Elena's Bio

Elena Ortiz

Biosciences Professor

Phoenix College

Office: Dalby 213

I currently teach Bio 108 Plants and Society, but have also taught Bio 105 Environmental Biology, Bio 109 Natural History of the Southwest and Bio 100. I grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and I have a Bachelor's of Arts in Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. There I developed research interests in ecology and evolution.

I earned a Master of Science in Biology from Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. The research I did for my M.S. involved growing orchids from seeds, comparing self-pollinated to cross-pollinated seeds to see how closely my results matched the predicted outcomes based on mathematical models of evolution. 

For my PhD in Plant Biology (from Arizona State University), I studied soil seed banks in desert grassland ecosystems and potential risks to those seeds from natural and man-made fires, I also spent quite a bit of my time as a doctoral student learning about science education and outreach.

In Fall of 2018 I left campus for a semester (took a sabbatical) to learn from the educators at the Desert Botanical Gardens and the Phoenix Zoo.

I enjoy the outdoors. Hiking, camping, gardening, scuba diving are my main hobbies. I'm a Maricopa County Master Gardener and the advisor for the Phoenix College Garden Club if anyone is interested. But I also love movies and good TV :-) Lately, all of my free time is spent with my nine year-old daughter Isabel.

I teach at Phoenix College full-time so I'm usually on campus all day M-F. Please feel free to stop by and chat or ask me questions, I'm here to help you succeed.

Good Luck!
-Elena