Educational and Research Background

I earned my BA in Integrative Biology (emphasis in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology) and Marine Science from the University of California at Berkeley in 2013. During this time, I completed several independent research projects, including studying leech development in the lab of Dr. David Weisblat, barnacle and coral symbiosis with Drs. Robert Van Syoc and Gary Williams during an NSF REU at the California Academy of Sciences, mantis shrimp burrowing behavior in Dr. Roy Caldwell’s lab, and a course-based research experience on diving behavior in American coots and pelagic cormorants.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, I began teaching middle school science on an Emergency Credential in San Jose which led me to pursue and earn my Master's of Arts in Education and Secondary Science Teaching Credential from Stanford University in 2016. During my summer breaks, I participated in the Ignited Summer Fellowship program at Stanford where I studied Cope’s rule in bivalves with Dr. Jonathan Payne in 2017 and then factors that predict snake reproductive mode with Dr. William Gearty in 2018.

With my newfound fascination with snakes and continued interest in aquatic behavior and physiology, in 2019, I began a PhD in the lab of Dr. Rita Mehta at UC Santa Cruz. For six years, I studied adaptations for a semi-aquatic existence using garter snakes as my model organism and defended my dissertation in 2025.

Current Role

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher advised by Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen at Hopkins Marine Station. I conduct experimental work with garter snakes in the lab of my collaborator Dr. Rita Mehta at UC Santa Cruz as well as fieldwork on Staten Island Preserve, in the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Mission

As a first-generation Latina of Mexican descent with a passion for the natural world and science education, I aim to build avenues of support and access for traditionally underserved students by becoming a professor whose research program provides authentic research experiences for undergraduates while contributing to the conservation of semi-aquatic wildlife in agricultural ecosystems.