Saludos, a todos. I am a born and raised Puerto Rican interested in the intersection of marine habitat restoration and ecology, sometimes known as ecological restoration. In other words, I like to understand how the natural world works and interacts, and use that knowledge to improve the success of habitat restoration efforts.
During my BSc in Coastal Marine Biology at UPR-Humacao (2016) I had the opportunity to work with bioluminescent dinoflagellates and chiton molluscs. I also participated in marine science internships with Western Washington University (2013), Duke University (2013), and UCLA (2015) studying symbiont expulsion in intertidal anemones, hermit crab behavior in pressence of chemical cues, and the role of nutrient inputs on the prevalence of an invasive brown algae, respectively. I then graduated from an MSc in Marine Science at UPR – Mayaguez (2020) where I studied and compared fish assemblages associated with different types of artificial reefs (Nieves-Ortiz et al. 2021). During my master’s I also had the opportunity to work on coral-gardening in Little Cayman and in Puerto Rico and as an editor for the Sea Grant College Program.
Currently (2022-present) I am working for CCRI as project manager for a water quality monitoring program in collaboration with PR-DNER and the EPA, where we built the first seawater analysis laboratory in a public institution in Puerto Rico. I am also a certified PADI Open Water Instructor and an Emergency First Responder Instructor with over 10 years of diving experience. In my free time, I enjoy surfing, gaming, exploring rivers and caves, and catching up with friends.