Work and research experience
My main research interests are within coral reef conservation and ecology. My current research involves utilizing coral reef soundscapes to evaluate the success of restoration techniques. I enjoy educating the local communities about marine life through my social media pages and giving information about the "Sociedad Ambiente Marino" coral reef restoration efforts and the benefits of a healthy ocean.
Daily variation of coral reef soundscapes in Culebra, Puerto Rico
As part of my master's thesis project I use coral reef soundscapes recordings to determine whether diel patterns of biological sounds exhibit consistency across different months and reefs. During this process were also able to document 10 different fish sounds of Culebra's coral reefs'.
Restoring the seagrass-coral reef continuum habitats across heavily hurricane-impacted coastal areas in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico
I had the honor of being selected for a scholarship were I worked as a research assistant during this project. Activities of this work included outplanting seagrass propagation units to sand patches that were heavily affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. In the photo next to this text, we can see the reef on the left side, then a sand patch with several propagation units in the middle follow by natural seagrass to the right.
Coral nursery biofouling control and demographic monitoring
As part of the "Sociedad Ambiente Marino" (SAM) team I also had the opportunity to be a field technician for coral nurseries. Here I was had task like controlling the excess of biofouling that grew on the pvc and lines of the coral nurseries protecting the coral fragments and enhancing their survival rates.
Coral fragmentation and restoration techniques
Under the field technician job with SAM I also worked directly in different coral reef restoration projects. I learned about different coral fragmentation methods and outplanting techniques. After a few years doing this work I was able to become a leader of different expeditions were I had to teach these techniques to new volunteers.
Demographic and population response of the threatened coral Acropora cervicornis (Scleractinia, Acroporidae) to fireworm corallivory
SAM also gave me the opportunity to be part of this research as a coauthor. Here, we aim to evaluate the effects of fireworm (H. carunculata) corallivory on coral outplants of the staghorn coral (A. cervicornis). This research was published on the "Revista de Biologia Tropical" in April, 2023. (http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71is1.54912)