| After seeing Jose J. Madera on stage at Dane Dances as one of the lead singers of MadiSalsa performing with ease, it might surprise people that Madera was a studious -- almost nerdy -- child when he was growing up in Santa Isabel on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. Madera, assistant dean of UW-Madison's Academic Advancement Program, grew up in a household where discipline was the rule. "I was raised by -- not blood related -- two sisters who were considered to be our grandmothers back home," Madera said during an interview in his Ingraham Hall office. "They are the ones who brought in discipline, responsibility and the sense of accomplishment. They helped to keep me totally focused. I did well in school because I had their support. I wouldn't consider myself a nerd because I wasn't just focused on the books. I did other things, nerdy things. A lot of it was intellectual pursuits." While it was the sisters who gave him the tools to be studious, it was what was going on in the environment around Santa Isabel that gave Madera the desire to study. "We were surrounded first by sugar cane fields and eventually by the small vegetable industry: tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers," Madera said. "Those were the premier crops and then we also had lettuce and some other crops. They were heavily sprayed with pesticides. Almost every morning, particularly Monday mornings, you could smell the plume of pesticides. Back in the 1980s, they would use small planes to spray the crops. Inevitably, the pesticide that was suspended in the air would be pushed away from the crops and would drift into the communities. You could actually smell that. That's what sparked my interest in the sciences, particularly in chemistry, the science of pesticides. The community was quite active challenging the use of these spraying and fertilization techniques because in the southern parts of Puerto Rico is where the biggest aquifer on the island is located. It's the main source of potable water. Pesticides can easily infiltrate the surface and the many layers of the soil. Eventually, there is the water table. Couple that with the consumption of water and it was a big concern." As a high school student, Madera entered many science competitions. "I used to do a lot scientific fair projects just to keep myself busy and out of trouble," Madera said with a smile. "I enjoyed mixing chemicals. In one of the summer research programs that I participated in, I collected enough information to write a paper. I wrote a paper for the Association of Academy Doctors on the concerns and health affects of air pollution. I ended up winning the first prize. I received $1,000. I thought 'Wow, if I can learn about the environment and write about it, someone will read about it and they'll send me a check.' That was the driving force for me getting a degree in environmental studies." Madera was hooked on science when he attended the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey, and an internship opportunity led Madera to the streets -- and cold -- of Chicago. Next issue: Transition to administration |
| Immigrant Success Stories Two years and counting ... By Jonathan Gramling Part 1 of 2 |
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| Jose J. Madera has remained in Madison, in part, because of the opportunity it has given him to learn about and see the world. |