Raúl Cano is known for being a scientist who revived 30-million-year-old bacteria. His work has garnered national attention and he has received many awards, such as the Carski Foundation Distinguished Teacher Award.

 

But few people know the path Cano took to become a prominent educator and researcher, or that he credits a community college in Washington for encouraging him to succeed and playing a role in his love of research and learning.

 

Speaking at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Va., during the agency’s Community College Day this month, Cano detailed his life, which began in Cuba, and then his migration alone to Miami in 1962. He eventually ended up in a refugee camp in the Everglades.

There, he learned English and continued his high school education. Soon, he relocated to Spokane, Wash., and enrolled at Gonzaga University. According to Cano, a combination of homesickness, an inability to understand English and the Cuban Missile Crisis discouraged him, so he left the university.

 

He later enrolled at Spokane Falls Community College. There he found his passion.

 

"I went to Spokane Falls Community College to become a physical therapist. I made a mistake and took a microbiology class," Cano said.

He described his experience at the community college as akin to finding a mentor to guide him and give him the tools for success.

 

Cano eventually received his doctorate from the University of Montana.

 

Cano values his training at the community college so much that he continues to use undergraduate students to assist him with his current research.

 

"I hope you appreciate how important the students are in getting research done," Cano said during the NSF event. "If you want to do good science, you have to do good management. You have to be able to manage the students."

Cano is currently a professor of microbiology and director of the Environmental Biology Institute at California Polytechnic State University.