From the Colombian Andes to the USGS: How Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio Became a Champion for Diversity in Science
Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio transformed her childhood experiences in Colombia into a meaningful career as a Physical Scientist in the USGS Water Resources Mission Area. Through her mentorship and outreach efforts, she is paving the way for future Latino scientists and leaders.
Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio still remembers the exploratory hikes she took with her grandfather and cousins as a child in the fields near her hometown of Manizales, Colombia. Her grandfather would share facts about the healing properties of the plant life they encountered, pointing out each plant's name and characteristics. She also remembers inspecting nests and other evidence of wildlife presence during these explorations, sparking her curiosity of the natural world. She credits these walks as an early influence that inspired her to pursue a career in science.
“Nature was always a big part of my upbringing and was always associated with my immediate and extended family. As well as the curiosity to learn how nature works. Questions like how does nature work at the at the micro level? How does it work at the macro level?” said Restrepo-Osorio. “When I was a little girl, I used to say that I wanted to be a doctor of plants and animals.”
Restrepo-Osorio began her career at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) during her PhD, as a student trainee in geography. Once she graduated, she began working full time with the agency and eventually moved to the Water Mission Area, where she works as a physical scientist. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on how community partners and collaborators view and use USGS water-related data, and how economic and social factors influence their decisions.
She is part of several professional diversity groups, including the Water Mission Area’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Leadership Team, the USGS National Diversity and Inclusion Council, and the DOI National Association of Hispanic Employees. Through these groups, Restrepo-Osorio has participated in several diversity outreach campaigns, including teaching inner-city students about science to help them gain a competitive edge when applying to college. Additionally, she has benefited from the long-lasting collaboration between the USGS and the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Latinos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS) to organize several panels on topics related to environmental justice, educational and professional trajectories, and how lived experiences, culture influence our work as social scientists in the USGS. government work.
For her efforts, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City awarded Restrepo-Osorio the STEM & Education Nuestra Latina Award on October 10th. In June of this year, she also received the Rufus D. Catchings Diversity Outreach Award.
“We can go as far as we want in our careers, but we must always remember we came from. I know this is a cliché, but really, we can be an inspiration for the new generations coming up,” she said. “Yes, I have a PhD; yes, I work for the federal government and other achievements. But I can still be a Latina and I can still celebrate that. I can still dance, speak Spanish and be professional. All of these different things are not exclusive of each other.”
When she was 16, Restrepo-Osorio left the Colombian Andes for the Great Plains of Kansas. The first person in her family to arrive in the U.S., she finished high school in Kansas. She remained in the educational pipeline in Kansas, earning her associate degree from Johnson County Community College and her bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD from the University of Kansas.
Her fields of study were diverse—her bachelor’s was in molecular biosciences with a minor in sociology, her master’s in Latin American studies, and her PhD in geography. While in graduate school, she gained her first experience running a diversity group. Along with a few other graduate students, she created the Latin American Graduate Organization.
“It really became a family,” said Restrepo-Osorio. “We got a good reputation for the quality of events we planned and creating a community for graduate students who were Latin American or were interested in doing research in Latin America.”
In 2021, the Pew Research Center released a report showing that Black and Hispanic communities continue to lag in pursuing STEM careers. Hispanic workers made up 17% of the total workforce but only 8% of all STEM workers in 2018. The disparity was also seen in students; Hispanic students comprised only 12% of college graduates with STEM degrees.
“In a lot of cases, we don't have enough role models that sound like us and look like us in leadership to help us get there,” said Restrepo-Osorio of her reasons for being so involved in diversity groups.
She pointed out a significant moment during her time as an undergraduate. She was working in a lab as part of the McNair Scholars Program but debating whether to attend graduate school, given she was a first-generation college student.
“I was really doubting my abilities, doubting if I was going to be a good fit for graduate school,” she recalls. “At that moment, I ran into somebody who was not empathetic to my situation. He kicked me out of the lab right away, saying, ‘Well, don’t waste my time or the program’s time if you don’t know what you want to do. Get out of here.’”
Restrepo-Osorio was assigned a new mentor who was empathetic and understood what she was going through, becoming like a second mom. The experience taught her the importance of empathy.
“At that point, you do need somebody who sees the potential in you and believes in you more than sometimes you believe in yourself,” said Restrepo-Osorio. “[The lack of Latino mentors] is a current problem that we see in the agency and in other spaces, too. It's like, okay, how do we get those Latinos who are showing good leadership skills to a space where they can look after other Latinos coming up?”
Restrepo-Osorio describes her heritage as the foundation for her life philosophy. Her home is filled with decorations related to her native country, including a painting hanging in her living room that depicts a beautiful landscape from Colombia's coffee-growing region, where Manizales is located. The painting features a white house with red trimmings, traditional in Colombia, alongside coffee bushes and a horse by a stream.
“You truly have to be purposeful about continuing to celebrate and continuing to bring your culture with you, even after you've been in the United States for so long,” she said. “All of those morals, ethics and teachings of my family and my culture, I have brought with me and used as tools and skills to navigate different spaces. They give me a different edge — a unique set of skills to solve problems, see situations, advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves.”
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