Jadzia Cruz, a proud Latina from Laredo, TX, is majoring in environmental science with a focus on conservation and restoration ecology at UTSA. Her career started after meeting Masi Mejia through LSA. Following her first year, she became a vegetation technician at San Antonio Viejo Ranch, sparking her interest in plants. In the summer of 2023, Jadzia interned as a plant ecology researcher at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in Minnesota.