EDUCATION

2014-2020                             University of California, Berkeley


                                                Ph.D., Dept. Integrative Biology, Plant Ecophysiology

2005-2009                              Pitzer College, The Claremont Colleges, California

B.A. Environmental Science, with Honors


B.A. Environmental Political Studies

AWARDS

Fellowships

2022     Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship                                                                                

2020     National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology                                   

2019      UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship                                                                                            

2019     American Association of University Women Fellowship (declined)                                                  

2015     National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship                                                        

2009     U.S. Fulbright Student Research Fellowship to Nepal                                                                    

2014     UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship                                                                                       

2009     Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (declined)                                                                                   

Research & Other Awards

2019     UC Berkeley Dept. of Integrative Biology Summer Research Award                                                

2018     Robert & Nancy Beim Endowed Graduate Field Research Fund                                                      

2018     UC Berkeley Graduate Conference Award                                                                                    

2017     NSF Participant Award for Stable Isotopes in Ecology Course                                                         

2017     UC Berkeley Dept. of Integrative Biology Graduate Research Award                                                  

2017     UC Berkeley Graduate Division Conference Travel Award                                                              

2016     UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award                                                               

2016     UC Berkeley Distinguished Graduate Fellow Award                                                                         

2015     Sigma Xi Research Grant                                                                                                      

2008     Schiff Scholarship                                                                                                             

2007     Fabian Núñez Scholarship                                                                                                    

2005     Community Trustee Scholarship, Pitzer College                                                                         

ACADEMIC POSITIONS


2022-2023 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley.

2020-2024 National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology. Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley.

2019-2020 Berkeley Bioscience Study Abroad Program Assistant. University of California, Berkeley. Course-curriculum development, program planning, and execution for international students studying abroad and majoring in biosciences at UC Berkeley.

2019 Graduate Student Instructor. University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Senior Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences (ESPM 175).  

2019 Teaching Assistant. University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Integrative Biology. Cross Cultural Skills in Bioscience (MCB 198). Cross-cultural course-curriculum development and student and instructor support.

2018 Graduate Student Instructor. University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Integrative Biology. Plant Physiological Ecology (IB 151 and 151L). Lab instruction and curriculum development and execution for Discussion Sections. Instructor: Dr. Todd Dawson.

2015 Graduate Student Instructor. University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Integrative Biology. Evolution (IB 160). Awarded the 2015-2016 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award for teaching this course. Discussion section curriculum development and execution.

2014-2019 Ph.D. Researcher. University of California, Berkeley, Andes Biodiversity Ecosystem Research Group, Centro Cientifico Tropical, Monteverde Costa Rica. Investigated plant water relations along elevational gradients in Peru and Costa Rica to assess drought response and hydraulic strategies of tropical trees, as well as plant water relations method and experimental development in Californian latex bearing plants. Advisor: Dr. Todd Dawson. Collaborators: Dr. Cameron Williams, Dr. Leander Love-Anderegg, Dr. Sybil Gotsch, Dr.Emily Burt.

2013 Research Assistant. University of Maryland and El Verde Field Station, El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. Researched tropical tree community ecology and the interplay between traits, co-existence and rarity. Identified and photographed over 70 plant species to create a photo field guide for the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. Supervisors: Dr. Maria Natalia Umaña and Dr. Nathan Swenson.  

2010 Teaching Assistant and Academic Coordinator. Pitzer College in Nepal Study Abroad Program, Kathmandu, Nepal. Provided academic support for the “Nepal Core Studies.” Compiled culturally relevant learning materials, assisted students with field book assignments, graded homework, and arranged lectures and study-trips. 

2009-2010 Fulbright Research Scholar. United States Educational Foundation, Nepal and Center for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University. Researched the effects of rural to urban migration on agrobiodiversity and food security in Himalayan villages in eastern and western Nepal.

2008-2009 Undergraduate Senior Thesis Researcher. Joint Science Department of the Claremont Colleges, Claremont, CA. Researched the role of seed limitation in restoration of native annual forbs to an invaded California Grassland in the Bernard Field Station, Claremont, CA. Advisors: Dr. Diane Thomson and Dr. Don McFarlane.

2008 Tropical Restoration Ecology Undergraduate Researcher. Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology, Dominical, Costa Rica and Joint Science Department of the Claremont Colleges, Claremont, CA. Researched population dynamics of Dendrobates granuliferus and Dendrobates auratus in native and invasive habitats in southwest Costa Rica. Advisors: Dr. Don McFarlane and Dr. Alvaro Redondo Brenes

SERVICE ACTIVITIES

2021     Crossing Pathways Moderator. Panel moderator for Native American interdisciplinary researchers.

2020-2022 Native Jumpstart Writing Coach. Mentored Indigenous and Native American high school students through the college application process.

2019     American Indian Graduate Program Member. Organized and carried out Native student community events, such as Crossing Pathways, a long-standing place to present research and build connections among the Native student community at Cal.

2019     SACNAS Berkeley Chapter External Affairs Board Member. Elected member to the board, responsible for organizing monthly campus and community outreach, service and academic recruitment events. Also primary contact between National Chapter and local chapter.

2018     Students of Color Environmental Collective. Graduate Student Panelist and Organizer. “Demystifying grad school” panel hosted for underrepresented minority undergraduates.

2018     The Graduates Radio Program. KALX 90.7. Science communication radio producer. Created science content for the general public via interviews on-air of researchers at UC Berkeley. 

2018     LAGSES + UC LEADS Program. Graduate Student Panelist and Organizer. “How to get into grad school” panel hosted for underrepresented minority undergraduates. 

2017     Cal Academy Careers in Science Intern (CiS) Program. Mentor for Cal Academy’s youth development program for underrepresented minorities in the sciences, CiS. 

2016-2019  Integrative Biology Women in Science Organizer, UC Berkeley. Board member and co-organizer of campus events that support women in science.

2016     SACNAS + NSF GRFP Grant writing advising workshop. Mentored and advised students through the grant writing process, as well as hands-on editing.

2014-2016 30th and 31st Empowering Women of Color Conference (EWOCC). University of California, Berkeley. Conference co-organizer, workshop coordinator. Part of the core organizing committee that spent several months for two consecutive years planning and organizing one of the longest running conferences in the nation that aims to empower women of color through personal and professional development. 

Mentored undergraduate & Masters & Ph.D. students

Maria Angel Vilca (Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Peru), Luis Miguel (Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Peru Masters student), Alex Vergara (UC Berkeley), Amy Sakazaki (UC Berkeley), Abigail Frolli (UC Berkeley), Valerie Lavenburg (UC Berkeley), Ethan Abercrombie (Humboldt State University), Nicole Klingman-Smith (Michigan State University), Tomas Pepe Sales (UC Berkeley), Aunnesha Bhowmick (UC Berkeley), Leilani Hsiao (UC Berkeley), Kaitlyn Chen (UC Berkeley), Piper Lovegreen (UC Santa Barbara), Carlos Jackson (Tuskegee University), Marcos Gomez (UC Berkeley), Itzel Olmedo Robles (UC Berkeley), Ariana Camacho Gallegos (UC Berkeley), Emily Xie (UC Berkeley), Erin Carroll (UC Berkeley), Jocelyn Navarro (University of Arizona), Supervised 14 lab assistants to date

Professional

2012-2013 Project Coordinator. The dZi Foundation, an International Non-governmental Organization (INGO), Kathmandu, Nepal. Created agricultural training programs, as well as accompanying instructional films for rural farmers in remote villages in Solukhumbu and Khotang districts. Provided in-situ agricultural improvement trainings to rural farmers and supported agricultural livelihood development projects in remote villages.

2011 Canopy and Red Tree Vole Surveyor. Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team, Oregon. Surveyed and recorded active RTV nests in old growth Douglas Firs by climbing into the canopy and submitting nest samples to Bureau of Land Management for habitat protection eligibility.

2010 Journalist Fixer and Translator. Reese Erlich, Journalist and Book Author, Kathmandu, Nepal. Arranged travel logistics, meetings of key interviewees and on-site translations in Nepal for news stories aired across multiple media platforms, including BBC and NPR.

2006-2009 Program Director. KSPC Claremont 88.7FM Radio, Claremont, California. Assembled and scheduled radio programs, chose material and content to be played on-air, and supervised all programming aspects of the station.

2006 Public Service Director. KSPC Claremont 88.7FM Radio, Claremont, California. Researched non-profit and community service events and wrote public service announcements to be read on-air.

Professional Affiliations

-Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)

-American Indians in Science and Engineering at Berkeley (AISES)

-University of California American Indian Graduate Program (AIGP)

-UC Berkeley Women of Color Initiative (WOCi)

-Ecological Society of America (ESA)

-American Geophysical Union (AGU)

-Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC)

-Latino/a Association of Graduate Students in Engineering & Science (LAGSES)

-Andes Biodiversity Ecosystem Research Group (ABERG)

-International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF)

Press, Science Communication & Public Lectures

2019     Marin Science Seminar for Teens & Community. “Adventures of a Plant Ecophysiologist: Studying How Tropical Forests Survive Drought, with Roxy Cruz”

2018     The Graduates Radio Program. KALX 90.7. Berkeley CA. https://www.kalx.berkeley.edu/news/roxy-cruz-graduates

2017     Cal Academy Careers in Science Intern (CiS) Program. Guest lectured on the fate of redwood and sequoia trees in a changing climate for Cal Academy’s youth development program for underrepresented minorities in the sciences, CiS.

2017 Observatorio Cambio Climatico • “Cusco: Cambio climático obliga a las plantas a desplazarse a zonas más altas” Translation: Climate Change Observatory (Peru) • “Cusco: Climate change forces plants to move to higher altitudes” http://www.observatoriocambioclimatico.org/node/7360