April 27, 12:30PM-1:45PM, Soraida Garcia Discussion (via Zoom) — Honors “Emerging Scholars” Series

Join us at 12:30PM on April 27, via Zoom for the Honors Program’s “Emerging Scholars” Series, a discussion with Soraida Garcia.

Soraida Garcia is a native-born Chicagoan of Puerto Rican heritage and earned her B.A. in Environmental Science. After pursuing a career in real estate investments, she decided to return to academia to follow her passion advocating for wildlife. Soraida has held various internships, including one at Argonne National Laboratories, in which she assisted the Bureau of Land Management assessing environmental impacts of large scale solar paneling on public lands. While applying to graduate school, she volunteered at The Field Museum, conducting research in the mammals collection department. She was accepted to Purdue University in the Forestry and Natural Resources department and obtained a M.S. researching human and wildlife relationships using computer simulations. Her research experience led her to a Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois, Chicago where she continued to study the impacts humans have on wildlife using the Netlogo platform. In the future, Soraida would like to volunteer her time and expertise at a non-profit organization that supports animal rights. She would also like to mentor underrepresented students so they have the proper guidance needed to navigate their way through graduate school.

In line with the Honors Program’s “Emerging Scholars” Series, Soraida will discuss both her research (more information about topic coming soon) and her academic path and experiences as a graduate student. You can read more about Soraida’s educational experiences here. Please register in advance here. The Honors Program’s “Emerging Scholars” Series is made possible by a grant from the Oakton Educational Foundation.