Natalia De Los Santos
Years in the program: 2024
Mentor: Dr. Myung Hwangbo, Dr. Jongsun Kim
Where I am now:
As of May 2024, I am a senior at UTRGV (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) working towards getting my Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology. I am excited to work in the EFAS (Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists) program and learn everything I can, so I can take all that knowledge towards my future career of becoming a marine environmental scientist. I know the program is mainly about agriculture and as a marine biologist major, it wouldn’t help me much, but you’d be surprised how much I can learn from this program. I hope to learn more about agricultural runoff, which is the movement of water and contaminants across the Earth's surface when there's more water than the land can absorb. It's a major source of pollution in surface water and groundwater and is the leading cause of water quality issues in rivers and streams. I aim to take this knowledge towards my future career.