SW New Mexico News

Adriana Romero Olivares has been a part of the Department of Biology at the College of Arts and Sciences since August 2020, serving as an assistant professor. Her responsibilities include teaching, research, and service.

Romero Olivares specializes in soil microbiology with a focus on fungi. Her research aims to understand how fungi respond to environmental stress and to anticipate ecosystem-scale effects of global climate change.

"I was interested in being in an institution where I could serve Hispanic students," she stated. "I was also excited to be in the desert, as the desert is the ecosystem I call home, and wanted to do research here. I study fungi, and we don’t know a lot about fungi in the desert, so being in a place where I could do my work and not have to travel very far to see my family was very attractive."

Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico—450 miles south of Las Cruces—Romero Olivares earned her Ph.D. from the University of California at Irvine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of New Hampshire.

Her accolades include several awards: 2021 Excellence in Ecology from the Ecological Society of America; 2021 Interchange Ambassador Award from the Mycological Society of America; outstanding service as chair of their Diversity & Inclusion Committee in 2019; an Ecological Society of America Travel Award; and Dynamic Womxn of UCI 2017 Academic Achievement Award. Recently, she was featured among women worldwide in "Determined to be Extraordinary: Spectacular Stories of Modern Women in STEM."

"I feel very privileged that I get to do research and discover new things while mentoring students in the process," she expressed. "I think I'm most proud of my graduate students. There's something really neat about seeing someone grow in their scientific journey and then graduate and get the degree they've worked so hard on. Some days, I feel like I'm the luckiest person on the planet because of the work that I get to do and the students that I get to work with."