I am a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) in the Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office, located in Sterling, VA.
My interests in meteorology go back to 1989, when Hurricane Hugo moved over Puerto Rico and left extensive damage over the island. Images from the storm and its devastation initiated my fascination with meteorology.
I received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) and during my undergraduate studies I was awarded the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Educational Partnership Program Undergraduate Scholarship Program. This award allowed me to complete two summer internships in NOAA offices. The first summer I was at the NOAA’s Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch. The next summer I interned at NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD).
Upon graduating from the UPRM, I began my graduate studies at Howard University (HU) with a fellowship from the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences. Through my time at HU, I completed two more internships at HRD and also interned at the NOAA NWS in Sterling, Virginia and at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences. I graduated with a master’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences, fulfilling a long time goal.
My professional career was initiated at the Department of the Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. Later on, I transferred to my current position.
I am also the founder and director of ‘Semilla Cultural’; a non-profit organization dedicated to preserve and disseminate Afro-Puerto Rican ‘bomba’. In this organization a group of volunteers, including myself, offer public and private classes, workshops, and performances to bring cultural awareness to the local community.
In my spare time, I enjoy organizing weather and climate-related outreach events, I mentor high school and undergraduate students, and love spending time with my family.
