BSP Students and Alumni/ae

Current BSP Student

Viviana Huang

Majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology (Immunology Emphasis) and Hispanic Languages & Bilingual Issues

"don’t associate myself with just one group, but an array of them."

BSP Alumnus

Daniel Santillano

Featured in article "Daniel Santillano, Man of Microbes" (PROGRESS MAGAZINE Winter 2007 Vol.4 , No. 1)

Article excerpt
"With the new tools we have...we can now really figure out what is in nature..."

BSP Alumnus

Adam Warren

Featured in article "Surviving the Match" (East Bay Express, March 14, 2007, Volume 29, No. 23)

Article excerpt
"Worse than a late-night code blue, that ring, if it comes, portends terrible news..."

Current BSP Student

Joel Gonzalez

2nd Year Intended Public Health Major

"...I see the problem in medicine and I WILL do something about it."

Current BSP Student

Juan Magana

2nd Year Intended Public Health Major

"...nobody should be denied health care."

Latest News

Grant extends successful program for low-income students...(click for full story)

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded its fourth four-year grant to a University of California, Berkeley, program that mentors students from underserved communities through biology majors and on to medical school or graduate research...( read full story - UC Berkeley News, June 8th 2006)

Diversity conference draws from across U.S....(click for full story)

Representatives from 45 different institutions of higher learning from across the United States, including Puerto Rico, gathered at Harvard's Science Center Nov. 18-19 to focus on the vexing question of how to attract and retain a more diverse pool...( read full story - Harvard University Gazette, December 1st, 2005)

The Biology Scholars Program helps turn the big world of UC-Berkeley into family for aspiring scientists...(click for full story)

When Juan Magana applied to University of California, Berkeley, at his sister's urging, he didn't know much about the school. On his first trip to visit the campus, the Salinas, Calif., native settled in for a long nap...( read full story - The Scientist, Nov. 7th 2005)

Conference points to new era in science diversity

Berkeley's Biology Scholars Program (BSP) has been recognized as one of the most successful science-diversity programs in the country. To help others replicate that success on other California campuses...( read full story - The Berkeleyan, Oct. 20th 2005)

UC Berkeley Biology Scholars Program gets $5.6 million grant to diversify the sciences

Berkeley - A $5.6 million grant to the Biology Scholars Program at the University of California, Berkeley, will increase the number of UC Berkeley students from underserved communities who are admitted to medical schools and graduate science programs throughout the country... (read full story)

Announcing BSP's Pre-Dental Pathway



The Pre-Dental Pathway is for any BSP member past or present interested in becoming a dentist or learning more about the field of Dentistry. We offer each other support through mentorships with BSP alum, contacts with local dentists, and sharing our personal experiences.


BSP Success

  • Students in the Biology Scholars Program graduate with a degree in biology at significantly higher rates than students not in BSP.
  • In addition, minority students in the program graduate with significantly higher UC Berkeley GPAs and are one-and-a-half times more likely to graduate with a biology degree than minority students who do not participate in BSP.
The Biology Scholars Program has graduated over 900 students and currently has 500 members.


"BSP is a supportive environment where I am able to grow, find meaning, and explore my directions and passions within myself and beyond academics. BSP is a vibrant hub of people from all life experiences, coming together in support of each other."

~Senior, Integrative Biology Major