Maria Elena Zavala - Plant Cell Biologist and Mentor

Dr. Zavala grew up in Laverne, California. She was surrounded by a very close-knit family with Mexican American and Native American influences. Her great-grandmother was a healer and knew about plants. Her older sister liked biology in high school and talked about what she was learning. Dr. Zavala tells the story of when she dismantled her father's roses because she wanted to know how they were structured. Her culture and her family helped her find her love of biology and plants.  

Dr. Zavala received her undergraduate degree from Pomona College, a private college in Los Angeles. She wanted to attend graduate school, in part because "everyone else was", and applied for a prestigious Ford Foundation grant. She was awarded the grant and went on to receive her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Since 1988, Dr. Zavala has been a professor of biology at California State University-Northridge.

Dr. Zavala does basic research and teaches classes in biology. She studies how plants respond to changes in the environment. Her work shows that plant roots (and stems) do not grow in response to a light source, but are "responding opposite the force of gravity." Cells in the root tissue sense the gravitational pull and send a signal that causes the growth to be downward. Dr. Zavala studies how plants sense things in the environment.

Dr. Zavala works with undergraduate students, helping them understand how a scientist thinks and researches. She shows them how scientists make applications for grants and how they present papers. She encourages them to go on to graduate learning. She began the program MARC, Minority Access to Research Careers, and  MBRS, Minority Biomedical Research Support. She is also President of SACNAS, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences.

Dr. Zavala has received wide recognition for her work with minority students. She received the National Science Foundation's 2000 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. In 2001, she received the Wang Family Excellence Award from the California State University for her mentoring efforts.

She tells students:

I've learned it's okay to be different, to pursue your interests. It's a good habit to read, think and talk about what you've read with other people. Sharing your ideas is really important in the long run. If you really want something you can have it. You are only limited by what you can imagine.

Visit http://hyper1.hunter.cuny.edu/JGH/biographies/Default.htm to see a video of Dr. Zavala.

Sources

http://www.sacnas.org/bio/zavalhig.html

http://www.csun.edu/~bd46942/zavala.htm

http://www.grad.umn.edu/oeo/symposium/bio2.html

http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/hrd/Paesmem/zavala00.html

http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/scienceline/archives/may99/may99.shtm

http://www.nih.gov/news/NIH-Record/01_09_2001/awardees.htm

http://www.csun.edu/~hfoao102/@csun.edu/csun00-01/csun0416_01/zavala.html

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