Melisa Quintana is an Earth Systems Science major and a Natural Science Education minor. She will be graduating in the Spring of 2022. Melisa is a first-generation Guatemalan-American born and raised in Long Beach, California. Quintana's journey at UC Merced began in the Spring of 2018, and it was anything but easy. Despite this fact, Melisa never gave up on her dream of becoming a scientist and always continued to strive for success. During her time at UC Merced, Melisa has accomplished more than she could have ever imagined. The opportunities UCM offers led Melisa to become a Student Teacher for elementary and middle school students and join a FARMERS USDA internship where she created an agriculture-based lesson plan. This also led to learning about the enviro-socio-economic impacts of climate change through an Applied Agroecology cohort with the MESA program. Quintana was also the scientist to take the first soil samples of the future UCM campus farm. Quintana has promoted sustainable soil health practices in her local community garden by introducing low-cost nutrient cycling initiatives. She was also an online resident assistant, guiding 1st-year students in their transition to online learning. Lastly, she was a part of the Ryals Agroecology Lab as an undergraduate research assistant. She partook in numerous projects centered around integrating ecological approaches to better understanding carbon and nutrient dynamics to mitigate climate change. Over the past five years, Melisa has grown mentally, spiritually, and academically. She learned how to persevere through various obstacles presented during her undergraduate experience. Quintana is determined to continue learning from farmers and begin working with community members to bring life back to our soils and increase soil health in the Central Valley. Melisa gives gratitude to her family, friends, mentors, educators, colleagues, advisors, the bobcat community, and to anyone who gave words of encouragement. "Thank you for believing in me, even when I did not believe in myself. I will never forget the experiences, nor the memories made at UC Merced."
