Gloria Jimenez became interested in science at a young age. With three uncles who are marine biologists, she was always fascinated hearing them talk about their work and experiments. She enjoyed visiting their labs and seeing all the animal species they worked with. It was inspiration for her to pursue her own goals in science. But it wasn’t until she was a sophomore at St. Paul Central High School identifying rocks and minerals at Science Olympiad events that she whetted her real scientific passion — geology.
As a high school senior, Gloria excelled in math and science and was ready to take her academic rigor to the next level. She enrolled in post-secondary enrollment options coursework at the University of Minnesota and participated in a mini-internship that gave her the opportunity to add geological research to her résumé before becoming an undergraduate at Carleton College.
