ARCS Oregon first-year scholar Jordan Rodriguez was honored recently with a student presentation award at the 2022 National Diversity in STEM Conference put on by SACNAS – Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in STEM.  A PhD candidate in the Department of Biology at the University of Oregon, Rodriquez traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the conference, attended by thousands of undergraduate and graduate students.  She was awarded the best poster in the Life Sciences/Ecology/Evolutionary Biology Division, for presenting research she had done on successful whole genome sequencing of century old fish specimens.  

Rodriguez describes SACNAS as “an all-inclusive national organization with over 100 chapters around the US, all working to provide resources like networking opportunities, research opportunities, community connections, and more to underrepresented groups in STEM.”  She got involved with SACNAS in 2021 at her undergraduate university, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.  

 “The chapter had gone dormant, and I was appointed as president to get the chapter up and running again. Through this leadership position, I was able to negotiate funding from our college dean, to support a handful of our chapter members in their travel expenses to the conference this year,” Rodriguez explained.  “My involvement in the conference this year was sort of my last hoorah with my undergrad university research.” 

Rodriguez arrived in Eugene from Texas with few connections, but she reports “I am loving UO! I was able to present my poster at a symposium put on by some biology graduate students a few weeks ago, where I received meaningful feedback that I incorporated into the final presentation that I took to Puerto Rico. I really feel that the support offered by UO was the key to my success at the SACNAS conference,” she says.  

“I've made good friends in and outside the program, and I've kept myself busy with community events like the Saturday market, local concerts, and races like the "run to stay warm" race that is coming up.”  

Her ARCS scholar award is from the Fairway Fund/ UO Endowment.