Although Doshia Dodd had a deeply instilled love of learning, her path to higher education was not smooth. A first-generation college student who initially struggled in her undergraduate program, Doshia dropped out, only to get back on track and then face the death of her beloved father.

During her first semester of graduate study, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and her husband had to work on the front lines. Even so, Doshia remained focused and distinguished herself as a model student in Sonoma State's Cultural Resources Management Master's program, undertaking innovative and original research on Native Californian plant utilization.

Doshia represented SSU in the 35th Annual CSU Student Research Competition, is a member of the Lambda Alpha National Anthropological Honors Society and served as a volunteer coordinator for the 2019 California Indian Conference.

Her professional goal is to become an archaeobotanist and manage a lab that focuses on the recovery, identification and analysis of botanical remains from archaeological sites.​