Juli Suzukawa

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles and came to Cal Poly Humboldt (was HSU) in Fall 2018 as a freshman. As a multicultural, queer, first-generation student, I have had a lot of ups and downs since beginning my academic journey with the biggest one being an Indigenous person pursuing a STEM degree. Fortunately, I found a strong support network with the ITEPP and INRSEP programs (and a few mentors) that helped me obtain a B.S. in Wildlife with a minor in Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resource Use, and Environment.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I served as a CSU STEM VISTA (AmeriCorps VISTA) for 2 years at Cal Poly Humboldt. Most of my work was with the College of Natural Resources & Sciences (CNRS) and the Center for Community Based Learning (CCBL) and was focused on strategies to retain and empower all students pursuing STEM.

I am now a 2nd year graduate student in the Environment & Community, M.A. program, and I am currently working with both ODEI as the Administration Fellow and with ITEPP as a Student Assistant.