Ciencia Puerto Rico

I am from Camuy, PR. I completed my undergraduate studies in the University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo where I majored in microbiology.  I also completed an associate's degree in social sciences.  In 2007, I received my M.S. in biological oceanography from the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS) at UPR-Mayagüez.  

During my Master's at DMS, I worked with Dr. Govind Nadathur, and my project was about bacterial symbionts associated with the toxic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis lenticularis.  This organism was a vector in ciguatera (fish poisoning).

In 2009, I joined the Environmental molecular microbiology lab at The Ohio State University.  Our lab's interest is the study of environmental microbiology using molecular techniques, and we have been working on magnetotactic bacteria Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1, and a series of membrane proteins involved in the biomineralization of magnetite.  I worked with protein Mms6 from magnetotactic bacteria, and studied the dynamics and binding activity in different minerals using atomic force microscopy.  I finished my project in 2012.

In 2013, I started my PhD under the guidance of Dr. Brian Lower and Dr. Richard Dick.  I am currently studying soil microorganisms, and how they respond to different soil management practices and biochar amendments.