Thirteen years ago, a lone student from California State University, Dominguez Hills attended the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science's (SACNAS) National Conference at the urging of biology professor, Laura Robles, now acting vice president of Research and Funded Projects and emeritus professor of biology. This year, 24 research students from the university participated. With more than 275 exhibits, nationally renowned keynote speakers, myriad research presentation opportunities, and conference programming “specifically tailored to support undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and career professionals at each transition stage of ... Read More
Biology
Fieldwork Enriches Education For Biology Major Erica Parra
Whether contending with torrential rains, viscous mud or venomous snakes, all under the din of screeching monkeys and the clatter of exotically feathered fliers, things in a densely vegetated rainforest can seem larger than life. But it was a wee creature that captured Erica Parra's imagination. “Once you really stop and observe them you realize they are not just ants but they are individuals who are working together to make their colonies function efficiently. And not only that, but they each have their own personality and mission, which in turn helps the environment that surrounds them,” Parra asserted. The California State University, Dominguez Hills senior, who is majoring in biology ... Read More
$249K National Science Foundation Grant to Send Students to Australia to Study Climate Change
California State University, Dominguez Hills associate professor of biology Terry McGlynn has been awarded a three-year $249,922 National Science Foundation (NSF) International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant to establish the Fire, Carbon, and Climate Change in Australia program. The IRES grant will fully fund the opportunity for 12 undergraduate and graduate science majors at CSU Dominguez Hills to conduct climate change science research in collaboration with the CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre (TERC) in the Northern Territory of Australia. The first group of four students will leave in January 2014, with subsequent four-student cohorts going in 2015 and ... Read More
Nop Ratanasiripong: A Career Dedicated to Research, Teaching, and Caring
“One day I walked into the gynecology ward. There was a row of patients with cancer. I approached a lady, she was about to die. I helped her turn from one side to the other side. She looked at me and said, 'Thank you.' She was crying. Just turning a patient, it makes a difference. That moment I realized, I need to be a nurse.” That was the life-changing moment for Nop Ratanasiripong, a registered nurse and assistant professor for the School of Nursing at California State University, Dominguez Hills. On a full four-year scholarship and graduating with honors–in fact, ranking the highest among her peers within the major–Ratanasiripong earned a bachelor's in nursing from Boromarajonani ... Read More
Steven Moreau: The Road to a Career in Healthcare Leadership
A bit of sage advice went a long way for California State University, Dominguez Hills alumnus Steven Moreau (Class of '80, M.S., clinical science: medical technology) when it came to navigating a career that has evolved from being a microbiologist in a clinical laboratory to the president and chief executive officer at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. It was something his late father would often tell him: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it. And it doesn't matter which path you take because what you do is you make the most of whatever path you choose.” This has been a guiding principle throughout Moreau's life. Even as an undergraduate student without much direction, Moreau ... Read More
