The explorer mentality, public health Professor Stephen Wooding said, is what sets the students of UC Merced apart from anywhere else. A willingness to try something new, to go somewhere they’d never thought possible, is a part of the Bobcat DNA.
For three students, the time they spent traveling up and down the Amazon River over winter break fully embodies this desire to explore.
Undergraduates Henry Castillo, Pedro Garcia and Maria Rivas Reyes spent three weeks serving as interpreters in Peru in January, helping a team of Canadian nurses communicate with the natives in isolated areas of the country.
Wooding has been conducting research in Peru for several years as part of a fellowship from Hellmans Fellow Fund. His focus is on the genetics that produce the bitterness of the cassava plant — also known as yuca — and how locals domesticated the plant despite its toxicity.
UC Merced students often join Wooding in his research, but this most recent trip unfolded differently. In Wooding’s eyes, it opened up a new world of possibilities for students — something he has been working toward since he joined the university in 2013.
“I’m delighted because it’s fulfilling an objective I have but I’m also delighted because these are truly likable kids and this helps propel them forward,” Wooding said. “They sometimes don’t appreciate how special they are and I hope to help them discover that.”
