Photos: Jerrold Summerlin
W
hen Dr. Eliezer Louzada walks through the citrus orchards behind his office in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, he keeps a keen eye out for any unusual fruit on the trees that could be developed into a new commercial variety. Louzada has already found some new, very deep red grapefruit that may eventually be released as new varieties. Until now, finding and inducing mutations have been the only ways to develop new citrus varieties. Since coming to the Texas A&M University–Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco from The University of Florida in 1997, Louzada has been reaching down to the cellular level of citrus in an attempt to create new varieties. Using biotechnology and genetic engineering, the native Brazilian and his lab technicians are work-
Summer 2005
ing to create varieties with improved cold tolerance and resistance to devastating insects and diseases. But the work is tedious and expensive, and it takes skilled lab technicians working diligently for years alongside scientists to maintain progress. A lack of local skilled labor led Louzada to do with students what he does with citrus: Build on potential to help create a new and improved product. He created a research internship program that has morphed into a graduatedegree avenue for local, mostly Hispanic, college students. His program has been so successful that educators across the country call on him for advice. Louzada is quick to share his formula. “When I started working here, I would post job openings for lab technicians and get applicants from all over the world, but none from the local area,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it.” The area’s demographic and economic statistics suggest why. Three of the four counties that make up the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas are the poorest in the nation. They are predominantly
Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley has the nation’s most heavily Hispanic population, at almost 88 percent. The poverty rate is 37.6 percent, more than twice that of Texas and three times that of the U.S. as a whole. Forty-six percent of Texas Hispanics have no high school diploma, compared to 15 percent of blacks and 10 percent of Anglos. By the year 2030, one in four Americans will be Hispanic. Serious concerns about the lack of education in this population must be addressed.
OPPOSITE: Adriana Robbins’ academic journey has taken her from teaching school in Mexico to working toward her doctorate in molecular and environmental plant science at Texas A&M in College Station. ABOVE: Sandra Ozuna (left) and Cassandra Bennett say the internship program has opened career opportunities they never anticipated.
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