Ellen Ochoa, Electrical engineer and astronaut

Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, CA. She received her bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State University, and a master of science degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University. 

Ellen Ochoa’s pre-doctoral work at Stanford University in electrical engineering led to the development of an optical system designed to detect imperfections in repeating patterns. This invention, patented in 1987, can be used for quality control in the manufacturing of various intricate parts. Dr. Ellen Ochoa later patented an optical system that can be used to robotically manufacture goods or in robotic guiding systems. In all, Ellen Ochoa has received three patents, most recently one in 1990.

In addition to being an inventor, Dr. Ochoa is also a research scientist and astronaut for NASA. Selected by NASA in January 1990, she is a veteran of three space flights and has logged over 719 hours in space. Her most recent trip was a 10-day mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in May of 1999. 

She is also a classical flutist and private pilot, and enjoys volleyball and bicycling.

More info:

• Official NASA page
• Bio on About.com

France A. Córdova, Astrophysicist

After earning her doctorate in physics from Cal Tech in 1979, Córdova spent the next decade at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a member of the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. She then joined Penn State University to head the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

In 1993, she began work at NASA, serving as the primary scientific adviser to the NASA administrator and the principal interface between NASA headquarters and the broader scientific community. During this time, she served on the National Science and Technology Council's Fundamental Science Committee. In May, 2007, she was chosen to be president of Purdue University.

Córdova's scientific contributions have been in the areas of observational and experimental astrophysics, multi-spectral research on X-ray and gamma ray sources, and space-borne instrumentation. Her multi-spectral approach uses telescopes on the ground and in space to approach a more comprehensive understanding of cosmic sources of radiation.

She has published more than 150 scientific papers and reports and has a current experiment flying on the European Space Agency's X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission.

She is the winner of NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and was recognized as a 2000 Kilby Laureate for "contributions to society through science, technology, innovation, invention and education."

The oldest of 12 children, Córdova was born in Paris and spent a few years in Germany, where her father served as the Chief of Missions for CARE, a U. S. relief organization. She graduated from high school in La Puente, Calif., east of Los Angeles.

An avid sports enthusiast, she said she also enjoys running, canoeing, hiking and cross-country skiing. Córdova met her husband, Christian J. Foster, a science educator, while rock climbing outside Los Alamos, N.M. They have two college-age children.

More info:

• Official page at Purdue University
  
• Profile of Córdova
  

Francisco Dallmeier, Wildlife Biologist

Dr. Francisco Dallmeier is one of the world's leading wildlife biologists and an expert on biological diversity. Dallmeier has devoted himself to integrating studies of biodiversity among species and natural resources with conservation and management programs that promote sustainable development. As director of the Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program (SI/MAB), he has coordinated efforts to educate people around the world on issues of conservation and the preservation of threatened species, while formulating strategies for sustainable use of natural resources in developing countries. As co-designer and trainer for the Smithsonian Environmental Leadership Course, Dallmeier has taught leadership, communication, and negotiation skills that can be used to promote biodiversity conservation.

He is author, co-author, or editor of more than 130 publications, including a remarkable two-volume study of forest biodiversity in the “old” and “new” worlds published in England, a special issue of the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment devoted to the MAB Program’s Peruvian project, and a delightfully illustrated educational book for young people on biodiversity in the rain forest.

Dallmeier earned his B.S. in biology from the Central University of Venezuela and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, also in biology, from Colorado State University. He spends his free time hiking and scuba diving with his wife and two children and participating in projects at his children’s school. He also hones his skills as a professional photographer.

More info:

• Smithsonian CV
• More detailed profile
• Books by Francisco

L. René Corrales, Chemist

Dr. Corrales' top-of-the-line education belies his humble upbringing. He graduated from MIT, then went on to earn his master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from the University of California-San Diego. He is now an associate professor in material sciences and chemistry at the University of Arizona.

He previously had a 15-year stay in Washington with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for which he served as chief scientist for several years. At the University of Arizona, Corrales researches computational materials chemistry, the study of chemistry on the surfaces of materials. His work could lead to the further development of radiation detectors and optical materials. 

In addition to his research and published studies, Corrales is having another impact, more immediate and closer to home. He becomes a role model for young Latinos who dream of becoming scientists and for those who have been told they are not capable of finding success in a science classroom and laboratory. His example will be magnified in high schools like Sunnyside, Cholla, Tucson, Pueblo, Amphi and other Arizona schools where young ethnic-minority students can find inspiration from Corrales.

"I embrace it," Corrales said of his dual role in the community — UA scientist and barrio poster boy for academic success. 

His success was rooted in his parents' loving dreams and insistence that he pursue a higher education. His parents exposed Corrales and his two older siblings to places such as Kitt Peak and the UA's planetarium. 

More info:

• Profile at the University of Arizona
• Local newspaper story about Dr. Corrales

Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Molecular biologist

Villa-Komaroff is the oldest of six children. She was born and raised in New Mexico; her parents were the first in their respective families to go to college. Her mother’s Spanish ancestors came to the New World with the Conquistadores and settled in Arizona. Her father’s family is from Mexico, descended from Spanish and indigenous Indian people. The Villa family moved several times within New Mexico when she was growing up, finally settling in Santa Fe when Lydia was nine. Her father was a violinist in the Santa Fe orchestra and a teacher of music, math and English at all pre-college levels. Her mother was a social worker for much of her career, but also worked for the state as a registrar. 

Villa-Komaroff’s scientific interests have been many and varied: as a student she was involved with protein synthesis, particularly polio virus. At Harvard, she studied the eggshell protein of the silk worm. Her plan was to use the study of protein synthesis to learn more about the development of the silk worm. At Cold Spring Harbor, she tried to clone the silk moth genome. While this experiment failed, she learned techniques that enabled her to successfully clone insulin in bacteria when she returned to Harvard. When she set up her own lab, Villa-Komaroff studied insulin-related proteins in the brain. She found that “if insulin is made in the brain it is made at very low levels, while insulin growth factors one and two are made abundantly in the brain.” This led to the discovery that IGF2 is a factor in regulating the cell cycle and the advent of cell death in an animal. She also contributed to understanding of the neuropeptides somatostatin and vip. She is now  CEO of Boston-based Cytonome.

Work, commute and extended family permitting, Villa-Komaroff is an amateur photographer. She hopes to broaden her longstanding portraiture to macro-photography. She is also an avid reader of mysteries: “it’s how I relax my mind.”

More info:

• Official Cytonome bio
• American Society for Cell Biology profile

Eloy Rodriguez, Biochemist

From Dr. Rodriguez's bio: "As the James A. Perkins endowed Professor and Research Scientist at Cornell, I have devoted my professional life to the chemical biology and medicinal chemistry and toxicology of natural small molecules and glycoproteins from plants and arthropods that are important in ecological and biological interactions and human and animal health and medicine. 

"In collaboration with Dr. Richard Wrangham at Harvard we established the discipline of zoopharmacognosy (animal self medication with plants) and Chemo-ornithology (chemical ecology of bird-inect-plant interactions) with David Rosane from CUNY. I have developed a new undergraduate course and research program on the pharmacognosy, pharmacology and nutritional biochemistry of natural substance important for the control of diabetes type 2 and breast and pancreatic cancer in underrepresented communities in the US and Mexico.

"I have also devoted considerable time and effort to the training of hundreds of underrepresented undergraduate and graduate minority and majority studetns in the sciences at Cornell and the University of California, Irvine. A plethora of these fine young women and men at Cornell and UCI are now medical doctors, health specialists, research professors, pharmaceutical scientists, biologists and environmental ecologists."

More info:

• Profile at Cornell
• "Not just monkeying around:Professor Eloy Rodriguez watches monkeys for clues to medicinal plants"

Why we need more Latino scientists and engineers

By Eduardo R. Macagno, founding dean of the University of California-San Diego's Division of Biological Sciences

The U.S. Census Bureau's recent declaration that Hispanics are now the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the nation should be a cause for celebration, an affirmation of our country's rich cultural diversity and heritage.

But this rapidly expanding Latino majority, projected to make up a quarter of the nation's population by the middle of the century, is still a minority when it comes to science and engineering. And that should be a cause for concern for anyone worried about our economic future beyond the state's current fiscal crisis.

Only 3 percent of the nation's scientists and engineers are Hispanic, a depressingly low proportion when you consider that Hispanics in the 2000 census accounted for 13.5 percent of the nation's population, almost 27 percent of San Diego County's population and more than 32 percent of Californians. In contrast, 84 percent of our nation's scientists and engineers are non-Hispanic whites and 10 percent are Asians, who account for 4 percent of the U.S. population.

Why is it so critical that we have more Latino scientists and engineers?

The answer is simple: Our economy has become more dependent on science and technology than ever before. California's high-tech sector produces more than $150 billion in annual revenues and employs more than 1.2 million people with an average annual wage of $65,000, nearly double the state's annual average of $35,350 for all industries. In San Diego, the diverse high-tech industry has become the fastest-growing sector for employment and a main factor in the region's continued economic prosperity.

Read the rest of the article here...