Estefania Cuevas-Zepeda is a first-generation Mexican student majoring in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biology. She is a Merced native who first fell in love with chemistry while in her sophomore chemistry class at El Capitan High School. While at UC Merced she sought out many research opportunities, first in computational chemistry in Professor Pribram-Jones’ lab and later in biochemistry in Professor Sukenik’s lab. Through these experiences, she discovered her passion for interdisciplinary science and her desire to fuse together biochemistry and computation. She will continue to pursue these interests at the University of Chicago in the Biophysical Sciences Program. Throughout her time at UC Merced, she has received tremendous mentoring from both research advisors and faculty. She is extremely grateful for all the invaluable mentoring that she received while at UC Merced and wants to be able to do the same for others. In the future, she hopes to mentor aspiring students who want to pursue a career in STEM, particularly those who come from underrepresented communities. So far, she has served as an Orientation Leader, Learning Assistant for the CHEM 008 course, and as a member of the UC Merced SACNAS Chapter.
