about me
I am a biologist interested in the future of our oceans.
My main focus of research has been how ocean warming, acidification, and pollution affect corals and disrupt the coral-algal symbiosis, causing coral bleaching and mortality.
I am also trying to identify (environmental and genetic) factors
that promote more resistant corals that could survive in our fast changing world.
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I use a combination of fieldwork and laboratory experiments to better understand corals' susceptibility and tolerance to these stressors. I collect small coral samples during my expeditions and experiments, which then I analyze with molecular techniques and bioinformatic tools.
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I am currently a guest post-doctoral researcher at NOAA-AOML and an NRC research fellow. I got a Ph.D. from the University of Miami with the Coral Futures Lab, and a BS degree from Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia). I am also a member of the Coral Reefs Ecology research group at Universidad del Valle.
stories
My research has taken my to amazingly beautiful places.
These are some of the stories I want to share
skills & resources
Each project/publication requires an incredible amount of work.
These are some of the processes and steps that I commonly follow in my research
and some resources to understand them
I have collected thousands of samples for my research. Here I describe how we collect and preserve these samples in the field and the lab
Most of my samples are used for DNA or RNA analysis. Here I describe how we extract these molecules and some of the analysis that we perform after
To be able to describe corals response to stressors I also measure their physiological performance. Here there is some useful information about the metrics that I have used
The research process should involve methods, data and results that are available to everyone. I use tools that support open and reproducible science, such as Shell, R, Markdown, git, GitHub, and Jupyter.
Writing tools
Scientific writing is not easy, specially in a second language. These are some of the resources I have used to learn how to write better. I also included tools to organize and manage your references.
During my doctoral and post-doctoral research I had the opportunity to mentor undergrads and master students. Each mentor-mentee
relationship is unique, but there are some practices that can help making it more satisfying and rewarding for both parts.