Vanessa Perez, 21, is a Class of 2020 graduate completing a bachelor’s degree in plant biology who developed her love for plants working in her father’s backyard garden as a child. She’s researched plant varieties in the Mojave Desert, co-authored two research papers, and cataloged about 1,000 trees on campus for a GIS project. She will be teaching for two years with the Teach for America program but hopes to eventually pursue a master’s degree.