Puerto Rican microbiologist receives Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from ASM
Submitted on 7 February 2012 - 6:50pm
This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.
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Taken from ASM News
The recipient of the 2012 Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award
is Lilliam Casillas-Martínez, Ph.D., Professor,
Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico-
Humacao (UPRH). One of Casillas’ strongest
passions is to educate and help women from
low-income homes, or “invisible students,” as
she calls them. Because there are so few Latin
American women in positions of power, she
feels that mentoring young women is crucial to
their development. Nominator and former student
Lorraine D. Rodriguez-Rivera, now a
Ph.D. candidate in the Laboratory for Food
Microbiology and Pathogenesis of Foodborne
Diseases at Cornell University, describes Casillas’
effect on others: “Casillas has had a profound
impact on the professional development of many women in Puerto Rico. As my undergraduate
advisor, she provided me with valuable
tools for my career. I would like to become a
professor and inspire minority students the way
she inspired me towards becoming a professional
in microbiology.”
Casillas received her B.S. in Industrial Microbiology
from the University of Puerto Rico,
Mayaguez, and her Ph.D. in Microbiology from
the University of Connecticut, Storrs. There she
studied Bacillus subtilis under the tutelage of
Peter and Barbara Setlow. Upon completion of
her doctorate, Casillas attended the Microbial
Diversity Course in Woods Hole, and she continues
to conduct research in emerging fields
such as geomicrobiology and metagenomics.
Once at the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao,
Casillas started a productive collaboration
in geomicrobiology with Pieter Visscher from
the Integrative Geosciences Department at the
University of Connecticut.
One of Casillas’ proud accomplishments is
the NSF-funded Cabo Rojo Salterns Microbial
Observatory, where undergraduate students
learn how to conduct in situ studies. To date,
more than 100 Puerto Rican students have received
hands-on training in techniques in geomicrobiology
and metagenomics. In addition to
working on research projects, undergraduate
students in Casillas’ lab are required to design
outreach activities to implement during visits to
local public schools. Her laboratory is well
known for its active participation in science
fairs, open houses, and the development of
workshops for local high school teachers.
Casillas’ nomination was supported by
Mayra Cancel, a high school teacher from the
Puerto Rico public school system. “Casillas’ efforts
have changed my perception of the community
of researchers in Puerto Rico and have
strengthened their ties with teachers of the public
education system,” explains Cancel. “Education
is basic for human progress, individually
and collectively. Casillas’ workshops for teachers
strengthen the collective of research groups
in the schools of our community and have
served as motivation to reaffirm our confidence
in higher education and its commitment to educational principles.”
With the support of several agencies, Casillas
has been able to combine undergraduate education
with research projects such as characterizing
novel microorganisms, constructing metagenomic
libraries from various extreme
environments in Puerto Rico, and screening for
novel antibiotics. In the last decade, more than
50 undergraduates from her laboratory have
continued graduate studies. “Casillas’ success as
a teacher and amentor is evident in the triumphs
of her students. Her down-to-earth style of mentoring, her charismatic personality and her
availability to her students allowed us to approach
her whenever advice was needed,” described
a former undergraduate student, Angel
Casanova—now a Ph.D. candidate in the Microbiology Doctoral Training Program of the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. “She is more
than my undergraduate professor; she is a
teacher from whom I have learned and acquired
many skills that have allowed me to succeed in
my quest for knowledge.”
In her short career, Casillas has received several
honors and has been invited to serve as a
member on several review panels for agencies
such as the National Science Foundation and the
United States Department of Agriculture. She
has been the main speaker in several local and
international conferences and has published
more than 20 scientific publications (two in
educational journals) and three book chapters.
More recently, she was awarded the 2010 Arturo
Carrion Lecture Award from ASM’s Puerto
Rican Chapter for her excellence in teaching
Microbiology in Puerto Rico. Casillas is already
building a legacy through the achievement and
values she instills in her students, as well as her
overall impact on the Puerto Rican community.