Nuvia C. Ruland

I am very enthusiastic about starting my fifth year as a science teacher at High Tech High Chula Vista. I love teaching at High Tech High because it allows me to marry my passion for science and art. Since graduating from UC San Diego with a B.S. in biochemistry/cell biology and a minor in studio art, I have been active in 
San Diego's science and art communities and contribute to our city’s cultural fabric.

For nearly ten years, I worked at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as a member of the Drug Discovery team where I helped develop complex pharmaceuticals. During my time at Arena, I also nurtured my visual art skills by painting my bicultural experience of growing up in Los Angeles while frequently visiting my family in Baja California, Mexico. I have had the honor of sharing and displaying my artwork on both coasts and on both sides of the border.

This year I celebrated nine years of marriage with my husband Jim Ruland. He inspires me daily to create art and always appreciate life's simple joys. He is also actively involved in San Diego’s literary community as a novelist and book reviewer for San Diego CityBeat and Los Angeles Times. He is also the curator of Vermin on the Mount: a reading series now in its twelfth year. 

In the classroom, my goal is to inspire students to work in an interdisciplinary manner to make discoveries about themselves through science. Biology is the study of living organisms and the avenues for exploration are limitless. I aspire to lead my students to develop projects that educate them not only about biology and art, but about the role science plays in our community.