| Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP |
Aquanews Vol. 18 No. 2 ~ Spring 2003 |
Graduate Student Profile: Bernardita Campos Campos
By Ian Courter
As an undergraduate Bernardita Campos Campos studied biology at the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT), where she finished her degree in 1990. She gratefully acknowledges the support and mentoring received from Blanca Priego during that time.
)
Bernardita Campos Campos
Photo contributed by: Laboratory of Aquaculture, UJAT |
In 1998 she began her research as a University faculty member. Three years later, through her previous relationships with PD/A CRSP principal investigators, she started her current project: “Studies on Fate of Methyltestosterone and Its Metabolites in Tilapia and on the Use of Phytochemicals as an Alternative Method to Produce a Monosex Population of Tilapia.” This study addresses concerns of environmental and human health effects caused by the use of orally administered testosterone to fish. Hormones used on fish are often incompletely metabolized, and little is known about the effects of excess hormones in water effluent and fish meat. Therefore, scientists are interested in finding alternative methods of sex-reversal of fish.
Campos was inspired by Leandra Salvadores of UJAT to pursue a graduate education. Her interest in Environmental Engineering enticed her to stay at UJAT. Once accepted to the Masters program at UJAT, she joined Wilfrido Contreras-Sánchez at UJATs Laboratory of Aquaculture; Contreras-Sánchez serves as her advisor.
In the early stages of her degree at UJAT in Environmental Engineering, Campos found her work challenging because of her incongruous background in biology. She noted that it is often frustrating that the equipment necessary for valuable procedures, such as radioimmunoassay, is not readily available in Mexico. Conversely, the success of her experiments thus far have been encouraging and exciting. In fact, Campos plans to stay in the academic arena, perhaps at UJAT, when she has finished, but a PhD is not in her immediate plans. She also hopes to have the opportunity to study the effects of ultraviolet light on the elimination of methyltestosterone in masculinization systems.
As a native to Tabasco, Campos knows a lot about the status of aquaculture in Mexico. In particular, she advocates further investment of resources into the industry as well as more technical support for the farmers. Although she acknowledges that some shortcomings exist for the aquaculture industry in Mexico, Campos feels that southeastern Mexico has good potential because of its vast water resources in the form of rivers and lagoons. Furthermore, Campos sees national and global benefits of expanding the aquaculture industry to provide high quality foods to growing populations.
Campos has very little free time. When asked what she does in her spare time, she joked about not having the time to do anything except work. However, further questioning revealed that she enjoys Egyptian mythology and reading. During a rare break from the rigors of graduate school, Campos might relax by reading one of her favorite books, such as War and Peace, a classic Tolstoy novel.