New Mexico State University biology assistant professor Adriana Romero Olivares is among women from around the world featured in the book titled "Determined to be Extraordinary: Spectacular Stories of Modern Women in STEM."

The book reveals the personal stories of 27 active female scientists who have overcome hurdles to achieve success. The women are from a range of backgrounds, ethnicities, classes and cultures.

"I grew up with my family and no scientists nearby, just my parents not really knowing that you could pursue a career in science, that I could become a biologist," Romero Olivares said. "But I had experiences during my childhood that maybe subconsciously played a crucial role in me appreciating the environment and feeling very protective of it."

Romero Olivares grew up in Mexico in the state of Sonora, which is a couple of hours south of Tucson. She earned her bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Mexico at the Autonomous University of Baja California and her Ph.D. in biological sciences at the University of California at Irvine. In California, she started studying the environment and then was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Hampshire. She joined the biology faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at NMSU in 2020.

"That's one of the reasons why I decided to apply for this job was because it's in the desert border area with Mexico," Romero Olivares said. "When I came here to visit as soon as I landed and I went outside, I was like, 'oh my goodness, this feels like home.'"

Romero Olivares' research aims to mitigate the effects of global warming on Earth, while answering long-standing questions on microbial ecology. As a child, she spent a lot of time in the desert with her father on the weekends.

"That definitely shaped me to appreciate the environment," she said, "but it was shocking to my parents when I told them that I wanted to become a biologist. Neither one of my parents has a college degree."

Sharing the first-person life-stories of women scientists like Romero Olivares is intended to inspire young girls to see themselves in STEM careers, even if they are not straight-A students.

"I wasn't actually a very good student when I was in elementary school, I wasn't a very good student when I was in middle school. It was not because I wasn't smart enough, it was because I didn't think it was important," Romero Olivares said. "Then in high school there were a few teachers and a family acquaintance that really showed an interest in me and my potential. They really pushed me. That was very important for me during high school, and that was one of the reasons why I decided to study biology."

In an excerpt of her story in the book she describes her outlook: "From a very young age, I did not 'fit the mold' of how a woman was supposed to behave. I was not delicate or feminine; I was headstrong, opinionated and smart. I was not the best at school; I did not get all good grades, but I was good at science. I was especially good at biology and above all, I loved the Earth."

"Determined to be Extraordinary: Spectacular Stories of Modern Women in STEM" is a winner of the 2024 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Silver Medal and winner of the 2024 NYC Big Book Award.

Romero Olivares has earned several awards and was invited last year to join more than two dozen members of a think tank organization within the American Academy of Microbiology to produce a colloquium report underscoring the importance of microbes in developing climate change projections.

The reports are given to policymakers, members of Congress, program officers at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and other agencies to provide important information to those who will decide what should be funded to move this field of research forward.

For Romero Olivares, women scientists sharing their struggles and not-so-perfect journey can show young girls how many different paths can lead to a science career.

"I feel like there were just so many different points throughout my childhood and as a teenager and even in college where things might not have worked, and it would've been very easy for me to go another route," she said. "I feel like ultimately things aligned in a way that worked. I am supposed to be here where I am now."

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-biology-professor-featured-in-book-highlighting-women-in-stem/s/224ee360-e05d-49d2-95e9-6209aa49d250