CI-LSAMP Coordinators
Caryl Ann Becerra, Ph.D
LSAMP Faculty Director
Dr. Caryl Ann Becerra teaches in the Biology department at CSU Channel Islands. Previously, she was a researcher at the Earth Research Institute at UC-Santa Barbara after completing a joint postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and Amherst College. She was a recipient of the Ford Pre-doctoral Fellowship and received her Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also has a M.S. in Geo-Biology as part of the CEA-CREST program at CSULA and has an A.B.A. in Biochemistry from Occidental College where she was a Trustee Scholar. She enjoys mentoring and advising students about their educational, research, and career aspirations. She also loves teaching various topics in Biology. Having grown up in Ventura County, she is happy to be back serving the community.
Cindy Wyels, Ph.D
LSAMP Faculty Director S'11 - S'18
Dr. Cynthia Wyels, a faculty member in Mathematics, initiated the move to bring LSAMP to CSU Channel Islands and took on program direction in Spring, 2011. She has been involved in grant activity at CI for years: she’s most fond of the two 5-year, $6m HSI-STEM grants that created and maintain Project PROMESAS’ Student Success programs, and the NSF-Funded CI Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), which creates funded mathematical research opportunities for undergraduates during the summers. She is a recipient of the Mathematical Association of America's 2012 Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. More recently she was recognized as the 2017 SACNAS Distinguished Mentor.
Chris Opzeeland, MPPA
Chris is the CI-LSAMP Coordinator who oversees the programmatic operations for LSAMP. Chris came to CSUCI after spending 15 years at Cal Lutheran University directing and coordinating the Upward Bound/CVP and Upward Bound Math and Science Programs. She received her BS in Organizational Leadership and her MPPA at Cal Lutheran. Her passion is supporting and creating opportunities for underrepresented students to help them reach their potential.