Brooklyn Urban Ecology and Environment Program (BUEE)

My name is Paola Salazar and I am a first-generation Mexican American college student from Oklahoma City. Currently, I am a rising senior at Oklahoma State University, majoring in Natural Resources Ecology and Management, with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and management. In my time at Oklahoma State, I have been involved in lab research investigating changes in the composition of freshwater zooplankton communities in Oklahoma reservoirs over the summer season and how harmful algal blooms impact zooplankton diversity. I also interned in a summer field-based  project examining the influence of rising global temperatures on life-history traits in house sparrows. I have been the treasurer and secretary of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter at my university, sports coordinator for the Hispanic Student Association, a member of our Wildlife Society Chapter, and an OK-LSAMP and McNair Scholar. While I am not in the lab, classes, or school activities—I can be seen out playing with my accordion, at the gym, with my ducks and pit bulls, taking care of my plants, or spending time with my friends.