Cecilia Osorio

Cecilia Osorio

Adjunct Instructor of Biology

Phone: (916) 686-8378 x9241
Cecilia.Osorio@cnsu.edu


Education

  • MS in Plant Biology emphasis in Cell & Development Biology at The University of California – Davis
  • BS in General Biology with minors in Botany at The University of California – Riverside

About

I am an adjunct lab instructor at California Nortstate University (CNSU) and an adjunct assistant professor for Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD). I mostly teach introductory Biology for non-majors, but lately I have started teaching a fun series of three courses on Viticulture and Enology up in El Dorado. In the past I have also had the privilege of teaching Anatomy and Physiology, Biotechnology and Spanish.

Science was not always my focus. I earned an associate of art in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing (FIDM) and worked as a kid’s clothes designer in the Los Angeles Garment District for several companies in my twenties.

Once the fashion was out of my system, I transferred from East Los Angeles Community College to the University of California Riverside. There I met Professor Edith Allen who mentored me through my undergraduate years. She introduced me to the amazing world of research and was willing to fund an undergraduate research for me to study the effects of nitrogen deposition on native plants of the Mohave desert.

At the University of California Davis (UCD), I did some work with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the genetics of secondary growth in poplar trees. Later, in the Viticulture and Enology department, and as part of the Plant Biology Graduate Group at UCD, I studied the anatomical effects of drought on different wine grape rootstocks. The irony of it all, is that I am allergic to poplar trees and that I do not really drink wine (I prefer gin or rum). Regardless, I feel lucky that I got a well-rounded experience with Cell and Developmental Biology from my graduate group and lots of Anatomy, Histology and Viticulture experience from my research.

Before becoming an instructor, I did a lot of work and mentoring for the advancement of minority groups in STEM. I was privileged to serve as the STEM advisor for the McNair program at UCD and mentored undergraduate students to stablish the first Society of the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS) chapter at UC Davis. I also served as the coordinator for the Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement Program (MESA) at American River College and served as the Faculty Advisor for the international honors society Phi Theta Kappa (PTK).

But I am not 100% nerd! I am an avid knitter and gardener. I have a pet rabbit whom I spoil insensibly and a darlin husband whom I met in my chemistry as an undergrad. I also like tinkering with technology and lately with woodwork. I am not very good at either of those, but love tools!