From a young age, Catalina Arango Pinedo, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and director of the McNulty Program, was taught that education was invaluable. 

Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Arango Pinedo grew up in a household where academic achievement was not optional. Her father insisted all four of his daughters attend college, a belief that would shape her path. 

“My dad always emphasized that education is the only thing nobody can take from you,” Arango Pinedo said. 

Arango Pinedo completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Colombia before moving to the United States to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At the time, she was studying environmental engineering and had little interest in biology.

That changed during her junior year of college, when Arango Pinedo enrolled in a wastewater engineering course. There, she learned bacteria play a critical role in cleaning wastewater by metabolizing organic matter. 

“I was just blown away,” Arango Pinedo said, recalling the moment she realized bacteria could transform wastewater. “Like what do you mean bacteria can be cooked?”

The course sparked a curiosity that eventually led her to pursue a doctorate in environmental engineering, focusing on microbial tracking. 

Post-graduation
After graduating, Arango Pinedo worked in several research labs studying soil contamination and bacterial resistance to heavy metals. Although she was trained as an engineer, she found herself drawn to microbiology. 

Arango Pinedo joined a microbiology lab. One of her first projects involved studying how bacteria interact with plant roots. This required her to learn plant biology, microscopy and microbiology from the ground up. 

“I had never taken a biology class,” she said. 

Arango Pinedo credits much of her success to mentors who supported her throughout her academic journey. From her undergraduate advisor in Colombia, who encouraged her to apply to graduate school while she was a single mother, to her postdoctoral advisor, who patiently taught her biology, Arango Pinedo said she would not be where she is today without their guidance. 

“They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Arango Pinedo said. 

Arango Pinedo lands on Hawk Hill
While the work was fulfilling, research positions often came with financial instability. Grants would expire every few years, leaving Arango Pinedo uncertain about whether she would still have a job. As a parent, the uncertainty became increasingly difficult. 

“Every end of the year, I didn’t know if I was going to have a job the following year,” Arango Pinedo said. 

During the 2008-2009 recession, Arango Pinedo applied for faculty positions across the country. Many universities were cutting positions at the time, but she received several interviews, including one at St. Joe’s. What stood out to her most was not the campus but the people. 

“The people were so nice and so warm and so passionate about their work,” Arango Pinedo said. 

That same warmth is something students say defines her presence in the classroom today. Mae Conway ’29 said even in large lecture halls, Arango Pinedo makes students feel recognized and supported. 

“I sit all the way in the back, and I’m shy, so I don’t raise my hand a lot, but she literally knows every single person’s name … I had no idea she knew my name, but she genuinely does care about each student,” Conway said. 

That sense of care extends beyond the classroom into Arango Pinedo’s mentorship through the McNulty Program. McNulty Scholar Olivia Lutz ’26 shared similar sentiments.  

“She has a very positive and generally nice energy about her,” Lutz said. “She takes a lot of time to get to know each individual student that she works with, and she seems very passionate about what she does.” 

Outside the classroom
Arango Pinedo said her children have often been her motivation. 

“My kids have been the reason why I’ve gone on [in my] life to do whatever I think I want to do,” Arango Pinedo said. “You are their role model, so you have to be the best you can so that they can be the best they can.” 

Outside of the classroom, Arango Pinedo spends much of her free time fencing, a hobby she picked up two and a half years ago after her youngest child began the sport. When she isn’t working, she’s fencing. 

“Fencing is my happy place,” Arango Pinedo said. 

While fencing offers Arango Pinedo a sense of calm and control, that sense of joy did not come easily. She said some of her most important lessons about resilience and self identity came from personal hardship. One of the most formative experiences of her life, she said, was her first marriage, which she described as “very abusive.”

Arango Pinedo said the experience, while difficult, ultimately shaped the person she became. 

“Even though it’s painful, when I finally had the courage and the vision to get out, and when I finally had the mental strength or the peace of mind or the soul or whatever to realize it was not my fault, I also realized I wouldn’t be who I am if that hadn’t happened,” Arango Pinedo said.