Wilnelia Recart Gonzalez, one of Diane Campbell’s former students, received a big award from ESA this year (Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award).

USD Biology Postdoctoral Fellow Recognized with National Award – University of San Diego

USD Biology Postdoctoral Fellow Recognized with National Award

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2023

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has awarded USD Biology Postdoctoral Fellow Wilnelia Recart González, PhD, the Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award. This award recognizes contributions of an individual toward increasing the diversity of future ecologists through outreach, teaching and mentoring. 

Dr. Recart González is a pollination ecologist who has worked to center diverse voices in ecology and develop initiatives for underrepresented students in ecology over the past decade. She has been recognized for her numerous outreach efforts in San Diego as well as Puerto Rico, in which she has reached over 500 primary and middle school students placing a strong emphasis on providing bilingual experiences in Spanish and English. She has also been recognized for her excellence in teaching, leadership in education and support in diverse student involvement in ecology and STEM fields. “I am passionate about mentoring students in their research, helping them explore their scientific and career interests, and providing them leadership, outreach and science communication opportunities,” says Recart González.

At the ESA, Recart González has served as the chair and vice-chair of the Inclusive Ecology Section, is an advisory board member for the ESA SEEDS program and organizes Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) initiatives. She has led workshops and held events for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and has recently led a Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) Faculty Mentoring Network program where she collaborated with others to generate teaching modules to support undergraduate students in identifying their research interests. She has also collaborated with the Ocean Discovery Institute, which focuses on inspiring young people traditionally excluded from science to be actively engaged. 

Dr. Recart González will be starting as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of San Diego this upcoming fall, where she will continue her DEIJ initiatives and incorporate them into her research.

CONTACT:

Lizeth Juvera
ljuvera@sandiego.edu
(619)260-4729