Long Beach City College welcomed Dr. Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz, an expert in environmental toxicology, as a guest speaker for Sip N’ Science.
Sip N’ Science is an LBCC-hosted series of guest speakers and community workshops.
“They’ll talk about it in their class and they’ll be like ‘Oh wow, I heard that and it was so cool,’ or ‘It was cool to see someone from my similar background,’” Erika Calle-Poppe, co creator of Sip N’ Science and an LBCC microbiology professor, said.
“It’s a big motivator to have that person that’s inspirational especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s designed to make science fun, inclusive, and accessible through easy-to-understand talks,” Calle-Poppe added.
With food and drinks provided, students can attend, listen to the guest speakers and learn about new topics in a casual setting.
“I came out to Sip N’ Science because I wanted to learn more about how environmental factors can affect human health. I’m currently completing prerequisites for a graduate program in nutrition and dietetics at CSULB, so I was especially interested in hearing how environmental health connects with overall health and disease,” LBCC student Miguel Rodriguez-Cevallos said after attending the event.
Guest speakers gave informal presentations, discussed their career journeys and shared their knowledge of scientific topics related to their areas of expertise.
When asked how guest speakers are selected, Calle-Poppe said they look for professionals willing to speak openly about their experiences.
“Finding people that are now professionals who went through it and they talk that openly about their experiences. For Dr. Andrea, we only met once, but the conversations we were having were around equity. Her first thing was, ‘I’m so equity-minded, I care to mentor my students.’ People like that are rare to find, but that’s the criteria essentially,” Calle-Poppe said.
In addition to providing snacks and beverages, the event gave students opportunities to network with guest speakers and learn about different areas of research.
Sip N’ Science attendees listen as award-winning environmental toxicology expert Dr. Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz explains how microplastics affect the human bodies and the potential effects of exposure on Sept. 29. De Vizcaya-Ruiz was the guest speaker for the first Sip N’ Science event of the fall 2026 semester. (Jocelyn Cortez-Garcia)
“Hearing from guest speakers has made me more open to areas of research that I may not have considered before. I’m particularly interested in research that connects nutrition with other areas of science and helps us better understand disease prevention.” Rodriguez-Cevallos said.
Dr. Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz, an award-winning expert in environmental toxicology and a professor at UC Irvine, studies how chemical, biological and physical pollutants, such as microplastics, affect the human body and other living organisms.
Originally from Mexico City, Vizcaya-Ruiz recently moved to California to continue her work as an associate professor in UC Irvine’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.
“I came to the University of California, Irvine five years ago. I had to leave my previous research and start, not from zero, but start again in this new space, which took a while. But I had to put a lot of resilience into myself to know that I was gonna start building it up again,” De Vizcaya-Ruiz said.
Her research focuses on the toxic effects of air pollutants, chemicals and particulate matter on the human body.
Award-winning environmental toxicology expert, Dr. Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz, speaks to attendees during the Sip N’ Science event on Sept. 29. De Vizcaya-Ruiz was the guest speaker for the first Sip N’ Science event of the fall 2026 semester. (Kamille Banks)
“Nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide are the main pollutants that come from the ports. Some of them, especially gas, are known to be irritants in the long run while particulate matter is a more persistent type of pollutant that can induce different types of injuries because it can lacerate the tissue in the lungs,” De Vizcaya-Ruiz said.
She has more than 20 years of experience as a toxicologist and received her doctorate in toxicology from the University of Surrey in England.
De Vizcaya-Ruiz spoke at Long Beach City College on Sept. 29 as part of the Sip N’ Science series.
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