James Cardenas

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James Cardenas
Lorton, VA
Junior 
Major: Chemistry in the College of Science and Technology
Campus Involvement: Army ROTC, Radford men’s Rugby Club Sport, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, and Pi Lambda Phi men’s fraternity

As a senior in high school, James Cardenas began his college search looking for a campus with small class sizes, an Army ROTC program and affordable tuition. His guidance counselor steered him to Radford University. Cardenas quickly realized RU was the right choice.

“I love the ability to walk to any part of the campus within 10 minutes and getting to know my professors because of the smaller class sizes,” he said. “But most important, I love the diversity in student body and academics that Radford University offers.”

With hopes of one day working with the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, Cardenas takes his studies in chemistry seriously.

“What excites me about chemistry is the research aspect and being able to observe the reactions and outcomes of different chemical solutions,” Cardenas said.

Cardenas is currently researching water quality and mosquito fecundity with one of his instructors, Tiffany Carpanetti. He hopes to combine his research, his coursework and his ROTC experience in a position with the Department of Defense, working to help prevent chemical warfare.