It’s a good thing I don’t mind getting stung. Having spent most of my adult life working with bees, getting stung is normal for me. From commercial beekeeping outfits to my own queen honey bee breeding farm, my love of bees runs deep. Now, as I look to complete my master’s degree in entomology at Washington State University (WSU), I’m well on my way to gaining the knowledge and experience I need to better support bees — and the planet.
Growing up in the Mesilla Valley of Las Cruces, New Mexico, I always felt a special connection to the land, just as my ancestors had before me. I grew up valuing a sense of place and purpose. My ancestors had learned to work with and care for their surroundings, and I knew I wanted to do the same.
My younger sister Kelly and I also learned the value of living in a town where everyone knows each other. Our mother had a reputation as an amazing teacher who had won regional and national awards. As a result, I always understood the importance of education. My mother told me once that “education will set you free.” Her reputation as a caring and inspiring teacher really motivated me to apply myself and value my education.
With that inspiration, I was able to excel in high school and believed my career path lay in the sciences, in particular marine biology. I initially pursued an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami in Florida. But I found that going to a school the size of my hometown — and so far away — made life difficult. I definitely had bouts of homesickness. I got lost in the crowd and felt like a number, so I reevaluated my options. I decided to enroll at St. John’s College in New Mexico, focusing on another of my passions — ceramics and the arts — and I completed my undergraduate degree in historical philosophy, fine arts, and literature.
Because I needed financial assistance for my undergraduate education, I decided to put off graduate school for a few years. Instead, I joined the Peace Corps and got my first introduction to working with insects. When I was stationed in Paraguay as a beekeeping extensionist, I knew I had found my true calling. I became fascinated with rural development, food systems, agro-ecology, and how pollinators are such an integral part of biodiversity on our planet.
I went on to spend almost a decade working for several commercial beekeeping outfits before starting my own queen honey bee breeding farm back in New Mexico. After 20 years in the field, I decided it was finally time to pursue my graduate degree. At the time, I was also working as a lab tech for New Mexico State University’s (NMSU) Alcalde Sustainable Research Center. My manager there, Dr. Shengrui Yao, encouraged me to pursue an advanced degree. Then, I met Dr. Walter Sheppard, the chair of the Entomology Department at WSU, at a beekeeping conference. He was able to secure grant funding for me to enroll.
The decision to go to WSU was possible only with the support of my family. I feel so blessed that my mother and sister offered to move to Washington with me to help with my children. Without their support I wouldn’t have been able to focus on my studies.
But with their support, I’m thriving. I’ve been awarded a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship to travel to Spain this fall, combining both my love of bees and ceramics. I will be researching bee breeding behavior with endemic strains of honey bees, and I will also be chronicling the relationship between clay and apiculture.
I hope to use these experiences to reach my ultimate goal of serving as a translator and helping build the bridge between the field and academia. If I can help quantify farmers’ experiences, then their efforts can be better understood by scientists, and scientists can then recognize and better support farmers’ questions and needs. As a farmer and scientist myself, I’m well situated to help these two groups unify their knowledge.
I am so very glad that the bees found me way back when. They have led me on a wondrous journey that has had me shed a lot of blood, sweat, and tears but nonetheless, has really made me appreciate the insect world and all they do for our planet.
My hope is that others will hear my story and not be afraid to pursue their own passions. I’m afraid of regret, and I’m more afraid of not trying than trying. I push myself to try new things, and that’s how I found my true calling. I want others to recognize that their paths aren’t always clear or linear, and they’re not set in stone. And sometimes, changing direction is the best choice. Don’t be afraid to try — you can always change course!
