Biologist Ushers Protégés into Science Careers

“I can honestly say that without the MARC program and Dr. Zavala’s mentoring, I…would not be where I am today.”
—Jessica Diaz, graduate student, UC Riverside

“The confidence I received from participating in MARC has already been perpetuated. I mentored undergraduate students at UC Berkeley and continue to do so at UCLA.”
—Annette Alicia Angus, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UCLA

“The financial support of the MARC program has allowed me to both contribute to my family’s financial stability and achieve the level of academic excellence I desired.”
—Kathy Espino Perez, undergraduate student, CSUN

MARC (Minority Access to Research Careers), mentoring and MariaElena Zavala were made for each other.

The Cal State Northridge biologist has shepherded nearly 50 CSUN students through MARC, the National Institutes of Health-funded program designed to give minority students the mentoring and research experience needed to compete in the sciences at the graduate level. The overwhelming majority have entered advanced degree programs.

MARC mentees Diaz, Angus and Perez (quoted above) can vouch for Zavala’s determination. The first Chicana in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in botany, Zavala eagerly recruited talented but underfunded students and guided them to success as scientists. Along the way, she became the first of CSUN’s two winners of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (Biologist Steven Oppenheimer was the second, in 2009).

As CSUN’s only MARC director to date, Zavala is well-positioned to discuss the program’s reach and effect:

Northridge Magazine: Building each group of MARC students is no simple task, is it?

Zavala: In any given year, 300-400 students are eligible for MARC…Few students who are invited to compete for a spot take us up on it. They have to apply, get interviewed and complete an intense summer orientation in addition to spending extracurricular time in labs. Most cohorts are small, about seven students.

NM: What goes on during the orientation?

Zavala: We learn about each other, four hours a day, for two weeks. We work in teams and independently, doing exercises to develop the cohort’s bonding, trust, and leadership. The students receive extensive training on responsible conduct of research (i.e. ethics), including training in human subjects and using animals in research. I also tailor activities to help each student overcome deficiencies and boost their strengths.

NM. What special challenges do MARC students face?

Zavala: MARC students can struggle with identifying themselves in this kind of career because most of them don’t have parents who went to college or even graduated from high school. For these students to see themselves as professors or in professions where they spend their time thinking and researching is a great achievement and a great challenge…It requires further education; some families don’t really understand why their sons or daughters should pursue [it], especially when it may require moving away from home while single.

NM. You’re recognized nationally as a model mentor. What does it take to do it well?

Zavala: A mentor is someone who provides guidance and can help you learn how to think things through. He or she doesn’t give you the answer, but may provide you with different ways of looking at things. A mentor will always point out both the options and the consequences. Our MARC students are amazing kids who have taken a chance on themselves. You have to believe in what you’re doing and that the experiments you’re doing are important or you’ll quit.

NM: So your students learn to believe in themselves. Is that attitude paying off?

Zavala: Since 2000, 66 students have been funded through the MARC program. As of today, 48 have completed the program, and 65 percent of those entered Ph.D. programs. We have a completion rate of 89 percent, meaning that these students…stayed in the [MARC] program for a full two years, and graduated with a B.S. or a B.A. in biology, psychology or kinesiology, or a B.S. in chemistry.

NM: How do you prepare your MARC students for the tough environment of doctoral research?

Zavala: You teach students how to ask questions. It’s a process of learning how to sort things out; it takes time. Students often want to rush it. We also teach them to use critical comments to good effect, to learn from mistakes, and to be willing to take intellectual risks.

NM: What happens after students complete their junior year as MARC students?

Zavala: Before their second summer, they have to apply to do an extramural research program on another campus. We have placed students in labs at Cal Tech, UC San Diego, USC, Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, UC Berkeley and Johns Hopkins in recent years.

NM: What impact has MARC had on Cal State Northridge?

Zavala: CSUN is among the top comprehensive universities in producing students who go on to earn doctorates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics…The success of our MARC students in graduate programs paves a path for other CSUN students applying to graduate programs.

— Julia Venkateswaran

---