UC LEADS Alumni Showcase
The UC LEADS program continues to be a successful pre-PhD undergraduate research program fostering advancement to graduate school for UC students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. This new online feature, UC LEADS Alumni Showcase , highlights UC LEADS alumni who have advanced to graduate study and are making a difference through leadership.
Elisa Maldonado, Marine Biologist and Student Mentor
UC LEADS Scholar, BS in Marine Biology in 2002, UCLA
Ph.D. Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Elisa Maldonado at Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Birch Aquarium where she presented her research on sea urchin larvae.
What are you studying in graduate school?
I work in Dr. Michael Latz's lab at Scripps, researching the effects of fluid turbulence on growth and bioluminescence of dinoflagellates. My principal interest is the effects of environmental factors on marine invertebrate larvae. Specifically, I study sea urchin larvae and how fluid turbulence and food availability affect them.
I met Dr. Latz through my UC LEADS mentor at UCLA, Dr. Richard Zimmer. They had gone to graduate school together. In Dr. Zimmer's lab, I assisted one of his graduate students with research and fieldwork on trematode parasites. I also conducted an independent project on the emergence of trematode parasites from the marine snail Cerithidea californica . I remain in close contact with Dr. Zimmer; in fact, he is a member of my dissertation committee.
Are you involved in campus- or community-based activities?
UC LEADS made me aware of the importance of research programs that give undergraduates research experience and help them become competitive for graduate school. Now that I'm a Ph.D. student, I see that I can be a role model to other students. I became involved in helping to recruit underrepresented students to the Scripps Institute. I attend the annual meetings of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), which has a multi-cultural program. I've also mentored students at the Southern California Forum for Diversity, where I've participated in symposia on the need for diversity in the marine sciences. And I've continued to mentor many of the students I met.
In the community, I am a principal member of UCSD's Raza Graduate Student Association de UCSD (RGSA). We host events for Latino/a and Chicano/a graduate students, bringing them together to meet other students who are having similar experiences.
Why is it important to you to mentor undergraduates?
I had an AGEP Fellowship for my first year of graduate school that required recipients to attend workshops and diversity activities on campus. I met administrators from UCLA's Office of Graduate Studies & Research, and they pointed me toward opportunities to mentor undergraduate students – and inspired me to do so.
I'm passionate about higher education. I want underrepresented students to have the tools to get into graduate school, and to navigate through their studies successfully. I believe that through education, families can rise out of poverty. But it's hard for many poor families to see the importance of college and the opportunities that education can open up for their children.
I'm inspired when one member of a family goes to college, and then other family members continue the trend and become successful. I see this happening in my own family – I was one of the first to go to college, and am the first to study for a Ph.D. Now my sisters and cousins are all in college, or are taking the steps necessary to go. It's a complete change in family culture, because my parents, aunts and uncles were taught that starting to work right after high school was the way to become successful.
Do you have any advice for UC LEADS Scholars as they complete the program and prepare for graduate school?
Take full advantage of your UC LEADS opportunity. Programs like it are crucial to the success of budding scientists! You gain valuable research experience, and insight into what graduate school will be like. But this is only true if you embrace your project – learn as much as you can, and work as hard as possible on it.
And it's very important to get to know your advisor, because he or she can tell you about the best research programs, and about future advisors. Show your professors that you'll be a good candidate for graduate school, because they will be writing your recommendations!
As a UC LEADS scholar I was taught how to prepare posters and present research, which are invaluable, important skills in the sciences. When I arrived in graduate school I had already learned so much about preparing posters that I could give oral research presentations earlier than most students. Every year since, I've presented work at the ASLO conference. My first year, I even won a student poster award!
What's the best lesson you've learned from graduate school?
To become a successful scientist, you must be independent, hard working, resourceful, and creative to develop a successful research program. But if you're doing something you are passionate about, it won't feel like work, and these things will come naturally!
