Prestigious $949K Grant for HSU Professor to Open Doors for Underrepresented STEM Students
HSU Biology Professor Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler [Photo from HSU]
Microbes are all around us—in the air, our water, the earth, even our gut (think “good” bacteria)—and grow within all living things.
What happens when microbes originating from one host migrate to another? Why does this matter? Humboldt State University students will explore these questions thanks to a prestigious $949,000 National Science Foundation grant awarded to Biology Professor Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler.
Over the next five years, the grant will support Cuellar-Gempeler’s research on the effects of colonizing microbes on carnivorous plants.
Carnivorous plants depend on microbial communities of the insects they capture to get nutrients. The grant will fund Cuellar-Gempeler’s research into how these plants maintain their digestive function despite hosting different types of microbes. These findings may inform how to maintain ecosystem functions that are critical for life and advance our understanding of the microbiome—microbes that live inside and around us—and its role in human health and agriculture.
Beyond focusing on the small things in life, Cuellar-Gempeler is also determined to pave the way for a new and more diverse generation of scientists who specialize in ecology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics.
“A large portion of this grant will support applied research in a way that educates and mentors students at HSU, which is a Hispanic Serving Institution,” says Cuellar-Gempeler, who has taught at HSU since 2018. “I want to capitalize on the growing diversity of college students. I love the diversity of our campus—that’s why I came to HSU.”
Cuellar-Gempeler says that oftentimes Latino students don’t see themselves represented in the sciences, she says, and when they do, it’s a powerful and inspiring moment of recognition.
“I’m an immigrant from Colombia and I’ve had students tell me that I’m the first professor they’ve had who speaks Spanish. What that shows them is you can come from a different culture and be as much of a scientist as everyone else. It can be an emotional realization that helps students see a clearer path to achieving their dreams,” she recalls. “It’s great to have a common connection with students who are committed to their education.”
Cuellar-Gempeler’s microbe project will focus on practical experience. Hundreds of students, including 60 paid undergrad and graduate students, will explore key concepts of ecology through various practices such as growing microbes, isolating and measuring what they do, and learning how to sequence DNA.
“Students will have a broader ecological perspective and current skills to succeed in the job market,” she says.
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“The grant will fund Cuellar-Gempeler’s research into how these plants maintain their digestive function despite hosting different types of microbes.”
What the f does that have to do with “opening doors for underrepresented” blah blah blah? The answer is: absolutely nothing.
One could also read between the lines that she intends to spend this public grant money in a discriminatory manner, which is of course entirely illegal. It’s frankly appalling to see such a statement issued in a press release and published without question, or even apparently the attention of people reading it. That is why I point this out.
I am not a member of an “over-represented” group and in theory I would qualify for the benefits of such discriminatory behaviors. Despite that self-interest, I can’t help but notice that this is unbelievably inappropriate for a so-called public university. If this doesn’t bother you it’s because you lack the foresight to see where it leads – I can assure you all that you won’t enjoy it. Most of you readers are white people, that’s a given. You think that you are “good allies” and that the POC you help today will have your back tomorrow, and see you as some of the “Good whites.” You are a naive fool.
Discrimination in a public institution is something you professed for decades to be strongly against, but here it is presented right in your face and you think it’s just fine. In practice you are not only agreeing to but actively participating in the destruction of YOUR OWN CULTURE AND SOCIETY. And you will not be spared the future negative consequences because you were nice about it.
Don’t say no one warned you.
Note how she, a actual Latin person(with notably white skin ironically) uses the term Latino.
On this same site, we are bieng told by “white” liberals that the new woke term for Latin folks is LatinX, lol.
humans can’t even agree on the most basic subjects?
“Science” gave us genetic engineering, pesticides and nuclear technology, but we still have liberals touting “science” like it should precede values, lol.
A nation requires faith in leadership, so go get your vaccine then, if you have faith in the science that created the virus?
Diversity of skin color, or other circumstances of birth, should never be mistaken for diversity of thought.
Ignore the haters. Congratulations on this effort, I am excited to see these type of efforts at DEI at HSU gain some financial support!
What happens when the next generation ceases to have immigrated from somewhere else? Do they then fall into “not diverse” category? Gee whiz ! Imagine that!
Her students tell her she’s the first Spanish speaking professor they’ve know. Outside I suppose of the Spanish language department or the various progams to assist Hispanic students. But then again no immigrant group in the country is as demanding of everyone accommodating their own ancestral language as Latinos. Everyone else pretty much adapted to the most common language. In fact, American English is full of the contributions from other languages from Aztec chocolate through German kindergartens and French etiquette to Yiddish klutzes. English itself is the result of a series of adaptations from different places which only increased when it came to America.
DEI must mean Discrimination, Egotism and Intolerance. Because every can’t rationally demand everyone else treats them as special. If everyone is special the word has no meaning.
They had me at “HSU.” It’s a given that anything to do with this “Institution of Higher Indoctrination” will have a far left agenda. They have never been after truth whether in science or any other subject. It’s all about promoting the liberal scams as truth. I hope they enjoy spending this wasted money.
I have a very hard time believing that Hispanic people are under represented at HSU. Does the student body not roughly reflect the demographics of our region?
No, no it does not. Check out the enrollment dashboards on the IRAR department website.
i wonder how they plan on worming cultural marxism and critical theory into STEM courses? because you can bet your sweet bippy it’s part of the plan.
What the hell does this research grant have to do with serving the Latino community?! Scientific research should be blind to race and skin color and open to everybody regardless of race or skin color. This is some whacked-out form of racism going on here! I sure don’t want public funds that I am forced to pay into being used in such a bizarre way…
That is an old fashion out of date idea of equality. You know, the last generation’s battle of Equality was against segregation. That’s not a starter these days because government intervention to fight that did magically end bias, discrimination or racism. So in usual moving goal posts of theoretical politics, it has become necessary to quantify discrimination. If the majority has more than a minority, then that is evidence of discrimination; ie it’s not diverse enough. The only acceptable exception to this arithmetic of hate is with women- even though they are an actual majority, they still have less so must be considered disadvantaged. What a joke that in seeing only the trees of minorities, the forest of equailty is no longer noticed at all.
There certainly are a lot of pin-headed views of the value of diversity expressed in the Comments section.
There is still a noticeable shortfall of diversity of race and gender in sciences and engineering although some progress has been made in recent years. Part of the problem with diversity in S&E is the absence of role models and a sense that there are opportunities for people who come from backgrounds where they have historically been excluded from following certain career paths.
Diversity of background is important because it brings different ways of framing questions and working on solutions to the many challenges still in front of us. Ignoring that leads to scientists who all have a similar background and experience which can stultify research progress.
This grant is a good thing, despite what the naysayers and closet racists might suggest.
Whoops, meant to include this graphic in the comment above.
Diversity in our world of American Employment, means “give up your place, men…”
It’s not bad enough that women want all the jobs in Healthcare, Education, and Social Services, now we are expected to provide special treatment to persons of color, persons of diverse sexual preference, gender identification etc…
The way this should work, is the person who does the work, is prepared by his education, and who is goal-directed enough to succeed, should get the job.
Bending the normal processes for “special groups” is entertaining, but it hardly ever works.
Many persons attending college on “EOP” type programs back in the day, ended up dropping out. Even people born on Indian Reservations can end up in Medical School.
You may feel screwed, as a function of your gender, ethnicity, financial situation etc, but if you attend school, learn the language, follow the rules and work hard, you can succeed without special treatment! Often, those who work hardest, do the best, while those given the most, get nowhere.
This country recently handed out 8 Trillion Dollars, basically, for no reason. Did it really help you?
How many of us were raised:
“If you want something, work for it!”
Bull pucky. Although I agree “There certainly are a lot of pin-headed views of the value of diversity expressed in the Comments section”, it’s questionable whether a person who says that about others right off the bat would recognize which are which. Of such are the judgemental who have always delighted in keeping others in what they decide are acceptable lanes. Just that 50 years ago they would have supported what was in fashion then as they support what is fashionable now.
It’s one thing to avoid putting road blocks in a person’s way who wants to explore a field. It’s another thing to send a paid taxi to their home because they don’t know how to drive. Or even worse clear the other drivers off the road to make sure they don’t have problems driving. Or even worse than either of those things -teach them they can’t do without extra consideration. There is no way a person has to have known someone that looks or thinks like them to look or think in their own way. All they need is to be interested in looking and thinking. And keep perspective about both critics and sycophants both of whom can suck a person dry. And heaven knows academia is chock full of both of those.
I do enjoy the consistency of your response to my comments. You never fail to criticize them as judgmental when I point out previous comments as being judgmental. It’s a cool rhetorical trick that has been popular with conservative commentary over the last few years because it’s intended to make you appear balanced and above the fray when you are presenting your rebuttal.
For years (decades, centuries) people who weren’t white and male were told that professions weren’t suitable for them and were refused entry into the paths that led to them, particularly science and engineering. That’s despite ample evidence to the contrary by people who ended up in unique circumstances and were able to prove otherwise. They were still discouraged at every level from pursuing math and science and instead told to be laborers or pursue other vocational paths. That’s still evident today although it is changing in large part because of efforts like this one to open up the doors to everyone. My profession was 95% white male up until the 1980’s when it slowly started to open up. Even today it’s still 90% white and although women have made inroads in the recent decades, they are still under-represented in the profession.
Grants like this aren’t about subjugating or depriving white males of anything, they are about presenting new opportunities to encourage groups that have historically been discouraged from pursing science and math. If you can’t see that then perhaps your need to re-examine the conservative blinders your are wearing. The grant doesn’t keep anyone from pursuing science, it encourages a group of students who might not have thought biology was a path they could take into exploring it. That’s all.
Yeah, the million dollar grant lottery was won by someone who will frivolously use it to better the world of science how? As a disillusioned and unemployable HSU alumni, I wish I could say I am shocked by this professor. In fact I am both appalled and mesmerized she hit the grant lottery and is only focused on “helping” one minority at HSU. She seems to be pretty much on par with every other money hungry “caring” professor there.
If her goal was to actually help underrepresented segments of society in the science field, some or all of this grant could have been used to help all the low income students there AND tied some research into the development of eco friendly affordable housing for ALL college students. Research on the effects of living in moldy (and often filthy) housing on the human mind and body both short and long term could help people inside or outside of the Redwood Curtain. Or the school’s budding (no pun intended) scientists could help research and develop affordable mold resistant housing materials to retrofit older rundown slumlord owned rentals and withstand the areas constantly high humidity levels. Could part of this grant have been used to research the development of an eco friendly, low wattage, and cheap dehumidifier or an affordable biodegradable desiccant?
What lets all of us know the real driving force behind her chosen profession, employer, and grant grubbing is her statement, “ I want to capitalize on the growing diversity of college students. I love the diversity of our campus—that’s why I came to HSU.”She wants to “capitalize” on the “diversity” at my alma mater. Too bad most of the graduates and current students will not be able to “capitalize” on their time and money spent at this place.Unless they plan on working for HSU, the degrees earned there will probably be a detrimental factor when seeking employment.
I am damned sure she would not have been awarded nearly a million dollars in grant money had the grant not targeted one of the many minority groups attending school there. Why was this grant not written to include all the underrepresented groups in the scientific community? Why was nearly a million dollars given to such a narrow focus of microbes on carnivorous plants? That narrowly focused research is just not worth a million dollar grant, in my humble opinion.
“Students will have a broader ecological perspective and current skills to succeed in the job market,” she says. Yes! Employers are definitely ALWAYS looking for recent college graduates (especially from such a wonderful school as Humboldt State) who have researched in depth the effects of other organisms on carnivorous plants?(&$-)@#^£~# You have got to be kidding me. All I can guess is that the people making the million dollar grant lottery decisions are either picking their choices out of a hat or they are higher than I ever was doing my time at this joke of a college.
In all seriousness, I am embarrassed to tell friends, family, or potential employers I graduated from Humboldt State University. I took 21 units (full time is 12 units) there for my last 3 semesters of college and wisely did the rest of my time at a very affordable community college near Chico. I would not recommend Humboldt State to my worst enemy. Not only do the professors have it out for students who don’t fit the mold (again no pun intended), but the “normal” students bully and demean unique/oddball students daily. Being a free thinking absolute weirdo myself , I truly thought moving to Humboldt and attending HSU would be a wonderful experience and I would find friendly like minded people there. I experienced the exact opposite and felt more lonely than I ever did in my home state in the deep south.
On top of it, while attending HSU I lived almost next door to the nuclear power plant in a moldy, mouse infested overpriced rental. Having 2 dogs and 2 cats at the time (they were basically my kids) forced me into that dump of an overpriced rental. Had it not been for my neighbors and fur kids, the negativity of my crappy housing situation combined with the daily torture of attending HSU would probably have driven me to suicide.
If you have friends or family contemplating going to Humboldt State, please advise them to go to college elsewhere. Remind them employers will look at where you went to school and, like it or not, most will judge you harshly and/or tell you to kick rocks if your alma mater is Humboldt State. I never earned more than $13 an hour with my bachelors from Humboldt and was turned down for head teacher for a preschool after being the assistant preschool teacher for several years. The school district instead chose someone who didn’t have any college degrees and had a criminal record over someone with an associate and bachelors degree (the latter being from HSU) and no criminal history or even a damned speeding ticket. Stay well and please do not let your loved ones waste their time, energy, or money at this college.
“I never earned more than $13 an hour with my bachelors from Humboldt…”
Pity.
I earned $53 an hour ($110,000 per year) + annual bonus starting in 2014 with my bachelors from Humboldt.
Well done.
Maybe that is due to others paving the way for you since apparently you needed a role model to show you how…
Bergin2014,
Good for you on your successful career. Just because you succeeded financially doesn’t mean you need to belittle me or be rude. Not everyone has whatever talents or gifts you possess. I may have a few gifts or talents (like empathy and these days that does seem to be a talent because so many folks are sorely lacking it) you never will. Life isn’t a pissing contest, you know?
Just out of curiosity, what did you choose to major in and what is your $53 an hour /$110,000 a year financially blessed career? I am sure you are making more by now since that was your starting wage in 2014. Not that it matters at all, but I didn’t get a degree in any field that would be a bloody miracle to find a job/career or that I would ever make even half of your starting salary. However, I did follow in my parents and grandparents tradition of public service and compassionate work.
Unfortunately, I have had several lifelong chronic illnesses that have limited socializing and networking and also limited the amount of hours I can work. If I overdo anything physically or mentally, I will quite literally pass out from severe pain. Most part time jobs do not come with high wages or health insurance and any work missed due to illness or injury requires a doctor’s note. As a preschool teacher’s assistant with no health insurance, I had some months where my entire check went to my doctor due to my illness related absences. Be thankful for what you have because career ending or altering health problems can happen to anyone.
I am so impressed by most of the comments, except for comments calling other commenters haters, racists, and pinheads.
We won’t become a color blind society by awarding scientific grants on the basis of race. Politicizing government research grants is absolutely ruining academic science.
Science will probably move on at the same pace whether politicians target funds based on race, ethnicity and sex or not. It will just cost society a whole lot more as it’s not based solely on the ideas and a lot will be side tracked on detours for for other goals.
Wondered why Hispanics are frequently referred to as Latins (since Latin was the language of ancient Rome). It turns out it was because Latin Americans were people who spoke a Romance (derived from Latin) language (for example: Spanish, Portuguese, French).
Reader, YES!
Thank you! Reads anti-white
Money dosent matter in the grand scheme, our sun is going to burn out and we will all be gone one day. Go for a walk, and don’t worry about other people, just focus on yourself. If someone wants to study something let them. If you think individuals don’t deserve the money, consider sending your stimulus check back to the government. Do something nice for a change, be a better person than you are. If your life was a movie would you be the hero or the antagonist?
Congratulations on the award ! ! !
With respect, it’s hard to understand the negative comments —is it REALLY because the professor is a Latina ? ! !