Student Gains a Brighter Future by Studying the Past
Like over half of our CPP students, Sunshyne Santos is a first-generation college student. Neither of her parents finished high school. “Education wasn’t a priority and college seemed like a lofty goal to them, but they were supportive,” Santos said.
Even though her parents had doubts about the prospect of higher education, they provided her with rich educational opportunities. As a child, her mom helped her with her math homework, and Santos recalls her father taking her to museums every weekend. It was visits to places like the La Brea Tar Pits and the California Science Center where she developed her interest in science.
Santos credits her high school experience in the Army JROTC with teaching her discipline and goal setting. It helped her to accomplish her goal of going to college.
Santos entered CPP as a geology major but wasn’t sure if she should switch to biology. After taking an Earth, Time and Life class (GSC 1120) she realized her interest was in paleontology which draws from both disciplines. She took every class that CPP offers related to paleontology and got to know part-time lecturer Donald Prothero from the Department of Geological Sciences.
As a mentor, Prothero opened a world of opportunities to Santos, and she lights up when describing her visit to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum with him. “He explained the research that previous students had done with him at the site and I got to see the museum’s collections - things that aren’t on public display,” Santos said.
Santos went on to conduct research with Prothero and published the work in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin in 2022. The research sought to answer the question of whether Pleistocene (ice age) climate change caused physiological changes in the extinct La Brea black hawk, Buteogallus fragilis, translated as “fragile eagle.”
Utilizing the vast collections at La Brea, Santos measured bones that spanned 28,000 years. Another student of Prothero’s ran statistical analysis on the data. Their findings concluded that there was no evidence of physiological change.
Prothero asked Santos to submit her work for presentation at the Geological Society of America Conference in October, 2022. It’s the largest meeting of geologists and paleontologists in the world. Santos didn’t want to do it. He pointed out the networking opportunities and wanted her to meet his advisor, Niles Eldredge who was going to be speaking there. She reluctantly agreed and their research was accepted.
“I felt nervous going in but was able to bring people over to my poster and the whole experience brought me out of my shell. I gained confidence in my research and myself and I’m glad I did it,” Santos said. At the conference she met Niles Eldredge, and Rowan Lockwood who is president elect of the Paleontological Society. They offered words of encouragement which meant a lot to Santos.
As a first-generation college student, Santos wasn’t always sure she belonged. She learned from her peers how to plan, and what campus resources and scholarships were available. Now she’s able to help her brother who is getting ready to apply to college.
The Department of Geological Sciences is a tight knit group and Santos said, “When you’re on a field trip in the desert, two hours from civilization for three days, you get to know people and make friends.” She also said that Department Chair Jon Nourse has been very supportive and provided an opportunity for her to work over the summer and help with orientation.
Prothero shared that although an undergraduate, “Santos has become a part of the paleontology research group, along with four graduate students. She regularly participates in our weekly paleontology seminar meetings and summarizes scientific papers for the rest of the group when we are researching a topic.”
Santos plans to conduct research on North American rhinos and has a project describing a new species of rhino from the Big Badlands of South Dakota, which Prothero said they hope to publish in 2023.
When asked what advice she would give new students Santos said, “Go out of your comfort zone. Make friends with your professors. I went so long being shy and afraid to ask questions. Talk to people. Don’t be afraid to do it.” She confided that she sent emails to professors stating her intent to visit during office hours. Once she was committed to doing it, she couldn’t back out.
“You need to have people who believe in you to help you through the times you doubt yourself,” she said. “Things happen, including unfortunate things. Remember that lack of success isn’t failure, failure is giving up.”