About Me
Scientist | Educator | Artist | Writer
I'm a first-generation, queer, non-binary, and disabled scientist. I aim to provide advocacy, mentorship, and visibility in STEM as a person with family and cultures tied to transnational pueblos in Colombia and Mexico.
I am a Ph.D. Candidate and NSF GRFP Fellow in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. I innovate and leverage small DNA molecules that enable researchers to make big discoveries via microscopy techniques. As a member of the Beliveau and Noble labs, I create tools and technologies to image "genomic dark matter", or satellite DNA, with unprecedented detail using single-cell imaging techniques. With my work, I aim to develop tools that will allow researchers to understand the contributions of satellite DNA in the context of global 3D genome organization, human and model organism evolution, and human disease. Ultimately, I aim to someday serve as a professor so that I can continue advocating and uplifting students in genomics and create accessible pedagogy.My motivation for pursuing genomics is heavily interconnected with my passion for making STEM more accessible for individuals who have been marginalized and experience oppression. I'm the co-founder of the Genome Sciences Association for the Inclusion of Marginalized Students (GSAIMS). Our overall goal is to provide support and connection to our communities so that we can thrive and collectively support our resilience in STEM.
Furthermore, I aim to use my platform to develop workshops and curricula centered on story-telling in science, and educational aspirations that affect me as a first-generation, non-binary, femme with lived experiences tied to the people and cultures of Yucatán, Michoacán, Jamundí, Guajira, and Bogotá in the diaspora. As I work with communities with inherited trauma and resilience, I aim to continue to learn and engage in a way that is compassionate and accessible.
In my free time, I am also an artist and writer! I love utilizing different mediums from pen and ink to digital art to convey clean, simple, and engaging pieces that communicate beauty in science and nature. In some of my writing pieces, I plan to share some of my own lived experiences as I navigate STEM.
Education
University of Washington Seattle
Ph.D. Genome Sciences
Data Science Track
- NSF GRFP Fellow
- Co-founder GSAIMS
DePauw University
B.S. Biochemistry, Minors: Computer Science and Spanish
- Magna Cum Laude
- Ferid Murad Award Winner
- Goldwater Scholar
- Phi Beta Kappa
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