Consuelo Baez Vega

All the way from Southern California in Thermal, Consuelo Baez Vega is a graduating senior majoring in Plant and Soil Science with a focus on crops and horticulture. She transferred from College of the Desert to Chico State where she has made her mark on the College of Agriculture as a first-generation college student. Baez has been named the College of Agriculture’s 2022 Star Student in Plant and Soil Science.  

Baez enjoys the outdoors and was influenced by agriculture in the Coachella Valley. She grew up looking at all the different commodities ranging from citrus to a variety of vegetables.  

Baez decided to transfer to Chico State after touring the campus and learning more about the agriculture program. She is an active and engaged student through her academics and extracurricular activities.  

She is a member of Womxn of Agriculture and the Sustainable Environmental Engineering for Human Development (SEEHD) club. Baez has also been a past student spotlight in 2021 in the College of Agriculture. She has attended several conferences on behalf of her research at the University Farm with the fava bean and weed management project.  

Baez has been involved in two different experimental projects at the University Farm. The first experiment was to test what herbicide would work best for the fava beans to grow. The second experiment was to use different weed management practices to observe the effects on morphological characteristics of fava beans.  

“I gained more experiences that I thought was possible. Coming to Chico State, I did not know the depth of research I could do as an undergraduate. Through talking with faculty and staff, I was able to make connections to find what my passion was in,” Baez said.  

She has also competed in several student poster competition throughout her college career at various conferences. Through an American Society of Agronomy conference, Baez won a presentation award and was the only student who published a peer-review paper in her senior year as a co-author with Ana Medic.  

https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/sustainability/vol1/iss1/5/ 

She has created so many amazing memories in the College of Agriculture. Some of her highlights include creating an entomology box from her Principles of Integrated Pest Management (PSSC 441), attending conferences with her professors, and growing her own garden in Introduction to Plant Science (PSSC 101).  

“I have developed so many memories in the College of Agriculture,” Baez said. “Through my classes and attending conferences with faculty members, I have created valuable memories that will last a lifetime.” 

In the future, Baez hopes to attend graduate school and receive a degree in regenerative and sustain agriculture. She might extend her education to a PHD in the future as well. She worked at the UC Davis rice experimental station to gain more experiences on the research side of the agriculture industry. She will be starting a new position at the UC rice cooperative extension soon.  

She appreciates all of the faculty and staff that she has made a connection with throughout her time at Chico State. Ana Medic, Professor Betsy Boyd, and Professor Hossein Zakeri have been her biggest role models within the college.  

“Baez is an intelligent young woman, an excellent student with the level of commitment necessary to succeed in any class environment at the university level and beyond. She is highly organized, detailed oriented, enthusiastic about learning and very curious,” Ana Medic said. 

Through the support and encouragement from her husband and family, Baez is able to continue to strive forward to accomplish all of her goals and aspirations. She is looking forward to the new experiences she has coming her way and pursuing more research in the agricultural industry.