05/13/2026
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Plant and Soil Science Senior Advancing Sustainable Agriculture Research
Michael Drummond April 27, 2026
Oscar Deleon, a plant and soil science major, conducts research in the Cobian campus lab, exploring plant pathology and fungi as part of his academic work and recognition as an outstanding graduate on Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Chico, Calif.(Matt Bates / University Photographer)
Last year, Oscar Deleon spent the hottest weeks of summer stooped in the Sacramento Valley’s sweltering rice fields, studying herbicide resistance and how beneficial fungi might help combat harmful ones in agriculture. Now a senior in the plant and soil science program, he is increasingly interested in the good strains that eat the bad ones without damaging their host.
Deleon said fungicides can lose effectiveness as harmful fungi develop resistance, eventually damaging crops instead of protecting them. Interested in alternative solutions, he began exploring whether locally occurring fungi could eliminate harmful strains. With encouragement from agriculture professor Whitney Brim-DeForest, he developed that idea into a research poster for Chico State’s 40th annual Student Research Symposium.
His poster, “Managing Resistance and Improving Outcomes Using Alternative Options: Herbicide Data from Rice Trials in the Sacramento Valley,” earned first place.
Before he found his niche in fungi and academia, Deleon was lost and stuck in a life that bore little resemblance to the one he leads today.
A man holds papers and speaks to a small group as they review a research poster at an indoor symposium, with other attendees and display boards visible in the background.
Oscar Deleon presents their research during the 40th annual Student Research Symposium.
(Matt Bates / University Photographer)
“I used to get bullied a lot, which kind of pushed me into more of the gang life,” he said. “Fighting, drugs, drinking—it was pretty violent.”
He’d worked off and on as a structural pest control technician, spraying poison to rid Coachella Valley buildings of termites and such. But he was unable to maintain his licensure because of his criminal record.
Friends he made in a halfway house kept relapsing and worse. He said he needed to break the downward cycle.
Deleon enrolled in College of the Desert to get an irrigation certificate. An instructor told him, “if you’re here for the certificate, you might as well stay for the associate degree.”
His spiral suddenly pivoted skyward.
He stayed in school, but it wasn’t easy. His first college essay came back with major flaws. Instead of quitting, he said he spent more than 160 hours with a tutor and eventually submitted a successful paper
“If I just put the time into anything,” he said, “I can do it.”
He took trigonometry to prove to himself he could handle difficult material. He pushed himself into public speaking. An engaged student who did the assigned reading and performed well on exams, he delivered College of the Desert’s commencement speech for transfer students.
By the time he was looking to move to a four-year college, Deleon had another challenge: he was unhoused.
“I was couch surfing,” he said. “Nobody knew.”
He had already been accepted to several CSU campuses. But one stood out.
“Something about Chico spoke to me,” he said. “I felt something. Just the name ‘Chico.’ It gave me chills.”
Yet that meant starting over in an unfamiliar environment, in his 40s, without support from his family, and without stable housing.
“If I was going to be homeless,” he said, “I knew I’d rather be homeless in Chico. I came up here by bus with four bags and about $800,” noting the multi-stop journey took 20 hours.
His plan was to buy a tent and maybe pitch it along Big Chico Creek. But first, Deleon reached out to Chico State’s Basic Needs program, which, along with the True North Housing Alliance, helped him secure temporary shelter before orientation, then worked with University Housing to place him in a dorm—an unusual step for a non-traditional student with an unconventional background.
Deleon quickly made a positive impression when school started.
Agriculture Professor Logan Smith remembers a student who, despite sitting in the back row, stood out for his academic interest.
“He definitely was one of my more curious students,” Smith said. “Everybody in the middle is turning around like, ‘Who’s back there asking those big questions?’”
That willingness had an impact beyond Deleon’s own learning.
“It gave everyone tacit permission to participate,” Smith said. “He improved other students’ engagement and curiosity.”
A woman sits at a table examining a small blue, brain-shaped model in her hands. In front of her are larger anatomical models, including a neuron and a segmented structure, with papers resting to the side against a dark background.A man wearing a cap and gloves tends to potted plants on a table inside a greenhouse, surrounded by rows of flowers and greenery in bright sunlight.
Deleon tends to plants at the University Farm greenhouses. (Jason Halley/University Photographer)
Deleon is driven by curiosity. He wants to know how things work, like how fungi interact with plants. He wants to know how scientific research is applied in the real world, and what comes next.
In Professor Gerald Cobián’s plant pathology class, that same curiosity showed up when Deleon regularly stayed after class to talk through ideas and would bring in fungal samples he collected while conducting agricultural studies.
“He’s very enthusiastic, super friendly… very engaged,” Cobián said. “He’s always bringing his interest from outside into the class.”
Deleon also wasn’t afraid to take intellectual risks.
“I’ll ask a question in class, and if no one answers, Oscar’s definitely going to give it a shot,” Cobián said. “Even if he’s wrong, he’s still going to give it a go.”
That kind of classroom courage can be stoked by a culture of belonging. At Chico State, Deleon said, he’s found opportunity and support from professors, staff, and peers.
“Chico State believed in me,” he said. “I thrive in this environment.”
He is now preparing for graduate school, and will pursue a master’s degree in agriculture here, studying fungal pathogens with Cobián—and eventually a PhD.
“I look forward to the day when I can call him ‘Dr. Deleon,’” said Gabby Medina Falzone, assistant professor of Latine Studies and Black Studies, and interim director of Project Rebound, the program that supports formerly incarcerated individuals in achieving a college education.
She noted he’s the first STEM student in Project Rebound.
Deleon has maintained a strong GPA, engaged in undergraduate research on the pathogen properties of fungi, and garnered praise for his academic work. So well regarded among faculty and students, they selected him to carry the gonfalon for the College of Agriculture at commencement.
He hopes his story can reach others who feel stuck or written off.
“Hopefully I can change somebody’s life,” he said.
When asked who he would thank for his journey to the graduation stage, he doesn’t hesitate.
“I would like to thank me,” he said. “For believing in me… for doing what needed to be done. I was lost. But I’m not lost anymore.” https://today.csuchico.edu/oscar-deleon/
