycoproteins to modify proteins; he used chemically established protein groups to study the role of carbohydrates in those proteins. This work led to an understanding of a phenomenon called the cluster effect. Lee observed that when one has two branches of sugar instead of one, dual strands can have a multiplicative effect instead of a doubling effect; similarly, with three strands, one can observe millions of effects, instead of simply a tripling of the phenomena for one branch of sugar. In addition to his scientific work, Lee organizes a University-wide glycol-biology interest group, serves as the president of the Taiwanese in Baltimore Association, and has been involved in music through the university orchestra.

Lee has this advice for minority youth considering careers in the environmental sciences: "The most important thing is to be confident. Don't succumb to bias or suppression.

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Raul Lejano

(1961-Present)

Assistant Professor, School of Social Ecology

University of California, Irvine

"Be prepared to work harder, produce more, and be more original than others, because this society requires more from people of color." - Raul Lejano, 2006.

Raul Lejano tackles environmental problems using perspectives and methods that draw from different areas of policy research. Lejano is interested in issues of public health, land use and environmental quality control, especially as these issues affect poor people of color in inner cities and other communities at the margins, and has devoted his career to devising unique and effective methodological approaches to those problems.

Lejano developed an interest in the environment growing up in Metro-Manila, the Philippines, and witnessing many examples of environmental degradation. "I began to think about alternative futures for my city," he says. Lejano got his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines in 1984. He then took a job as a structural engineer in a construction company. "It involved computer programming and it was a little boring, but it was basically a good job," Lejano recalls. However, wanting to further his education and increase his focus on the environment, Lejano came to the U.S. for graduate school. He earned his M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California-Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Health Science from UCLA.

By 2000, Lejano was a Martin Luther King visiting professor at MIT in the Urban Studies and Planning Department. He moved on after two years to the University of California, Irvine, where he is now an assistant professor in the Department of Policy, Planning and Design. "I love the ability to do really original research," Lejano says of his current position. "This institution lets me do that. Also, the teaching gets exciting when I encounter motivated and intelligent students."

Much of Lejano's current work revolves around developing new methods of environmental policy analysis, focusing on what he calls "vulnerable inner-city environments." Throughout his career, he has been especially interested in developing real-world applications for innovative theoretical constructs, especially as applied to community-based governing bodies and institutional modeling. He recently worked out a theory of equity-based solutions for bargaining, and is now at work on developing institutional models that realize the theory. "The new equity-based theoretical solution to bargaining problems poses a radical alternative to market-based solutions," Lejano says. The theory is partly developed in his 2006 book Framework for Policy Analysis: Merging Text and Context, which Lejano says is intended, above all, to lay out future directions in policy research. "Many problems in the environmental field-from environmental justice to habitat degradation-are just so resilient," he notes. "This makes it all more important to study new institutional designs that might better respond to them. The need for innovation is great."

The innovative, original thinking that has characterized so much of Lejano's work has been inspired and nurtured by a host of mentors throughout his career. Lloyd Shapley, a renowned game theorist who was also Lejano's research advisor, was an important early influence in shaping both Lejano's thought and his approach to the discipline. "I would meet with him for marathon meetings that lasted four, sometimes six hours," Lejano recalls. "I've never met anyone who could engage in theory the way he did." More recently, Lejano has worked with Helen Ingram, a fellow professor at UC Irvine, on several projects and papers involving new institutional designs in environmental management. "She [Ingram] has taught me to think of institutions in a different light, really influenced my thinking," Lejano says. Finally, Lejano's mother, Alicia, herself and academic who did her graduate work at NYU, is a general inspiration: "She gave me my love for the academic discipline."

Lejano has two ongoing research projects through which he has the opportunity to mentor a number of students, mostly young people of color. In the first, he and several students are working directly with a community in Southeast L.A., examining what makes community-based institutions work in solving problems like chronic asthma and other public health issues. His second project is based in the Philippines, where he is studying how different elements in fishers' organizations help or hinder the success of local fisheries. "My research, in general, has concerned itself with analyzing dilemmas of the disenfranchised," Lejano says. As an MLK fellow at MIT, Lejano engaged students and faculty in discussions about race and policy, and was part of a departmental committee for minority outreach. He has tried to propose similar programs in his current capacity at UCI, so far without success.

For Lejano, trying to be an authentic and original thinker making tangible contributions to the field is the most important and rewarding component of his career. He acknowledges that achieving this can sometimes be difficult in academia, where established norms can inhibit original thinking. "Trying to publish new ideas in journals that don't tolerate originality can be really frustrating," Lejano says. "Some new concepts come from trans-disciplinary research, and mainstream journals can be hostile to ideas that don't build on the work of people who have already been mentioned in them." Despite such occasional frustrations, Lejano remains committed to his work, and to his belief that forward thinking is key to advancing the field. His advice to young people of color interested in environmental careers draws on that: "You need to be bold in your thinking. Don't fall into the environmental ethic of the rich, but at the same time don't romanticize poverty-understand it more deeply. Be prepared to go against the too-ingrained common "wisdoms" in academia. Learn critical thinking. And last, be prepared to work harder, produce more, and be more original than others, because this society requires more from people of color."

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Chentao Lin

(1957-Present)

Professor

University of California, Los Angeles

"Do what you really like and want to do." - Chentao Lin, 2006.

Chentao Lin has long been interested in studying plants and their interactions with the surrounding environment. The oldest of three children born to high school instructors, Lin graduated from the South China College of Tropical Science with a degree in Agronomy. He furthered his study of plant biology during his graduate studies in the U.S., earning his Masters degree in Botany from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Michigan State University. Since joining the faculty at UCLA in 1996, Lin has quickly moved through the ranks to become a full professor, and has earned substantial recognition for his work in plant genetics and their response to environmental cues.

Lin says that he has taken "a very conventional career path" for someone in his corner of the environmental science field: advanced degrees followed by post-doc research positions (at both Michigan State and the University of Pennsylvania), followed by professorship at UCLA. Lin says that as a professor and research leader, he is happy to provide a platform for his students to get the same kind of experiences he had. "I provide an environment for them that models how to conduct research," he explains. "What questions do we [scientific researchers] ask? How do we answer these questions? These are the kind of things for which a mentor is invaluable." Lin notes that his own mentors, Ethan Hack, Mike Thomashow, and Anthony Cashmore provided that kind of environment for him, where he gained the skills to both conduct research and garner funding for it.

Lin's recent major research efforts have revolved around specific plant genes, starting as a research assistant at Iowa State, where he tried to clone a gene responsible for a fungal disease in corn. Since then, Lin has broadened his interest to include other plant genes with various functions; in 1997, he was able to clone a gene mutation that causes plants to flower at the wrong time, an accomplishment Lin calls the most significant of his career. His current research is focused on photoreceptors and plant development; specifically, how a photosensory receptor called cryptochrome affects biological processes, including flowering time in plants.

Lin says that he has advised many minority undergraduates in the environmental sciences. He notes that as human beings have yet to fully understand our environment and the impact of many environmental interactions, he would like to see more minority students considering a career in the field. However, he advises it only if they have a true curiosity about the natural world: "Do what you really like and want to do. Work hard to pursue that goal, and you will succeed."

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Wen Lin (a pseudonym)

(1953-Present)

Dept. of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Iowa State University

Wen Lin grew up in China, the second of four children born to a government worker and a department store saleswoman. Lin credits his parents with instilling in their children a strong work ethic. They also struggled financially, although this is something Lin says ultimately drove his professional success: growing up with too many material comforts, he asserts, can negatively affect a person's character and work ethic.

Lin says he became interested in the atmospheric sciences when, during a high school field trip, he learned that it was possible to predict the weather. His first job was a brief appointment at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he obtained his master's degree. Lin did both his doctoral and post-doctoral work in the atmospheric sciences at UCLA. Following a second post doctoral position, Lin worked as a project scientist until 2002, when he was hired for a faculty position at Iowa State University. After working exclusively in research, he realized that he also wanted to teach.

Lin recalls the influence of several important mentors throughout his career. The first, Professor Tao, an atmospheric science academic known as "The Weather Father of China", advised Lin as he earned his masters degree. Lin credits the second, Professor Yanai of UCLA, with encouraging his students to seek a deep understanding of their research topics, as well as assisting with research methodologies. The third was Lin's doctoral advisor, Professor Moncreiff. Lin credits Moncreiff with bringing his students' work to the attention of scientific colleagues. Lin notes that while his mentors differed widely in personality and teaching style, they shared the characteristics of accessibility and encouraging academic freedom.

Lin himself draws from the mentoring styles of his mentors; he tries to strike a balance between encouraging independent thought, and insisting on theoretical rigor. Lin has mentored doctoral students from China, North Korea, and the U.S.; he seeks strong students from a variety of backgrounds.

Lin says there is no one highlight of his career. He notes that publishing papers in well-respected of journals is always satisfying. Currently, he is working to build a climate model to aid students in understanding physics. Lin led the effort to seek the project's funding; he cites that as a career high point. He says he has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to study at prestigious institutions. Other significant moments in his career including receiving two grants from the Department of Energy, receiving grant money from the National Science Foundation, obtaining a professorial position at Iowa State, and publishing his work.

Lin continues to find his subject matter fascinating; he notes that a number of atmospheric and climate-related topics, such as hurricanes and global warming, urgently need further research. He says there are still many uncertainties in the atmospheric sciences, but advances in physics and computer technologies is leading to improved models. Lin says his field is influential across a variety of disciplines, including agriculture.

In terms of advising minorities in the environmental sciences, Lin passes along advice he was given early in his career: 30% of success is the actual work one does, 70% is the impression you make of your work. He notes that "communication is important; one must interact with members of one's field and let people know about one's work". His final advice: become independent, and don't let anyone else take credit for your work.

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Genaro Lopez

(1947-Present)

Professor of Biology

University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College

"If things go the way they’re going, there’s going to be a huge demand for people who are able to help heal the planet. It may not pay the greatest, but the satisfaction you get knowing you’re working toward ensuring the survival of humanity will offset that. Plus, it’s a lot of fun." - Genaro Lopez, 2006.

For Genaro Lopez, being able to give back to the place where he grew up is an accomplishment in itself. A Professor of Biology at the University of Texas-Brownsville, Lopez grew up in Brownsville, the oldest of Genaro Velasco Lopez Sr. and Maria de Carmel Lopez's five children. Though circumstances were often difficult, Lopez has fond memories of the role the natural environment played in his youth. "When I grew up here, it was a very rural area," he recalls. "It was a small town, and there was lots of nature all around. We were close to the beach, the mud flats, and there was a place called the monte where we went hunting. Sometimes in junior high school, I would go hunting for rabbits with my .22, and bring home three or four for dinner." Although Brownsville has grown significantly over the years and Lopez no longer hunts, he has devoted much of his career to educating the area's young people about their surrounding environment.

Lopez initially attended UT-Brownsville as an undergraduate, later transferring to Texas Tech to complete his degree in biology. After graduating, he was torn between pursuing medical school or some other application of biology in graduate school. However, that internal struggle happened to coincide with the very first Earth Day, which helped make up his mind. "I started to see and read about issues of overpopulation, species extinction, and so on," Lopez recalls. "There was a lot of hope coming out of the 60s in solving the world's environmental problems by actively engaging in them. So I decided to become an ecologist."

Lopez received his Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University in 1975. He then returned to Texas, where he worked briefly at Texas A&M as lead agent for urban entomology in an effort to help exterminators adjust to new EPA regulations. However, Lopez and his wife were planning on having children, and the atmosphere in College Station didn't fit the environment they were looking to raise children in, "We wanted our children to grow up in a bilingual, bicultural environment," Lopez explains. The family returned to Brownsville, where Lopez took up a faculty position at his former school.

"I've been fighting the good fight down here since 1976," Lopez says of his career as a professor. His primary focus is teaching—as instructor for introductory biology classes at the university, he relishes the opportunity to influence as many minds and viewpoints as possible. "This way, I can focus on educating future politicians and businesspeople, and help them get a connection to the environment and living things." In an effort to help students gain a better understanding of their natural surroundings, Lopez has instituted a project that has caught on beyond his classroom. "It's a practical environmental and nature study section I do in my beginning biology courses," he explains. "I have students work in groups of five, and prepare a portfolio with photographs of native trees or bird species and their characteristics." The idea has spread throughout the university, and some of Lopez's former students who have become teachers have begun similar projects in their schools. Lopez counts the idea's widespread success as the most significant achievement of his career.

UTB's student body is over 90 percent Hispanic, and Lopez feels that he's promoting diversity just by doing his job. "Just by being here at the front lines of where Hispanic people are actually entering the world of higher education...I'm promoting diversity," he says. He has also mentored a number of Hispanic students more closely, including a current student whose history very much resembles his own. "Like me, he grew up dirt poor, and he learned English even later than I did (first grade)," Lopez says. "He is a brilliant young man. I have hired him to go out and look for different species of scorpions. Even though he is going to medical school, he's getting involved in environmental issues, and I'm mentoring him on the environmental aspects of science and medicine."

While overall he is extremely satisfied with his work providing environmental education to the next generation of decision makers, Lopez is sometimes frustrated by a lack of change in the greater culture. "Even though I've been struggling and struggling, sometimes I can't reach enough people to make a difference," he laments. "There are still hundreds of students here who drive large cars, and their attitude toward the environment is one of destruction, of taking advantage and sucking things out rather than giving them back." Still, he remains in the field because "I'm an eternal optimist. Even though we might not win, we still have to keep fighting. That's why I'm here."

Lopez stresses that not every aspect of his career is a struggle; in fact, sometimes his job seems more like a series of traveling adventures. Lopez's environmental expeditions beyond Brownsville began when he was an undergraduate there, when he traveled to Mexico's tropical rainforests and helped build cabins for birdwatching. Later, at Texas Tech, being bilingual turned out to be a huge asset, enabling Lopez to travel with his advisor and mentor Dr. Robert Baker to Trinidad, Colombia, and Venezuela. Now, as a teacher and faculty sponsor of the environmental club at Brownsville, Lopez exposes his students to similar traveling opportunities. "My current research project is on mercury levels in game fish, so we get to go to fishing tournaments on the Gulf of Mexico and take samples," he says. "I also take the environmental club to rainforests in Mexico, where we hike, go spelunking and do nature studies. If you like outdoor adventure, this is the field you want to go into."

Lopez encourages minorities with a passion for the outdoors and an interest in the environmental field to seek out environmental careers. While he acknowledges that the pay may not match up to medicine or other scientific disciplines, the payoffs from an environmental career come in other forms. "If things go the way they're going, there's going to be a huge demand for people who are able to help heal the planet," he says. "It may not pay the greatest, but the satisfaction you obtain knowing you're working toward ensuring the survival of humanity will offset that. Plus, it's just a lot of fun."

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Birl Lowery

(1950-Present)

Professor, Soil Sciences and Environmental Studies

University of Wisconsin-Madison

"There are too few minorities in this area. It's a wide-open area, with great opportunities." - Birl Lowery, 2006.

Birl Lowery always knew that he wanted a career in the environmental field. "I've always enjoyed the outdoors and outdoor activity, just being in the environment," he explains. "I have always wanted to work outside, so that's how I got started." Lowery grew up on a farm in Starkville, Mississippi. "I enjoyed being outside, working on our small farm," he recalls. "That was what I thought life should be about." He went on to study agricultural education at Alcorn State University as an undergraduate, received his master's degree from Mississippi State in agricultural and biological systems engineering, and his Ph.D. from Oregon State in soil science.

After graduate school, Lowery was hired as an assistant professor in applied soil physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the institution where he continues to teach today. When he began at UW, his appointment was eighty percent research and twenty percent instruction; today it is an even fifty-fifty. Lowery's research concentrates on the impact of farming on the environment. "I work with growers on every scale," he says. "We have organic farmers that we work with-I work with the whole range-but most problems are associated with large scale farming operations."

Mentors have not played an important role in the development of Lowery's career, though he has mentored some minority students in his capacity as an advisor. Lowery has been involved in a number of diversity efforts at the university. "When I was chair of the department, I tried to increase the number of minorities within the department," Lowery says. For a number of years, he served on a committee that provided advanced opportunity fellowships to students of color. Lowery has also been active on the university's equity and diversity committee, and the MANRRS program.

One of the highlights of Lowery's career so far was his experience as chair of the department. "I've also been successful in research," he adds. "Some of my ideas have been adopted by farmers, which is good from both an environmental and a production standpoint." He has remained in the environmental field because he enjoys what he does. When asked for what he believes to be his most significant achievement, Lowery answers, "Just having this job and performing it." However, a low point is definitely the excessive hours. "This is still going on after almost twenty-six years-it may just be my nature," Lowery laughs.

Lowery has some advice for minorities who are considering a career in the environmental field. "Take it very seriously and go after it," he says. "There are too few minorities in this area. It's a wide-open area, with great opportunities. I would love to see more minorities involved in environmental issues. We need more in this area as opposed to other sciences."

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Daanish Mustafa

(1969-Present)

Professor of Geography

University of South Florida

"There is a rich history of environmental thought, practice and mythology in every culture. The environment and humanity could both benefit if environmental science and policy included those diverse perspective." - Daanish Mustafa, 2006.

In Daanish Mustafa's view, environmental and social inequality share a strong and direct link. His outlook was shaped by growing up in and later studying his native Pakistan, where persistent economic, social, and environmental problems went hand in hand. However, his multi-faceted approach to human/environment interaction makes him something of an oddity in the environmental field. "People just don't know what to make of me sometimes," Mustafa notes. "They ask, 'Are you a philosopher? A poet? A scientist? What are you? What right have you to talk about the environment if you don't talk about numbers? How is unequal access to water an ecological problem?' But the environment is not a zero-sum game. The environment and the economy are not inversely related. The fact that the environment is pictured as a big machine by some people…is very discouraging."

Although Mustafa has pursued Geography as a discipline throughout his academic career, his focus and outlook on the discipline have changed as a result of experience. After graduating from Middlebury College with his B.A. in Geography in 1991, Mustafa returned to Pakistan, where he first worked as a cartographer that contracted with aid agencies such as the United Nations and USAID. He had always been keenly interested in world and social development, and this work led to an increasing concern about the role environmental factors played in those issues. Mustafa also worked as both a consultant and researcher on a variety of different environmental issues in the region, including the potential impacts of climate change, water resources, and development. He was fascinated by the work, but also troubled by what he perceived as a disconnect between environmental and development concerns. "The environment seemed so key to human quality of life," Mustafa says. "I got interested in studying water resources and environmental hazards-it seemed like a more concrete way of addressing why humans are so destructive to the environment, and a way of merging the environment with a set of larger developmental concerns."

Mustafa returned to the U.S. to do graduate work, receiving his M.A. in Geography from the University of Hawaii-Minoa, and his Ph.D. in the same subject from the University of Colorado-Boulder. While in graduate school, he researched and wrote extensively about water resources, environmental hazards, and sustainable development in Pakistan. After earning his Ph.D., Mustafa taught briefly at George Mason University as a visiting assistant professor, before beginning his current faculty position as an assistant professor at the University of South Florida.

Mustafa says he is an "average university professor" who combines teaching and research. While he has secured a number of grants and awards for his research efforts, serving as an inspiration to his students is the role that makes his career choice worthwhile. "When students come back to me and say that they decided to go into the environmental field because of my classes, that my courses changed their life, that to my mind is the highlight," he says. "Publications and stuff just happen as a matter of course." Mustafa will soon be moving on to a different faculty position, as a lecturer at King's College in London, where he is looking forward to interacting with his first graduate students and a more diverse student body.

In his role as mentor and teacher, Mustafa draws on the influence of his own mentors, especially his Ph.D. advisor James Wescoat, Jr. "If I could be half as good a scholar and a mentor as he was to me, I would consider myself a success," Mustafa says. He notes that when he began his doctoral program, "I was into using big words, writing incomprehensibly-all the stuff you think academics are supposed to do. But for [Dr. Wescoat] the point was to understand and change reality through practical applications of research. He was about scholarship and passion-he cared very deeply about the human condition and was devoted to making a difference to it through his work. I wanted to emulate him." Gilbert White, an emeritus faculty at UC-Boulder when Mustafa was a Ph.D. student, was also an important influence. "He started his environmental career in the Roosevelt White House in 1932, and to this day, instead of being an anachronism, his opinions and his words and opinions are eagerly sought after by graduate students and faculty members whose parents were not born when he started his career," Mustafa marvels. "He was always available to come to classes and speak to my students. His lifelong engagement with changing the nature of human-environment interactions to being more harmonious, his continued scholarship and academic work, are amazing. I hope I can keep that up when I am half his age."

Though Mustafa says he is "not really much impressed with most of my achievements," he considers his most significant achievements to be when he can influence thinking about the environment. For example: "There's a dam being constructed in Pakistan. I have written in newspapers against that dam, trying to point out that there are different choices available. Every time I'm able to get a popular publication accepted is a major accomplishment, because as an educator that's how I can get through to the greatest number of people."

As an academic from the developing world, Mustafa has a unique perspective on diversity in American academic institutions and the environmental movement. "It's been very frustrating, trying to get a different, more diverse student body and faculty involved in these [environmental] issues," he says. For Mustafa, diversifying the environmental field isn't just about getting people with different skin colors to show up; it's about bringing a multiplicity of perspectives to the movement. "What you're really looking for is not just color-of-skin diversity, but different cultural perspectives, views, and historical experiences. The question is--do you have an intellectual environment where those differences are nurtured, accepted and celebrated? I think [in the U.S.] there is generally tolerance...but acceptance and celebration, I don't know. You're really integrated when you're not just tolerated but accepted and celebrated, and I don't think we're there yet."

Mustafa is also frustrated by what he perceives as a lack of diversity in the discipline itself. "I'd have to say that the most discouraging moments in my career have been experiencing ignorance and/or myopia on the part of some very learned and smart people," he says. "People [in academia] talk about multi-disciplinarity all the time, but they don't really know--or care to do, what it takes to put it in practice. Fortunately, things are changing." However, Mustafa hasn't let narrow perspectives on what defines the "environmental field" to drive him out of it. "It's a labor of love," he says, by way of explaining why he remains in the field. "I like the birds flying through clear air, the colors of the evenings and afternoons, the sight of people enjoying the sun shine over a great free flowing river. These stimuli and pleasures of life make it worthwhile for me to continue despite the challenges."

In order to genuinely diversify the environmental movement, Mustafa suggests that all participants-white and minority-do some serious analysis of the movements' attitudes and outlook. "There is a way of engaging with the environment, even in 'science,' that is very culturally specific-that is to say, very white, European-American. It seems like there's a culture in the environmental field that draws on the European historical and cultural experience. I suspect that might be part of the problem." For those who come from non-white backgrounds, Mustafa says drawing on your own cultural experience will be a critical contribution to the environmental field. "The universe of human experience is very vast," he says. "The diversity of human experience of the environment is just as variegated. We need to reflect on what are the different cultural-historical experience of the environment and nature. There is a rich history of environmental thought, practice and mythology in every culture. The environment andhumanity could both benefit if environmental science and policy included those diverse perspectives."

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Charles Nilon

(1956-Present)

Associate Professor of Urban Wildlife Management

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Missouri

"You can apply your own personal interests, and find a job that fosters those interests in the environmental field." - Charles Nilon, 2006.

"I've always enjoyed the outdoors," Charles Nilon says. He describes his childhood in Boulder, Colorado, as a mix of the urban and the natural: while he enjoyed the city and urban life, he also spent a lot of time outdoors in the Rocky Mountains on Boy Scout and church camping trips. Nilon found a way to combine the two in his career as an academic, where he researches the impact of urbanization on wildlife habitats, populations, and communities.

Nilon majored in Biology as an undergraduate at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The summer after his sophomore year, he volunteered for a research project at the University of Colorado, where he met a graduate with a degree in wildlife management and decided that he too was interested in that subject. The following summer, he did a research internship with Argonne National Lab in Chicago, which gave him the opportunity to work both in the lab and outdoors. After graduating from Morehouse, Nilon did a master's degree in Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale, then took a job as a wildlife biologist in Missouri.

After two years of working as a wildlife biologist, Nilon decided that he wanted to get his Ph.D. In return for the U.S. Forest Service's support of his doctoral work, Nilon's dissertation research was tied to the Forest Service, and he got to do research work in urban ecology. After earning his Ph.D. in 1986, Nilon worked for a year as a General Biology professor at his alma mater Morehouse, spent two years as the urban wildlife program coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and was then hired on as a faculty member at the University of Missouri, where he has remained ever since.

In his long and diverse career, both inside and outside of academia, Nilon has had a host of mentors who have influenced his personal and professional development, beginning with his parents. His father, the late Charles Nilon Sr., and his mother, Mildred, both worked in academic settings, Charles as an English professor and Mildred as a librarian. "They both gave me advice about working in an academic setting, and about the challenges I would face as an African American student and professor," Nilon says. James Curry, a math professor at the University of Colorado, was also an important resource for Nilon in terms of dealing with the unique situations he would face as an African American academic. In a broader sense, Drs. Judy Bender, Tom Norris, and. Fredrick Mapp at Morehouse supported and encouraged Nilon's interest and development in the environment; at Yale, the late Rick Miller, Nilon's master's advisor, Steven Keller and Stephen Berwick supported his interest in wildlife and were heavily involved in his master's project; and at SUNY, Nilon's advisor Larry VanDruff helped him shape his ideas and self-image as a scientist, and the two built a genuine friendship that they maintain to this day. In addition to academic mentors, Rowan Rowntree of the Forest Service was very encouraging, and helped Nilon focus his research interests.

When asked if he now mentors young minorities in the environmental field, Nilon's answer is an emphatic "Yes!" Though the University of Missouri doesn't have a very diverse student body, Nilon believes that makes mentorship all the more crucial for the minorities that are there. As advisor for Missouri's chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), Nilon mentors a number of undergraduate students, as well as several others who do research in his lab. Additionally, Nilon has worked in the past and continues to work with minority graduate students; he currently has three who are working under his direction. Nilon also serves as an advisor to the Ecological Society of America's SEEDS program, which is focused on increasing recruitment of black college students to the environmental field.

Nilon considers diversity work a very important component of his career. In addition to his work mentoring minority students, he is currently a member of the Affirmative Action Committee at Missouri's College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources, and served for two years as President of the University of Missouri Black Staff and Faculty Association. While Nilon remains committed to increasing opportunities for minorities, especially African Americans, in the environmental field, he also expresses frustration as what he sees as a lack of progress over time. "As an African American faculty member, it bothers me to see people in the same struggle I had when I was in school," Nilon explains. "Progress is not as evident as I'd like it to be. Things don't seem to change much in terms of what happens to underrepresented students and faculty."

Despite such concerns, Nilon is content with what his career has allowed him to do and become. He relishes his ability to interact with the different kinds of people involved in the field, from students and other academics to people in the communities he researches. Because of his work in international urban ecology issues, he has had the ability to travel internationally to Africa and Australia, something he greatly enjoyed. But Nilon is most proud of "being known and recognized as a leader, as someone who has built up a good national and international reputation in urban wildlife conservation."

"It's a great field!" Nilon says enthusiastically about environmental work. Nothing that the field spans many disciplines and topics, he advises minorities interested in environmental careers to consider their interests, and create a niche that works for them: "You can apply your own personal interests, and find a job that fosters those interests in the environmental field."

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Oladele Ogunseitan

(1961-Present)

Professor of Public Health and Social Ecology

University of California-Irvine

"Everyone should appreciate diversity as a tangible benefit for any program."
- Oladele Ogunseitan, 2006.

Oladele Ogunseitan was born and raised in Nigeria, a country that offered both stunning natural beauty and whole landscapes ruined by environmental degradation. He recalls that he was always interested in nature, and was saddened that while some parts of Nigeria flourished naturally, others were extremely polluted. "That made me want to learn about any technology that could restore lands that had been devastated by pollution," Ogunseitan says. He also observed the link between environmental degradation and public health problems, and became interested in tackling both issues from an environmental perspective.

Ogunseitan earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Microbiology from the University of Ife in Nigeria, and his Ph.D. in the same subject from the University of Tennessee. After earning his doctorate, Ogunseitan was offered a position as an assistant professor at the University of California-Irvine. He accepted, and began teaching environmental analysis and health to both undergrad and graduate students. He then continued his education at the University of California-Berkeley, where he earned his M.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences in 1998, and a Certificate in International Health later in the same year. Ogunseitan now continues to work at UC-Irvine in the Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy. He primarily teaches courses related to environmental health, but also teaches industrial and applied ecology.

Ogunseitan is fortunate to have had many mentors throughout his career. "All of my teachers were mentors," he says. "With academic careers you have to begin by thinking of your teachers as lifetime mentors. They have a powerful influence on their students. Students who are receptive will learn a lot. It's not just about mimicking them, it's about learning by example." As a receptive mentee, Ogunseitan was able to learn about different aspects of science from all of his teachers. At the University of Ife, the Hungarian biologist Tomas Patkai taught Ogunseitan how to simplify complex data and find solutions to scientific problems. At the graduate level at Ife, Olu Odeyemi "solidified my interest in environmental microbiology," Ogunseitan says. At the University of Tennessee, he sought out Professor Gary Sayler as a mentor, who was "very receptive. He and his colleague Dr. Robert Miller were both very successful, and I saw how they managed their time, responded to complex scholarly issues and mentored their students. It was very influential." At UC-Irvine, Ogunseitan says he was "lucky" to join Dr. Betty Olson's microbiology lab. "She ran a big lab, and was very interested in the kinds of things that I was," he says. "She also helped me understand the connections among different environmental systems." Finally, Ogunseitan was inspired by Professor Kirk Smith, at UC-Berkeley. "I admired him from a distance at first, but I soon got to know him and found him very supportive," he says. "He really embraced my interest in environmental health and international development."

Ogunseitan draws on experiences with all of his mentors to help guide his own interactions with students. He is also involved in a number of diversity efforts within the university. He currently serves as the Chair of UC-Irvine's Council on Academic Personnel, where one of his responsibilities includes making recommendations to the Provost on promotions and tenure decisions. "In my capacity as Chair, I am required to comment on diversity initiatives within the university system, and ensure that decisions and reviews are unbiased in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, etc.," Ogunseitan says. He says he encourages and mentors students of many ethnic backgrounds, and has found diversity to be beneficial to the practice of science. "Everyone should appreciate diversity as a tangible benefit for any program," he notes. "It is narrow-minded to exclude ideas because they are different. It's not scientific. The same applies to people."

However, as someone from a developing country, Ogunseitan has a slightly different view of what constitutes diversity—and what is the "majority" or a "minority"-than many Americans. "I think we are all minorities in one way or another," he says, "but we are also in the majority according to certain criteria, just because we live in an affluent country. It is important that we all appreciate the aspects of our lives where we are in the minority, and serve as strong role models for those coming behind us. Likewise, in aspects where we are in the majority, it is important to fully appreciate the challenges faced by those who may be intimidated by the unequal distribution of resources and opportunities." Though he always keeps an open mind and strives for a diverse population in his lab, Ogunseitan says that when it comes down to it, hard work and curiosity are the most important characteristics he looks for in his students. "I try not to make a distinction between people of color and Caucasians," he says.

"I run a large lab, and I only accept those students who will work hard and are interested in this field."

Ogunseitan's career has been highly successfully by any measure. In addition to leading and publishing a number of studies relating to industrial ecology, environmental health and microbiology, he has also authored a widely acclaimed textbook, Microbial Diversity, held several fellowships, and was named Professor of the Year for Social Ecology in 2002. In spite of such recognition, Ogunseitan hopes the real highlight of his career is still to come. "I hope it's in my future," he says. "I've had a good career. For instance, doing an experiment, writing it up and presenting it is always exciting. When students give positive feedback about my classes, it's exciting. Getting tenure is a great thing, but it is not the end. You just pick up and go to the next level." Part of the reason Ogunseitan remains excited about his career's future is the nature of the field he is in. "It is an infinite quest," he says. "We'll never lack material for research. It's sometimes frustrating to know that you'll never completely solve an issue, but the incremental successes are encouraging and keep you going."

Ogunseitan says that because the environmental field is so vast and interdisciplinary, being recognized for his contributions to the field is humbling. While he notes that the field's diversity of subject matter is what makes it interesting, he says it can also be a challenge to navigate and find a focus. He advises minorities interested in environmental careers to seek out mentors, and get as wide a knowledge base as possible while still considering where their talents lie. "The environmental field is very broad, so it's very easy to get lost in it," he says. "One should be broadly in environmental science and policy, but you still have to find your niche. Find the best way for your talents to be used. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to figure it out, but knowing early always helps."

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Isaac "Morty" Ortega

Associate Professor,
Department of Natural Resources Management

University of Connecticut

"Keep working at it. Even if you dont have very much experience with the outdoors, the environmental field is still feasible for you. It can be done." - Isaac "Morty" Ortega.

For Isaac "Morty" Ortega, the inspiration to pursue a career in the environmental field was found in a high school ecology class in his native Chile. Ortega grew up in the city, and until that point, had not spent much time in the outdoors. "If not for that class," Ortega says, "I may have ended up as a physician." Instead, Ortega is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering at the University of Connecticut, where he has worked for the past nine years.

As a young man, Ortega was encouraged to pursue education by his parents, and was the first member of his family to reach the university level. Following high school, Ortega attended the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, where he received his bachelor's degree in Ecology in 1976. After doing some graduate work at the same school, Ortega moved to the U.S. to continue his graduate studies at Iowa State University. He received his M.S. in Wildlife Biology in 1985, and went on to get his Ph.D. in Wildlife Science at Texas Tech University in 1991.

Mentors have played an important role in the development of Ortega's career, from his high school ecology teacher to his master's advisor at Iowa State. His advisor was especially important in modeling how to do fieldwork, among other things, and the two soon became friends. Now that he has had a a great deal of experience in his field, Ortega tries to mentor his young students at every opportunity. In addition to his undergraduate and graduate students, Ortega also counsels students from many countries, including South Africa, Chile, and Bolivia.

In addition to his teaching and mentoring activities, Ortega is involved in a number of outreach efforts targeted towards increasing minority enrollment in university environmental programs. "Strong CT" is an NSF program designed to bring minority students from throughout the state into UCONN. Ortega also travels to area high schools to recruit minority students to the school, and is currently writing a grant that would provide four years of funding and mentoring in an effort to bring students into the agriculture program.

Ortega's ability to bring his students into the field combines his two biggest passions—teaching and the natural world. He is proud to teach in ways that bring students closer to the outdoors in a number of different environments. He notes teaching as one of the highlights of his career, and the opportunity to take students on trips to places like throughout the U.S.A., Patagonia and South Africa has been incredible. "I really like the teaching that I do—especially when I get to take my students to different places," Ortega says. His current research on mountain lion predator-prey relationships in Patagonia is another highlight, and the ability to work outdoors with animals keeps him satisfied with a career in the environmental field.

Ortega has these words of advice for those minority students who are just beginning to discover their own passions: "Keep working at it. You must be able to show that you are good at working in the field. Even if you don't have very much experience with the outdoors, the environmental field is still feasible for you. It can be done."

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David Pellow

(1969-Present)

Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies

University of California, San Diego

"Work your ass off, be confident, stand up straight, work like you've got some business, and network to find out what people have done to advance their careers, as long as you can maintain your integrity to get there, but first and foremost, make sure you do something you love...." - David Pellow, 2005.

David Pellow, though in many ways still at the dawn of his academic career, is a trailblazer who brings truth and innovation to his research, teaching, and community work. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies from University of Tennessee, in Knoxville. In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he directs the California Cultures in Comparative Perspective program.

The second of three children, Pellow spent most of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. The spirit of inquiry runs in his veins; the environment only heightens that sense of wonderment and the desire to search for answers. Moreover, his biological mother and adopted parents are all researchers and professors, and Nashville provided a natural environment rich with caves, lakes, and forests that Pellow explored extensively with his father. His parents not only taught him how to be inquisitive, but they also encouraged him to incorporate his political views into his work. "I am a southern man, so I never saw any shortage of social inequality, but I was lucky to have access to natural environmental amenities.... My parents were involved in the civil rights movement.., and they were role models for turning out students who would go on to do work in their communities." Pellow cites the racial, industrial, and natural histories of the South as factors that influenced his work profoundly.

"I was always personally interested in ecology and environmental issues, hiking, mountains, fishing, and animal rights work; I was also working on racial justice issues, but no one else was working on it. When I went to [the University of] Tennessee, a professor there told me that the previous year there had been a visiting professor who did that kind of work." That professor was none other than Robert Bullard, who currently directs the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark-Atlanta University. Pellow contacted Bullard, who told him about the environmental justice movements' activities and who eventually became a mentor and a friend to him.

As he embarked on his graduate study, Pellow found mentors at many other universities through conferences, including Bunyan Bryant and Dorceta Taylor at the University of Michigan. For Pellow, mentors of color were especially important. "It was great...psychologically, because I could envision my work as a career, and I was able to model myself after them, knowing I could make an original contribution as I read their books." Pellow learned from his mentors that his drive to become a scholar-activist would mean maintaining quality in his academic work and accountability to the communities in which he works. "I noticed about their careers that as much as I wanted to do applied work grounded in community struggles, I always had to make sure I was being professional and was publishing to advance the career. [Yet], everything I have published came from community activists and is grounded in community research and the environmental justice community." Pellow sees his connections to community organizations as essential to his ability to remain "sane, unlike many in the academy who are people of color." He encourages his own students and mentees, whether at UCSD or at universities across the country, to follow a similar path, much as his own mentors did for him. Pellow is sure to mention that his relationships with his mentees are collegial, as he feels he has much to learn from them as well.

Pellow holds a strong belief in making the connections between faculty, students, and community concerns. He started the California Cultures in Comparative Perspective (CCCP) program in response to the "attack" on affirmative action in California. The program is a "diversity initiative on campus that does not violate the law, Proposition 209, which phased out affirmative action. We wanted to hire experts on diversity, so the idea is to hire these people and hope that they are of different racial backgrounds," he says. Through the CCCP, faculty who are experts in ethnic issues in California have been hired in several departments. These professors are able to help students make connections between ethnic issues in California and those of the entire world.

Under Pellow's leadership, the CCCP supported the university's approval of a Minor in California Cultures, which enables students to receive credit for internships and fieldwork conducted in community organizations in the state. The CCCP also facilitates the Activist-Scholars Dialogue. This program creates a campus forum for community leaders from California to discuss their work and to critique the university, creating a rich and needed discourse, according to Pellow. Out of these highly-anticipated and well-attended discussions have arisen partnerships, resource exchange and collaboration. Pellow believes this type of community-based learning should become commonplace. "I have only been here three years, but when I was told that nothing like this has been done before, I was stunned, given the level of resources available at the university. It's all about breaking down barriers of town and gown and the elitism of the university," he says. Pellow's mission is to ensure the university serves the needs of all members of the community. "All the work we (CCCP) do is with organizations and communities working with immigrants, people of color, refugees, women, children, (people living with) HIV/AIDS. Where the need is the greatest, the university should be there, especially since it's a public university."

Pellow's work as an environmental sociologist helps him stay committed to the environmental field. "It's a subfield that has a lot to offer and is unique," he says. "On the whole, sociology on the whole as a discipline continues to ignore the relationship of humans and the environment, so as a sociologist, I feel I can do a lot." He enjoys working on the margins of his disciplines and conducting "original work with a unique voice." This includes his work in ethnic studies, a discipline which Pellow believes "has ignored the connection between humans, the environment, and communities of color." He continues, "Of all fields, [ethnic studies] should be incorporating environmental justice, so again I am on the fringe, but in a place I am comfortable."

The work Pellow conducts in San Diego and around the world pushes academic fields to reconsider their accountability to the communities in which they operate. He helped launch the International Campaign for Responsible Technology, a global network of scholars and activists working to address the impact of the technology industry while producing original economic, sociological, and environmental research. The impetus for the campaign arose from the publication of Pellow's book The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy. Pellow considers the highlight of his career thus far to be the affirmation he received from the people in the primary community organization featured in the book. "The community activists are using it to fundraise and to boost their legitimacy," he says. "That kind of affirmation from community activists who weren't [upset] at me [believing I was] using it just to pad my own career but [happy] that they could use it as a tool" is all too rare.

Though Pellow retains legitimacy with many community-based organizations, he feels that he at times must fight for recognition as a relevant voice outside of academia, and those moments have been some of the lowest in his career. "Many times, whether it's a team of scientists, GIS [(Geographic Information Science)] representatives, or people on a reservation, people outside the academy are trained to think only scientists can add value and knowledge and make a case to government or courts, and they look at me as a sociologist and can't figure out what I'm adding to the conversation, so I'm often on the spot to make the case for what I do." Pellow manages to find the self-examination and explanation useful. "All too often academics don't have to make a case for what they do, and that can lead communities down the wrong path. We all need to be questioned!"

Pellow retains a commitment to justice for all in a field that does not always reward activism. He offers strong advice for students of color who are considering a career in the environmental field: hard-earned lessons from his own journey. "Work your ass off, be confident, stand up straight, work like you've got some business, and network to find out what people have done to advance their careers, as long as you can maintain your integrity to get there, but first and foremost, make sure you do something you love.... As a person of color, you will already be doing that just by your very existence, but you have a responsibility to represent and make us proud and make sure you are doing good for the planet and for people. Anyone who doesn't want to help-just wants to advance their career-should not be in this field. Look for ways to link whatever work you do to the needs of real people and the environment, and always seek out help and mentorship. Don't be afraid to knock on doors and make phone calls and create a network of support, because sooner or later you'll be called upon to do the same thing." And in this manner, Pellow is making a difference to students, academics, and communities affected by injustice all over the world.

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Navin Ramankutty

(1970-Present)

Assistant Professor of Geography

McGill University

"We are sorely in need of other views and perspectives. The environmental field is burgeoning, and there is a great need for bright, passionate people." - Navin Ramankutty, 2006.

When Navin Ramankutty begins his post with McGill University's Geography department in June 2006, he will join a host of other environmental professionals in starting an undergraduate program in Earth systems science. He will also add another chapter to an already accomplished career in the environmental field.

Ramankutty traces his desire to work in the environmental field back to his youth in India. His ancestors were farmers, and many of his relatives continue to live in a village in Kerala. Ramankutty has fond memories of the beautiful landscapes of Kerala, and his attachment to those landscapes sparked an initial interest in the environment. He grew up in Coimbatore, a city well known for its educational institutions. "We weren't a wealthy family growing up, so my dad decided that education was the way to progress for us and we moved to Coimbatore. My father stressed education a lot, and I was very fortunate to grow up in the city and have the opportunity to receive the education that I did there," Ramankutty recalls. His mother stayed at home and coached the children through school; Ramankutty credits her with introducing him to a wide range of reading, and broadening the scope of his education. His older brothers also played a crucial role as role models in his early life.

Ramankutty graduated from the PSG College of Technology with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, then moved to the U.S. to attend graduate school. He went on to receive his M.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois, and his Ph.D. in Land Resources from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After finishing his doctorate, Ramankutty's professor, Jonathan Foley, offered him a job at UW's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, where he has spent the past six years as a research scientist. While at the center, Ramankutty led research on global land use change, and ultimately gained the freedom to write his own grants, bring money to the program, and work with students and his colleagues on campus.

Ramankutty has enjoyed the benefits of having mentors guide him throughout his career. He recalls his first mentor, an English teacher in sixth or seventh grade, who was one of the first to spark his interest in literature. This teacher was also interested in math, and would sometimes skip the reading syllabus to talk about math problems. "He was a very exciting person, and I enjoyed our interactions," Ramankutty says. In high school, he was also very inspired by a math teacher who also did a lot of social work in the community, and he continues to visit him whenever he returns to India.

More recently, Ramankutty's graduate mentors have given him valuable advice and helped him to get to where he is today. He mentions Prof. Michael Schlesinger from Illinois, who saw something in the young student and took him on as a research assistant . "That was the stepping stone to my career," he says. Jonathan Foley, a professor, friend, and colleague whom Ramankutty has known for twelve years, has also had an invaluable influence on his career.

The highlight of Ramankutty's career thus far has been his Ph.D. program. "It has been the most joyful part of my career," he explains. He found it especially interesting because his studies did not get as narrow as many other Ph.D. programs tend to do; in fact, he received the most comprehensive portion of his education at UW. "My program emphasized interdisciplinary training and research, and I took classes in sociology, philosophy, geography and ethics. I enjoyed the entire process, and I had wonderful professors and colleagues. I remember having a lot of fun—I really lived those six years very well. In some ways I wish I could go back," Ramankutty says. His dissertation focused on understanding global patterns of agricultural land use, how those patterns have changed over the last 100 years, and the consequences those changes have had on the global environment.

Ramankutty notes two accomplishments as being the highlights of his career thus far. The first was when his map of agricultural land made it into one of National Geographic's pullouts; that same map is now being used in classrooms around the world. "To know that it is widely used for teaching is one of the most fulfilling parts of my work," he says. "Getting my current faculty position [at McGill] is [another] one I am most proud of right now."

Ramankutty plans to remain in the environmental field because he enjoys his colleagues, and believes their work addresses critical issues. "These [environmental issues] are important problems. I strongly believe that they are one of the greatest challenges we face as a society these days," he says. Ramankutty also notes that the environmental field is one that offers myriad opportunities for minorities to get involved and make a contribution. "Environmental science-in fact the sciences in general-are often criticized as having a Western worldview, one that is predominantly white, male and Christian," he says. "We are sorely in need of other views and perspectives. The environmental field is burgeoning, and there is a great need for bright, passionate people."

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Timothy Randhir

(1965-Present)

Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Conservation

University of Massachusetts

"The environmental field is a very promising and challenging area where you can have a big impact on the society." - Timothy Randhir, 2006.

Timothy Randhir became interested in conservation and resource policy as a student in his native India. While earning his Masters degree in Agricultural Economics from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India (Randhir has his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Sciences from Annamalai University), he became interested in water resources and began networking with faculty in that field of study. He went on to get his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, where he won a departmental award for Outstanding Thesis.

Randhir is now an Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, where his research and teaching interests include ecosystem modeling and simulation, watershed management, natural resource management and policy, water resources, ecological economics, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Randhir says he enjoys being in an academic position where he can think independently and set his own goals, all while making significant contributions to conservation science. He has numerous publications in scientific journals, and was selected as a Lilly Teaching Fellow at UMass, a Berg Fellow of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and was nominated for Distinguished Teacher Award in 2004. Randhir is an Editor of the International Journal of Ecological Economics and Statistics, and also serves as a reviewer for several journals in the field. He says one of his most significant achievements has been in developing a transdisciplinary approach to environmental problem that links science to policy.

Randhir says that mentors have played an important role by inspiring and guiding his career choices, most notably his graduate professors in India, who fostered his interest in water resources; and Dr. John Lee, his advisor at Purdue. "He helped me study advanced issues within his [Lee's] area of interest, and he gave me a lot of flexibility and encouragement in pursuing my goals," Randhir says. Randhir says that UMass does not have very high minority enrollment, so he participates in recruiting and helping minority students. Additionally, he was involved in the task force for graduate admissions, and is a part of minority recruitment efforts for his department. He also serves on a number of Ph.D. and Master's thesis committees.

Randhir says the true highlight of working in the environmental field is seeing the tangible differences you can make through your work. He notes that the field abounds with opportunities, and encourages interested young minorities to pursue them: "The environmental field is a very promising and challenging area where you can have a big impact on the wider society."

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Guru Rao

(1952-Present)

Associate Professor of Protein Engineering

Pioneer HiBred International

"...Don't be cowed by the majority, and quickly identify a mentor who will support your aspirations and help keep up your self esteem." - Guru Rao, 2005.

Guru Rao was born on August 27th, 1952, in St. Louis, Missouri. Rao and his younger brother were raised in St. Louis, where is own father, a botanist, received his doctoral degree in 1956; his mother, Shanta, now lives in India. Rao attended St. Edmund's College in India, and completed his doctoral degree at the University of Mysore in 1981. Rao originally dreamt of serving the poor in India through medicine, but forces conspired to lead him on a path toward biochemistry, where he became interested in proteins. Rao soon learned that he could satisfy his goal of serving the poor through biochemistry as well: he began work designing proteins with increased levels of amino acids, thus increasing its nutritional value per unit.

Rao began his post-doctoral work prior to obtaining his PhD. He spent four years at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; moved on to an adjunct professorship at the University of South Carolina until 1987; then spent a year doing additional post-doctoral work at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit, where he observed and analyzed blood coagulation mechanisms. In 1989, Rao was hired by Pioneer HiBred International as a project leader, and has remained with the company ever since.

Rao considers Pioneer HiBred his first environmental job, and says working there has allowed him to put his real interests into practice. Pioneer HiBred is a corn/feed company, whose goal is to provide farmers with corn that has increased nutritional value, as well as normal properties like drought tolerance. Rao discovered a protein in corn that provides greater nutrition; as a result of his work, farmers can now grow corn that that, in Rao's own words, "has a more beneficial effect on mankind". The same protein has also been found in sorghum, an important crop in many poor, primarily agricultural regions of Africa. Rao notes that a Gates Foundation project team received an award for creating a strain of sorghum with high levels of licene (an important amino acid); their project was based on Rao's discovery. During the course of his employment at Pioneer HiBred, Rao has been promoted to senior scientist, and became a research fellow in 2002.

Rao notes his first post-doctoral advisor, Professor Kenneth E. Neet of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science at Chicago, as being especially helpful to his personal and professional development. As a student, Rao wrote to Neet and requested employment; Professor Neet took a chance and hired him, and the two continue to collaborate on projects to this day. Rao says John Howard of Pioneer HiBred also took a chance on him, by encouraging Rao to join the company although he was not a plant scientist. Rao notes that he owes much of his success to these mentors and others who have taken a risk and allowed him the opportunity to flourish.

Rao says Pioneer HiBred has a good mentoring program that is fairly diverse. He notes that many minorities seek out mentors who share their ethnic background, and he has mentored a number of Chinese and Indian youth. Rao says advancing to the highest levels of his field as a person of color in an overwhelmingly white environment (Iowa) has required a great deal of tolerance and determination. He hypothesizes that young minority professionals who seek him out as a mentor may be looking for guidance in confronting similar obstacles, guidance that he is committed to providing. Rao notes that the Indian community in Iowa has gained strength and presence in recent years, making it easier to live there as an Indian.

Rao says his long tenure with Pioneer HiBred allows him to effectively counsel young professionals on how to succeed within the company. Rao says that Asian employees in any field often face hidden barriers because of Asian-American cultural differences; he explains that Asian culture emphasizes an ethic of humility, the idea that, as Rao puts it, "If I do things right, I will get credit," while American culture emphasizes individual self-promotion. Rao says he has worked hard to encourage Asians within his field to aggressively promote their work, while also working to correct stereotypes among American colleagues that Asians are unwilling to stand up for themselves.

As for his most significant professional achievement, Rao says that he has received the most satisfaction from his work with proteins, and its practical applications in combating malnourishment. He describes his period in the U.S. without a green card as being the most difficult; he had to work extra hours to prove his worth, and thus get the recognition and support he needed for a green card sponsorship. But Rao says that throughout his career, he has been sustained by his belief in science as a powerful tool for improving the human condition. Rao says he has continued to ask himself the question - "Is my work relevant to society?" - and uses the answer as a guidepost for assessing his career.

Rao is also proud of his mentoring activities within Pioneer HiBred, and his work with the Asian-American Alliance. His advice to young minorities seeking a career in the environmental sciences: "Don't be cowed by the majority, and quickly identify a mentor who will support your aspirations and help keep up your self-esteem."

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Donald Rodriguez

(1951-Present)

Assistant Professor
Program Coordinator
Environmental Science and Resource Management

California State University, Channel Islands

"The environmental field is more a way of life than a career direction. If [individuals] have [environmental science] as a personal interest, they'll be successful in terms of finding a niche in the environmental arena. People can combine vocation with avocation. It's not lucrative but it has intrinsic rewards." - Donald Rodriguez, 2005.

Donald Rodriguez was born in 1951 to Emanuel and Nartissa Rodriquez. Their family lived in San Leandro, California, near the San Francisco Bay area. Rodriguez was introduced the natural world at a young age as each summer his family would take a two-week camping trip to Yosemite National Park. These early trips left an indelible mark on him; through them gained an appreciation for natural settings and the environment.

Rodriguez graduated with a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology from San Jose State University in 1977. He followed this with a master's degree in environmental education from Cal State East Bay in 1985. He completed his education with a Ph.D. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University in 1996.

Throughout his undergraduate studies, Rodriguez worked as a seasonal naturalist at the East Bay Regional Park District. As part of his responsibilities, he gave interpretive talks to visitors. He also worked as a seasonal wildlife biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A). These early positions reinforced his interest in the environmental field. His career in academia began in 1992 as a graduate student. Upon completion of his doctorate in 1996, he was appointed as a faculty member in the College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University.

Rodriguez is currently a faculty member and the Program Coordinator for the Environmental Science and Resource Management program at California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI) in Camarillo. He credits his advancement to the positive media attention he has received as well as his publication record.

Throughout his career, Rodriguez has been guided by a host of people. He acknowledges Ron Stecker, a faculty member in the entomology department at San Jose State University, for sparking his interest in ecological topics. His master's advisor also served as a great influence in the realm of environmental education and interpretation. Rodriguez's Ph.D. advisor at Colorado State University assisted him with networking by introducing him to key individuals who worked in parks and protected lands. Overall, his career has been filled with people who helped to guide him and intensify his interest in pursuing a career in the environmental field. He says, "I've continued to grow through these mentors...They came during critical points in my development... [they] helped to keep me moving during my academic career towards environmental science."

Having benefited from the guidance of mentors, Rodriguez understands the importance of mentoring others. He helped to develop the Colorado Youth Naturally Program in Denver and Fort Collins in the early 1990s. He also created the educational component for the Youth in Natural Resources Program for the State of Colorado. In addition, he worked with the Hispanic Environmental Coalition in Washington, D.C. to help get other Hispanic organizations in higher education to become more interested in environmental affairs. He gives the following advice to individuals interested in a career in the environmental field, "The environmental field is more a way of life than a career direction. If [individuals] have [environmental science] as a personal interest, they'll be successful in terms of finding a niche in the environmental arena. People can combine vocation with avocation. It's not lucrative but it has intrinsic rewards."

Despite his many years in the environmental field, Rodriguez is only able to recall one low point in his career, and he is now able to see that point as a positive. Rodriguez was not offered tenure at Colorado State University. Soon after being denied tenure, he was appointed as the Program Coordinator of the Environmental Science and Resource Management at CSUCI. While not receiving tenure was the low point, being appointed as program coordinator allowed him to become more involved in the recruitment and retention of students - this is a positive experience.

Rodriguez's career has been filled with positive experiences. He is able to recall a host of career highlights, including his participation with the "Mosaic in Motion" conference, program development, media attention, international experience, and many awards and recognitions. Working with the Mosaic in Motion conference was a great opportunity to work with other diverse people in the environmental field. Being invited to begin the environmental program at CSUCI was a great honor. Rodriguez considers his inclusion in a video narrated by Christopher Reed regarding wilderness and cultivating minority interests as a highlight as well. Finally, Rodriguez has been honored as the recipient of the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund award in 1996, the Enos Mills award from the National Association for Interpretation in 1995, and, in 2000, he received an award from the city of Fort Collins, Colorado for his work in natural resource protection and environmental stewardship.

While these great accomplishments, awards and highlights have undoubtedly played a role in Rodriguez's decision to maintain a career in the environmental field, he credits the students for being the primary reason he stuck with a career in the environmental field; "Seeing them become interested and energized about environmental studies and moving into the environmental arena, maybe the result of me helping them. That's been the thing that has been the most rewarding."

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Olga Ruiz Kopp

(1959-Present)

Assistant Professor of Plant Molecular Biology

Utah Valley State College

"It makes your life worthwhile when a student writes you to say they have succeeded." - Olga Ruiz Kopp, 2006.

Olga Ruiz Kopp grew up in a small town in Colombia's Andes mountains. Although today the town is touched by Colombia's longstanding civil conflict, Kopp remembers it as a peaceful place surrounded by coffee, sugar cane, fruit, and plantain crops. "I always liked plants since I was very young," she says. "I liked playing with the seeds. I used to take the black beans that my mother discarded because they had insects in them and plant them just to see them grow. I was also very interested in doing research." After working for six years to save money for undergraduate school, she attended the National University of Colombia in Bogota, where she studied Biology and did her undergraduate thesis with plants. She also served as Director of a Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, where she micropropagated ornamental plants.

Kopp wanted to continue studying and working with plants at the graduate level; however, after getting her undergraduate degree, she couldn't afford to attend graduate school in Colombia. Fortunately, she was offered a scholarship to study Horticulture at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, an opportunity Kopp considered a dream come true. "I had always had a dream to study, but I couldn't do that in Colombia-I didn't have the money," she says. "When they offered me the chance to come here [the U.S.], I couldn't believe they were going to pay me to study. For that I am very thankful."

Kopp found several important mentors while working on both her master's degree and Ph.D. at Tennessee. Her master's work with Dr. Robert Trigiano focused on the micro-propagation of plants: "By growing them in-vitro, you can select plants that are resistant to viruses, or that are difficult to breed under normal conditions," she explains. Kopp worked with Dr. Albert Von Arnim on her Ph.D., where her dissertation focused on studying genes regulated by light using enhancer and gene trap analysis. She also did a post-doc at Tennessee, where she worked with Dr. Beth Mullin researching plant/microbe interactions.

Since the fall of 2003, Kopp has been an assistant professor of biology at Utah Valley State College. She continues to conduct research on flower development, plant/microbe interaction and micro-propagation, and has received a number of research grants. However, Kopp considers the ability to teach the highlight of her career. "My dream was to teach, and I really enjoy interacting with the students," she says. "I enjoy doing research with them, helping them get jobs or internships, or get into graduate or medical school. It makes your life worthwhile when a student writes to you to say they have succeeded." Kopp has also earned awards for her teaching, both as a Graduate instructor at Tennessee and a Professor at UVSC.

In addition to her research grants, Kopp has participated in a Summer Faculty Fellowship to expand participation of underrepresented minorities in Plant Genetics and Genomics. The fellowship, funded by the National Science Foundation, provided both Kopp and a student with funding to do a research project at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Kopp says she tries to mentor minority students at UVSC as much as possible by guiding them toward internships and research opportunities, but laments that she hasn't been very successful. "We have very few minority students at our school, and only now are we starting to see more," she says. "My project is to try to help them the best I can, but sometimes it's difficult to recruit them in our school."

Kopp has no regrets about her career choice; in fact, she can't imagine doing anything else. "I love biology," she says. "I think knowing about nature is very important, and teaching students about nature and the environment they live in is very important. I really think it can make a difference in society." Kopp says the rewards of working in the field aren't always evident, but they are there all the same. "If you work hard and enjoy what you do, you really can make a difference. If you work hard and study hard, it will pay off, and not just in money. The reward in seeing your students succeed...well, it changes your life."

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Francisco San Juan

(1944-Present)

Professor of Geological, Environmental, and Marine Sciences

Elizabeth City State University

"You can improve if you really want to." - Francisco San Juan, 2005.

Francisco San Juan was born in Manila, the Philippines on September 17, 1944. He is the eldest of Francisco A. San Juan, Sr. and Remedios C. San Juan's seven children, all of whom, he says, were inspired to work hard by their father. San Juan Sr. worked as a manager for General Motors, and San Juan recalls his father attending night school while supporting his family by day. He notes that all but one of his siblings followed in their father's footsteps, and attained a college degree.

San Juan attended the University of the Philippines, initially to pursue a career in chemical engineering. But while in college, San Juan became concerned that engineering was not the best path for him. He went to his university counseling office for interest and aptitude tests, which recommended careers in either agriculture, biology, or geology. He asked his father for guidance; San Juan Sr. advised a career in geology, as substantial amounts of development and mineral-exploration and mining were then going on in the Philippines. San Juan followed his father's advice, earning his B.S. in Geology and Geochemistry in 1966.

Upon his college graduation, San Juan was hired by a copper mining company; the chair of his undergraduate department worked as a consultant for the company and, recruited San Juan on the basis of his academic record. His interest in environmental issues would not develop for many years yet. It was not until after graduate school, beginning his teaching career, and undertaking independent learning, that San Juan realized how substantially his past work had impacted the environment.

After spending six years in the mining industry, first as an exploration geologist and later as Head of the mining company's Geology Department, San Juan left the Philippines to pursue further studies in the United States. He received an M.S. in Geochemistry in 1977, and his Ph.D. in Isotope Geochemistry and Hydrology in 1982, both from Florida State University. After getting his doctorate, San Juan was recruited for a professorship at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, where he has worked ever since.

San Juan notes that his Masters advisor worked in the mining profession, and helped him to pursue that professional direction. He also modeled a good work ethic, for which San Juan admired him. Later, when San Juan was doing his dissertation, his doctoral advisor and another professor assisted with his research and offered good advice. Further mentoring was provided by the chair of San Juan's current department, who offered help and training early in San Juan's career as a professor.

During the course of his career, San Juan has mentored a number of young, primarily African-American students. He involves his mentees in his research, and teaches them methodology, the use of software and lab equipment, and models how to do field work (he notes that though Elizabeth City State's primary emphasis is on undergraduate education rather than research, that is slowly changing within his department). Currently his department has a research boat, the RV Hawk, that it uses for research and teaching; specifically, for leading students on educational excursions through a local river and estuary. San Juan also teaches introductory courses on remote sensing, and is currently exploring how to best integrate that technology into his research. He has already introduced one student to the basics of remote sensing, and he hopes she will be able to use it in her research.

San Juan cites several achievements as career highlights, notably attaining his Ph.D. and overcoming a childhood speech problem. He has remained a professor because he finds teaching interesting and enjoyable; but as a naturally introverted person suffering from speech difficulties, it can also prove a challenge. As graduate student, and later as a professor, San Juan sought to overcome these difficulties. Though he still struggles with his natural shyness, he says experience is crucial to improvement in any field, especially in teaching. He also notes that self-motivation is key: "You can improve if you really want to," he says. But ultimately, San Juan says his greatest achievement is his family-he and his wife have raised two children.

On the diversity and mentorship front, San Juan has participated in a U.S. Department of Education effort to attract and retain minority students in geology and marine environmental science. He was also awarded an NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) grant, for a project that used remote sensing to develop a coastal habitat plan in North Carolina. San Juan used students as research assistants for the project, many of whom he also mentored.

San Juan notes that there are currently very few minorities in the environmental field. He says that as a result, minorities have numerous opportunities to break into the field, but taking advantage of such opportunities requires hard work and dedication. San Juan believes hard work to be the most critical component of success: he notes from personal experience that some of his bright, less hard-working students have been surpassed professionally by less talented, harder-working students. Finally, San Juan advises minority students to ask for guidance; there are plenty of potential mentors out there, but one needs to ask for help first.

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J. Marshall Shepherd

(1969-Present)

Associate Professor, Department of Geography

University of Georgia

"If you do your job and excel and are competent, there will be a great number of opportunities for you. There are lots of opportunities out there, and few people to fill them." - J. Marshall Shepherd, 2006.

J. Marshall Shepherd owes his career as a respected meteorologist at least in part to a bee sting. As a sixth-grader in Canton, Georgia, he wanted to do his science project on bugs; but when he discovered that he was allergic to bees, he changed his mind. Instead he did his project on the weather, and he has been studying the science of weather ever since.

Shepherd's academic and career path since that point reflect that interest. He attended Florida State University as an undergraduate, receiving his degree in Meteorology in 1991. He continued at Florida State for his graduate education, receiving his M.S. in Physical Meteorology in 1993, and his Ph.D. in Physical Meteorology in 1999. He got his first weather-related job in the Earth-Sun Division of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center after earning his masters' degree, where he worked as a junior research scientist. In that capacity, he supported the work of senior researchers, helping analyze satellite air crafts and computer model data to better understand several weather patterns. He was eventually promoted to a senior civil service position as a research meteorologist at NASA, and later to Deputy Mission Scientist for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, all while working on his Ph.D. Shepherd was the first African American to receive his Ph.D. in Meteorology from Florida

State, one of the nation's oldest and most respected meteorology programs.

Shepherd's career at NASA was enormously successful, and he earned widespread acclaim as a young researcher there. His research using space-based instruments and models to investigate how cities affect climate and rainfall patterns earned him the Presidential Early Career Award in 2004. Shepherd notes receiving that honor, which recognizes the top young scientists and engineers in the country, as the highlight of his career thus far. He was also honored by Black Enterprise magazine as one of its 2005 Hot List members, recognized by The Network Journal as one of its "40 Under Forty", and published in numerous scientific journals. He has given presentations to audiences ranging from the Department of Defense to groups of schoolchildren, and has appeared on numerous television news programs, especially during hurricane season. Shepherd notes this last opportunity as being particularly rewarding, as it gives him a chance to communicate the importance of his work and his field to a broad audience.

Shepherd worked at NASA for over twelve years, and despite his success there, decided he needed to move on to a different position. "I wasn't unhappy at NASA—I was doing quite well there. I just wanted to change environments," he explains. He discovered that a faculty position was available at the University of Georgia; he applied for it, and in January 2006 joined the university as an Associate Professor of Geography. Though he is still a newcomer to the world of academia, Shepherd says he is looking forward to conducting research an in university environment, and impacting students through coursework and graduate advising. He also hopes to expand his reach as a potential mentor to students in his field, especially other students of color.

Shepherd himself had a number of mentors who inspired and shaped his career as a scientist and researcher. He names his earliest and most important mentor as his mother, an educator who raised him on her own. "She instilled in me the importance of education and hard work," Shepherd says. In a more professional capacity, Dr. Warren Washington at the National Center for Atmospheric Research served as "a model for how I wanted to pattern my career," Shepherd says. Washington, another African American scientist, has earned worldwide acclaim for his work in meteorology and climatology, and now heads the National Science Board. Historical figures also served as mentors to Shepherd—growing up, he greatly admired Dr. George Washington Carver for "the work he did in agricultural sciences with very limited resources at that time."

Shepherd has been involved with number of minority-mentoring and diversity-related activities throughout his career. During his years at NASA, the organization often brought young, largely minority students into its facilities, where Shepherd modeled how to work with computers and use scientific data. He feels that such mentoring programs targeting younger students are especially critical. "I found most people in our field get exposed in middle school," he explains. "It's important to expose them to this field as young as possible." He is also active in attending "career days" at local schools to speak with students about the field.

Shepherd laments what he calls a "severe pipeline issue of minorities going into this field." In addition to his mentoring activities, Shepherd is also involved in a number of diversity-related initiatives. He is a member and former chairman of the American Meteorological Society's Board on Women and Minorities, which sought to understand why women and minorities are so underrepresented in the field. He also served on several NASA committees focusing on similar diversity issues. Shepherd also worked with the advisory committee for Howard University's graduate program in atmospheric and earth science, the first of its kind at a historically black university. Such programs are "a key way to fulfill that pipeline issues," Shepherd notes.

Shepherd advises minorities interested in pursuing environmental careers, and especially careers in the atmospheric or earth sciences, to have confidence in themselves and their abilities. "You have to come into this field with confidence, and don't be uncomfortable with the fact that many of your colleagues might not look like you," he says. "If you do your job and are competent and excel, there will be a great number of opportunities for you. There are lots of opportunities, and few people to fill them."

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Takayuki Shibamoto

(1940-Present)

Professor of Environmental Toxicology

University of California, Davis

"Don't let bias or anything else stop you from pursuing your dreams." - Takayuki Shibamoto, 2006.

Takayuki Shibamoto was raised in rural Japan, the youngest of seven children born to a teacher and a homemaker. His interest in science developed early, and he majored in Chemistry as an undergraduate at Yokohama Municipal University. He then worked as the Director of Research and Development for a private company; however, interested in furthering his education, and made the move to the U.S. to get his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis. Shibamoto's interest in the environmental applications of chemistry was piqued when he worked as a research and teaching assistant in the Department of Toxicology. He is now a Professor in that very same department.

Shibamoto has devoted nearly all of his professional life to research and teaching at UC-Davis, where he has earned a reputation as a solid professor (he teaches two undergraduate courses and one graduate course every year) and as a prolific researcher, having examined such diverse subjects as the role of antioxidants in disease prevention, the chemical and biological mechanisms of natural plant components, and the fate of pesticides in the environment.

Shibamoto notes his research findings, some of which have been widely published in venues ranging from scientific journals to The New York Times, as career highlights and significant achievements. One of his projects involved examining the health effects of drinking coffee; Shibamoto hypothesized that since coffee is consumed by so many people "for fun", it must have some beneficial effects. His research proved that hypothesis correct. Shibamoto found that freshly-brewed coffee had healthful antioxidative properties, similar to those found in vitamins C and E. In a separate research effort that received national attention, Shibamoto found that compounds found within certain vegetables have the ability to break down potentially harmful pesticide residues. He says these accomplishments are particularly notable in light of the fact that he often had to struggle for ample laboratory space to perform his research.

Shibamoto says that as an international minority at an American university, he was helped immeasurably by the guidance and encouragement of three senior professors at UC-Davis. Shibamoto says that at the time he was launching his career, these three professors provided important support, both personally and professionally. "I couldn't have developed into what I am today without their help," he says. "But mostly, they were great examples for me of how minorities can advance in this field." Shibamoto now provides the same mentorship to his international graduate students (who he says have made up about 60% of his total graduate students). He helps them deal with issues stemming from language and other barriers, and guides them in the process of establishing their careers in the U.S.

Shibamoto feels he can best provide career advice to minorities from an international perspective, since he can draw on his own experience in doing so. He says that significant barriers still exist within the environmental field for both international students and professionals; he notes that "especially in a university setting," there tend to be some who "look down on" those who aren't native English speakers. He notes that these obstacles can be countered by forming support networks with other international students and faculty; however, he says the most important elements of success are perseverance and a love for the environmental field: "Don't let bias or anything else stop you from pursuing your dreams."

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Shui-Yan Tang

(1960-Present)

Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development

University of Southern California

"My own background helps me to be sympathetic to international students...I can be sympathetic to their way of thinking." - Shui-Yan Tang, 2005.

Yan Tang was born on March 29, 1960; he and his five siblings were raised by their father, Pui-Yin Tang, and mother, Oei-Yu Luk, in a working-class family. Tang's parents stressed education to their children, believing it was the key to a better life. Tang was a good student, but he knew it would take more than that to get into college. He had to be excellent. "Getting into college in Hong Kong was difficult," he says. "One out of twenty students had a chance to go to college." Fortunately, higher education was free at the time. Tang studied diligently and was eventually accepted into the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with the goal of becoming an academic. That goal, along with his intellectual curiosity and determination, would eventually lead Tang to pursue a career in the environmental field.

Tang graduated with a bachelor's degree in Government and Public Administration in 1982, and earned his Masters of Philosophy in Government and Public Administration in 1984. Knowing he wanted to teach in an academic setting, he applied to doctoral programs at universities in western countries. "It was common practice to go to either England or America to get a PhD," Tang explains. "I was following the path that needed to be followed." He decided on Indiana University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Public Policy in 1989.

It was during his time as a doctoral student that Tang became interested in the environmental field. Working as a research assistant to Professor Elinor Ostrom, Tang helped put together a major research project examining the use of common-pool resources, such as irrigation systems, waters systems, fisheries, and ground water. Ostrom postulated that it is difficult to exclude users from such resources, leading to overuse and scarcity; thus, the research focused on institutional solutions to managing local common pool resources. Tang specifically examined case studies of people in different countries who developed varieties of governing arrangements for their local resources developed varieties of governing arrangements for their local resources. Based on this research and work from his dissertation, Tang was able to write a book titled Institutions and Collective Action: Self-Governance in Irrigation, which was published in 1992. He continued to work on environmentally-related projects for the next ten years.

One of these projects examined the environmental movement in Taiwan. Tang studied how the environmental movement influenced that government's democratization process, and vice versa. He also authored several articles about Taiwanese communities trying to negotiate autonomous management of their natural resources. Tang's work concluded that in order for such communities to succeed, they had to resolve collective action problems amongst themselves, and negotiate with the larger society to gain recognition of their autonomy and the right to manage their own resources. He continues to study these issues with a colleague, Professor Ching-Ping Tang, currently at the National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan.

Tang finished his Ph.D. at the age of twenty-nine, and immediately sought a position with the University of Southern California. He taught and conducted research, first as an assistant professor, later becoming an associate professor with tenure with tenure in 1995. He was promoted to full professor in 2002. "When I started, most of my students were younger than myself...I was able to move up academic ladder quickly," Tang says. He is currently a faculty member in The School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) at USC. Tang also directs the school's Master of Public Administration (MPA) program. He says that although some of his courses are not environmentally-focused, much of his research and some of his course material examine environmental issues.

Tang notes that as a student and aspiring academic, he had mentors offering guidance and support. Two of those mentors were Vincent and Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, both of whom Tang says had the most influence on his thinking about environmental issues. He cites them as sources of intellectual inspiration, particularly Elinor Ostrom's research on how to encourage collective solutions to managing local natural resources. "The key is self-governance," Tang explains. "Not just relying on government regulations - but getting local people to actually govern their own local natural resources. They need to develop solutions at the local level for communities to manage local common-pool resources."

Tang, in turn, has been a mentor to many young people during his career. Many of his students in the MPA program at the at the University of Southern California have been people of color; in fact, most of his doctoral students are international students from Asian countries. Tang says that he has a supportive mentoring relationship with them. As one of the few minority faculty members in his department, he has served as a role model for many of his students, especially those students from other countries and cultures. As Tang observes, "My own background helps me to be sympathetic to international minority students at this university. I can be sympathetic to their way of thinking."

Tang's career as an academic has offered both rewards and challenges. Tang says that getting tenure, and being promoted to full professor status in a relatively short period of time, has been a key achievement. His academic publication record is strong--he has written some thirty articles on environmental issues alone in the past ten years. On the other hand, he remembers a time before he completed his doctorate when he was not sure he would be able to find a job. He was uncertain about where he would go, and says it was the most difficult part of his career. He also remembers graduate school as a challenging, and often lonely, experience. "I had to learn a lot of new things and do it by myself," Tang says. "But I was able to make good use of it and later do well as a faculty member."

Despite those challenges, Tang says his decision to stay in the environmental field was not a difficult one. He believes he has been able to combine the teaching and research duties of a professor fairly well. He enjoys working with doctoral students and helping them advance their careers; he has even assisted with publishing papers before they finished their degrees. Tang says seeing them do good research, and produce quality work, is very satisfying.

Tang also notes that being a faculty member has its perks. It is a flexible job, allowing him to schedule his own hours to teach, do research, read, and write. He applauds his colleagues for being supportive, and enjoys the diverse USC campus. And finally, he enjoys the recognition and acceptance his career achievements have earned him. In his own words: "People tend to respect academics."

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Paul Turner

(1966-Present)

Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Yale University

"Seek the counsel of those who have been before you-those with similar experiences of overcoming obstacles at major institutions-because they are there to help you. All people can be excellent mentors, regardless of ethnic background, but we [minorities] have experience that other potential mentors without that experience may not provide. I am delighted to lend advice if [you] feel comfortable as a minority student coming to me." - Paul Turner, 2005.

Paul Turner was born the second of three children to Rev. Eugene and Sylvia Turner in Philadelphia and grew up in Syracuse, New York. He received his B.A. in Biological Science from the University of Rochester in 1988 and his Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology and Evolution from Michigan State in 1995. Turner is currently an assistant professor at Yale University in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Turner credits his mentors with helping him to become a professor at one of the country's most prestigious universities. He began his college career intent on becoming an engineer but became increasingly disinterested in his engineering courses. Meanwhile, his studies in biological science were making a lasting impression. It was through a University of Rochester program that links students to faculty mentors that Turner was encouraged by Drs. John Jaenike and Andrew Dobson to pursue graduate study in the biological sciences. These mentors not only opened his eyes to the possibility of graduate study, but also took the time to explain what the graduate school experience might entail. Turner, while excited at the prospect, was still not convinced.

After completing his undergraduate studies, Turner decided to take some time to ponder his next steps in life while gaining more experience in environmental research. He submitted applications for internship positions and received a four-month position with the National Audubon Society at a wildlife sanctuary in Monson, Maine. During his work in Maine, Turner recalled the memories of his childhood in Syracuse where his family lived on the outskirts of town near forests, lakes and other natural areas. His father is a retired Presbyterian minister who served as the Executive of the Synod of the Northeast, while his mother is a retired public school teacher from the Syracuse school district. Turner spent his childhood observing animals in their natural environment, and his work in the wildlife sanctuary reinvigorated this wonder and excitement. Thus, he decided to pursue a career in the biological sciences. He applied to Ph.D. programs and began is doctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine in 1989. He later transferred to MichiganState University (MSU) in 1991.

Dr. Richard Lenski of MSU became Turner's next mentor. Turner cites Lenski as his role model for high-quality research and for the ability to translate his studies to the general public in both written and oral form with enthusiasm and clarity. Turner found protégés of his own in the undergraduates who came into the lab to conduct research beginning in graduate school and continuing through his postdoctoral positions. Like Turner, many of these students were African-American. The Science, Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) program at Yale allows Turner to continue mentoring under-represented students through an intensive eight-week summer program which allows students to conduct research on campus. He also advises two minority students who are working toward doctorates under his tutelage. For all of his mentees, Turner tries to model the character traits he respected in Lenski - the ability to remain focused, the commitment to quality research, and enthusiasm for work and communication. In return, he says, "It's great to see them come in, work with them, and see their growth."

Turner took what he called the "traditional steps" in his career after he left Maine - graduate school, post-doctorates followed by an assistant professorship. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses at Yale, but a great deal of his time is spent on research and overseeing data collection. Yet, Turner sees his life achievements as anything but ordinary. "Landing a job at a highly ranked Ivy institution," he says, "I just-I just didn't, when I was an undergrad, even consider that graduate school would be a good idea, and even taking the [Audubon] internship, which paid almost nothing, to decide whether a career in biological science would be good-I just never thought I would be a professor at one of the world's leading educational institutions, not to mention that people of color are underrepresented in the research sciences."

But Turner is not one to only look to the academic establishment for accolades. When he became the face on the cover of the 2003 annual Top Ten Emerging Scholars of Color in "Black Issues in Higher Education," Turner felt he had really accomplished something. "I am proud to be recognized not only by my scientific peers, but that people of my own ethnic background recognize me." Turner has been involved in a number of diversity-related programs, including a postdoctoral program of the National Science Foundation which brings together recipients of the awards with younger scientists who receive those awards in following years, consequently diversifying and strengthening related support structures in scientific fields.

Paul Turner's advice to minorities considering a career in the environmental field is as follows: "There may be apparent obstacles, but if you have a genuine appreciation for the environmental sciences, don't give up, because you can overcome them." Paul sees himself and his colleagues who come from under-represented groups as a support structure that has the potential to both foster students' passion for learning as well as navigate their way through academia. "Seek the counsel of those who have been before you-those with similar experiences of overcoming obstacles at major institutions-because they are there to help you. All people can be excellent mentors, regardless of ethnic background, but we [minorities] have experience that other potential mentors without that experience may not provide. I am delighted to lend advice if [you] feel comfortable as a minority student coming to me."

Even though Turner struggles with the amount of time and energy he must set aside to seek funding for his research - especially in the current economic climate - he remains committed to his work because of his genuine love for research, for teaching, and for interacting with young scientists who have an appreciation for the ways biological processes work. Turner realizes that he could have taken a job in biotechnology that would have paid a handsome salary and eliminated his frustrations with the "grant treadmill," but his love for "testing the [scientific] theories, and teaching young people in the sciences and getting them excited" sustains him in his academic career. Paul Turner's life is a testament to the valuable role mentors can play in shaping not only one person's life, but the lives of the myriads of others who follow in their footsteps.

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Tadmiri Venkatesh

(1952-Present)

Associate Professor, Department of Biology

City College, City University of New York

"Though at times it may appear rough, there are opportunities and you can succeed." - Tadmiri Venkatesh, 2006.

Tadmiri Venkatesh was raised in the southern Indian cities of Bangalore and Mysore. Venkatesh says his childhood environment helped shape his career path in two respects. First, he says, the clean, beautiful areas around where he grew up stimulated his interest in the natural environment; second, a family emphasis on learning encouraged both intellectual curiosity and academic excellence.

However, it was ultimately Venkatesh's undergraduate professors at the University of Mysore who inspired him to pursue biology; he graduated in 1970 with degrees in both Biology and Chemistry. He then continued his studies at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, from which he graduated with an MSE and a Ph.D. in 1978.

Venkatesh did post-doctoral research in three locations: the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Bombay, India; the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York; and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Venkatesh then took a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon, where he taught chemistry, neuroscience and molecular biology. Presently, Venkatesh teaches molecular biology and genetics at City College, where his research focuses on understanding the molecular genetics of nervous system development.

Throughout his career, Venkatesh says he has benefited tremendously from the guidance and expertise of his mentor, Dr. Seymour Benzer of the California Institute of Technology. "Benzer is a pioneer and the father of Neurogenetics-one of the foremost scientists in Biology today, and he is an amazing mentor," says Venkatesh. "He taught me how to ask questions and to enjoy biology, how to do research...to appreciate the complexities of biological systems and the thrill of experimentation in research." Venkatesh cites the opportunity to work with Benzer at Cal Tech as one of his career highlights thus far. Venkatesh also notes building his own research group at the University of Oregon, and continuing it at CCNY, as another career accomplishment.

But ultimately, Venkatesh says he gains the most satisfaction from giving back to his students what Dr. Benzer gave to him. He cites the opportunity to mentor young minority students as perhaps the single biggest highlight of his career. At CCNY, Venkatesh has a unique ability to reach out to a large, diverse student body, and finds it especially rewarding to mentor both undergraduate and graduate students. "The majority of the minority students that I mentor haven't had any background in research, or role models in their families in terms of obtaining higher degrees," Venkatesh says. "Yet they are very bright, and it is a joy to work with them." Venkatesh does not have any low points in his own career, but he says watching bright students struggle can be a painful experience. "When I see that some students cannot cope or continue their studies because of personal, financial or socio-economic reasons and I can't do anything to help them—that is a low point for me," he says.

Venkatesh says the excitement of doing research, and discovering or re-discovering elements of the natural world, are what keep him in the biological sciences. His research centers on understanding the nervous system, and its implications for understanding human neurological diseases. Venkatesh notes as career achievements his discovery of genes that play an important role in nervous system development, as well his ability to impact the lives of his minority mentees.

For those minorities considering a career in the environmental field, Venkatesh has this advice: "There is no substitute for perseverance and hard work. Though at times it may appear rough, there are opportunities out there and you can succeed. Minority students should pursue whatever biological field they find interesting and exciting."

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Guangdi Wang

(1963-Present)

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Xavier University, New Orleans

"Keep in mind that what you choose to do can make a difference in the world. It makes what you do more meaningful." - Guangdi Wang, 2006.

Guangdi Wang is the eldest of two children born to parents Wenzhang and Yunqin Wang, both lifelong elementary and high school teachers. While his parents taught in various villages throughout rural China, Wang and his younger brother lived with their grandparents. Wang has only peaceful memories of his childhood, and believes that his parents' careers may have influenced his own decision to become an educator. He notes that his brother is now also a professor in the U.S.

Wang first became interested in a career in the biological sciences as an undergraduate student at the East China Petroleum Institute. After receiving his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in1983, Wang worked as a chemical engineer in a gas processing plant in China. The position did not hold his interest for long-the mechanics of his job were directly influenced by chemistry, but Wang was more interested in why things worked the way they did. Wang decided he wanted to study Chemistry more in depth, and in 1992 enrolled in a doctorate program at the University of New Orleans.

Wang received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1995, and immediately began teaching at Xavier University. He began as an Assistant Professor; by 2001 he was promoted to Associate Professor and tenured at the same time. Wang currently divides his time between teaching courses in Analytical Chemistry, Quantitative and Instrumental Analysis, and General Chemistry, his research, and applying for external funding. Wang's research interests are fairly diverse. Since 1996, Wang and his students have been conducting environmental monitoring of contaminants in urban environments-an especially relevant study as New Orleans struggles to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In addition to environmental pursuits, Wang studies the metabolism of the active ingredients in marijuana, and does proteomics analysis of breast cancer cells that have developed drug resistance.

Over the years, Wang has benefited from the advice of his mentor and PhD advisor, Dr. Richard Cole. Wang and Cole had a very interactive relationship from the beginning, a fact Wang attributes to Cole being only a couple of years older than him. "We were able to talk more on an equal basis—not as much like a teacher and student," Wang remembers. "Cole had a lot of influence on me. He taught me how to pursue my goals persistently and effectively, and to not be discouraged by any hurdles or disadvantages that I might face along the way. Cole was a very good example, and I was inspired by watching his career grow as well."

Because Wang teaches at Xavier, a historically black university, he has ample opportunities to mentor other minorities in the field. There are currently about twenty undergraduates who work in his lab as research assistants, and many of his former students have moved on to graduate schools and research careers in chemistry. Most of Wang's current students help him to analyze and monitor levels of contaminants such as heavy metals and PCB's in New Orleans; several of those have had the opportunity to present at conferences or during department seminars. "I hope that I have positively influenced my students to pursue careers related to chemistry or the environment," Wang says.

The lowest point of Wang's career occurred right before he got a break in finding research funds. "It was hard to get going at first," he remembers. "I got rejection letters, and could get very little research done at that time. It was disheartening. But I consider that period to be the ‘dark before the dawn.'" After a few years of trying to get financial support from various funding agencies, Wang finally broke through and can now hire post-docs, making it easier for him to mentor and teach at the same time. Since then, he has maintained a regular level of funding to continue his research.

Wang considers his most significant achievement to be the role he plays as a teacher and scientist at a minority institute, because he has had the opportunity to positively influence many students. "I like to think I give them a good start," Wang says. "I've had many students come back and tell me that what they did here at Xavier was a good starting point, and that I helped them to stay in the field."

Wang has remained in the biological sciences field because he believes the relationship between chemistry and our daily lives to be important in so many different respects. "It's really behind every medicine, every important achievement in society...[all of this] cannot be done without chemistry," Wang explains. "It makes you feel that it is a good area to be in-you really feel like you are a part of something if you do well. Even if you concentrate in one narrow area, that contribution can easily relate to things that are more tangible." The fact that chemistry is meaningful to everyday life, and is not the esoteric research area that some believe it to be, makes the work that much more interesting for Wang.

Wang says more minorities need to pursue careers in the environmental and biological sciences because there is a lot to be done. "Find something that you can keep doing-you must like the subject and find it interesting," Wang advises. "Keep in mind that what you choose to do can make a difference in the world, and with that in mind, it makes what you do more meaningful. Expect that, in a research field, between one paper and the next, there may be a long period of silence. The work may seem tedious at times, but when you see the results and receive the acknowledgement, all that work will pay off." Wang also urges students to have "peace of mind" about why they are pursuing a particular course, or it might be hard to have the motivation or incentive to follow through. "If you are persistent," he says, "you can make a contribution and be rewarded for it."

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Zhi-Yong "John" Yin

(1958 -Present)

Associate Professor

Department of Marine Science and Environmental Studies,
University of San Diego

"There are lots of opportunities for minority students and if their backgrounds are good (in either science or policy) then they should have a good chance to succeed." - Zhi-Yong Yin, 2005.

Zhi-Yong Yin was born in 1958 as the first of two children. His father was a surgeon and his mother a physician at the time. Yin grew up in Beijing during China's cultural revolution. The social turmoil of that period made his upbringing "chaotic", and its impact on life has been profound. He was often unable to attend school during his first two years of elementary school, and as a result spent a great deal of time reading with his grandmother. She encouraged his interest in the natural sciences, and together they read many books on popular scientific subjects, as well as traditional Chinese literature. Yin remembers these experiences with his grandmother as being personally and educationally informative, and says they played an important role in shaping his career path.

Yin began his academic career at Peking University, graduating with a B.S. in Physical Geography in 1982, and an M.S. in Physical Geography in 1984. He then left China to pursue a doctorate at the University of Georgia, earning a Ph.D. in Geography in 1990. Shortly thereafter, he was hired by Georgia State University as an assistant professor of Geography. He was promoted to associate professor in 1996 and remained there until 2003, while also serving as the acting chair of the Department of Anthropology and Geography from 1999-2002. Since 2003, Yin has been an associate professor at the University of San Diego's Department of Marine Science and Environmental Studies, where he teaches courses in hydrology, remote sensing/GIS, and physical geography.

Mentors have played a crucial role in Yin's intellectual development. As an undergraduate student in China, Yin remembers one professor who pushed him to look beyond strictly scientific issues, and examine the social implications of environmental problems, such as the effect of economic development and urbanization on land use and global climate change. This mentor also encouraged him to pursue his Ph.D. in the U.S. Yin also recalls a professor at the University of Georgia who supported him during the difficult transition into American university life. This professor was himself from another country, and was able to lend Yin understanding and support as a foreign student. Since then, Yin has taken it upon himself to help guide young international students. One notable example: while at Georgia State, he mentored a promising young African student, who for her research project on environmental justice used GIS technology to examine demographic and social characteristics surrounding hazardous waste sites in

Atlanta. Yin applies part of her work to a course he is currently teaching for the master's program in Peace and Justice, where many of the students are from African countries: drawing inspiration from his former mentee, he uses the course to show applications of GIS technology to conflict resolution and environmental management all over the world.

In an academic career filled with notable accomplishments, Yin says two stand out as highlights. The first came when he was interviewed for a newspaper article regarding the potential impact of drought on the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta; the resulting article highlighted Yin's expertise, and affirmed his status as an expert in the field. The second is his current research project, a NASA-sponsored study that looks at precipitation patterns across the Tibetan Plateau. Though not yet complete, Yin already notes it as very promising. Yin has spent the past several years doing field work in Tibet, and the project has become personally as well as professionally important to him. As for career low points or obstacles, Yin says he cannot cite any specific ones, though he notes that "When you're an untenured faculty, it's a worry."

Yin remains committed to participating in diversity efforts. As chair of the college curriculum committee at Georgia State University, Yin helped create the social science core curriculum, which included an institutional emphasis on diversity issues. More recently, he has witnessed USD's implementation of a requirement that students' take at least one course covering the topic of diversity in the United States. He is also pushing his students to get involved in the community service learning program, which, if successful, he plans on incorporating into one of his classes. Yin believes all of his diversity-related activities are essential to creating good students-and good human beings. "I believe it is necessary for our students to know the existing social issues and problems in the society, to prepare them as good citizens," he says. "So it is really good that the university is making these classes part of the core curriculum."

USD also has a Trans-Border Institute promoting border-related scholarship and activities, and a number of Yin's students are working on institute-supported projects examining environmental, social and demographic issues along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We had students looking at the flow of people across the border through both legal and illegal channels. They [the students] are also looking at the socio-economic conditions of the Hispanic Diaspora in the United States," Yin says

Noting how important diversity is to the environmental field, Yin offers the following advice to students of color who are interested in careers in the environmental field: "There are lots of opportunities for minority students, and if their backgrounds are good (in either science or policy) then they should have a good chance to succeed."

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Latonia Payne | E-mail: paynel@umich.edu | Phone: (734) 615-2602 | Fax: (734) 936-2195

University of Michigan | School of Natural Resources and Environment
Dana Building • 430 East University • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115
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