Dr. Otero-Díaz previously served as an Associate Professor of Environmental Resources Engineering at Cal Poly Humboldt. Her Environmental Engineering research has centered on environmental chemistry, water quality, watershed monitoring, and the physico-chemical aspects of contaminant fate, transport, and remediation. Since the completion of the ESCALA Certificate in College Teaching and Learning in HSIs, Dr. Otero-Díaz has restructured her course formats and projects to include community-based learning methods and her research focuses on assessing the impacts of incorporating culturally responsive practices into her educational spaces on student-perceived engagement and achievements. Dr. Otero-Díaz has particularly focused on the disproportionate impact on minoritized learners, such as Latiné students.Dr. Otero-Díaz’s service has been geared toward increasing equity and access for students, mainly through her role as Program Coordinator and Co-Creator/Co-Facilitator of Creando Conciencia (an internal professional learning community at Cal Poly Humboldt). Additionally, Dr. Otero-Díaz has had roles at Cal Poly Humboldt's HSI Leadership Team, HSI Advisory Committee, and advisor for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Cal Poly Humboldt’s student chapter.