Making Life Better

After I got my master's degree in Arizona, I was looking for a place to go, and when I interviewed here, I just loved the department. Everyone is very friendly, very open.

I had an amazing biology teacher in Guatemala. He introduced me to plant genetics and DNA, and I was fascinated. I knew I wanted to study that and I had to study plants. I didn't want to do anything with animals. If I had to draw blood from a mouse, I would cry. So I got my undergraduate degree in biochemistry because the Universidad del Valle didn't have molecular biology. But that degree is so broad, I knew I needed to narrow that down so I could get a job. We didn't have much support in determining where to continue our studies. We just had to search the Internet for schools, so I ended up applying to two schools in the United States: the universities of Arizona and Michigan. I got accepted at both, but having lived in a tropical climate, I figured I wouldn't survive in Michigan, so I went to Arizona. That worked out well for me in two ways: I got my master's degree in plant sciences, and I met my husband (Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, now a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech). He was a graduate student there in a totally different field (electrical engineering) that I know nothing about.

Yes, definitely. I love my advisor, Mike Deom. He's just amazing, and he takes good care of me. I'm totally spoiled. I'm studying a plant virus protein and how it interacts with plants and causes increased cell division, similar to what cancer does in animals. The cool thing is that plants don't get cancer the way animals do, and this study addresses that question, "Why don't plants get cancer?"

I've had so many classes, it's hard to pick a single favorite. But I think I would say it was electron microscopy. That was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun, too.

It's not a class, but I'd have to say it is Mike Deom, because of everything I've learned from him.

I've learned a lot of things in my field, but the most interesting and appealing thing to me has been the camaraderie. The openness and friendliness in this department is so very good. Everyone shares equipment with anyone who needs something. You can knock on anyone's door and find the help and support you're looking for.

None. Absolutely none. I grew up in the city. Even in my undergraduate studies, the only class I had that gave me any exposure to agriculture was a plant breeding class in which we had to go out to the field to do some of the work. But part of my thinking as I began to move into an agricultural science is that agriculture is very important in my country. I figure that working toward improving crops is the best way I can help people in Guatemala.

For the immediate future, I'm just planning to graduate. I hope to finish my degree program here at least by May 2009. Then I'd like to get a good postdoctoral position somewhere. And I'd like to stay in academia. I think it would be great to be able to continue in research but be able to teach and to interact with students, too.

Work in the lab, mostly. But my husband and I try to go hiking as much as we can. We love to go up to the Smoky Mountains. But we enjoy going places close by, too, such as Watson Mill Bridge.