The SEEDS program has been crucial for my professional development throughout her scientific career. I joined the program in 2009 during my freshmen year at Eos SEEDS UPRH during the first Bio Blitz. Ever since, I have been involved from undergraduate to doctorate. 

I served as the student representative for the chapter from 2010-2013, lead multiple outreach and education activities, the Annual Bio Blitz being the biggest one of the year. The Bio Blitz is a 24-hour survey in an area of a community with the purpose of engaging the local non-scientists and scientists to interact while learning about the natural habitat surrounding them. For the annual Bio Blitz in UPRH, the community was the campus and the community included from students of different majors to residents from Villa Universitaria. The experts to help with the surveys were both the professors from the Biology Department and the senior students, which is a great way to asses knowledge and apply what they learned during their classes.

After graduating from UPRH, I kept my involvement with SEEDS as an alumni mentor and logistics coordinator at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) annual meeting, national field trips and Hampton University's SEEDS Ecology Club. See more on mentoring. 

"Even though I was born and raised in an island, I was not aware of the field in science that is dedicated to studying the ocean environment that surrounded me. 

As I learned from my courses and fieldwork,  my thirst for knowledge only kept growing. Once I immersed in the field throughout research, it became clear that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.  

I became so fascinated with marine science that I wanted to share this newfound knowledge with the world, hoping to inspire the next generation of scientists.  Outreach and education allow me to share the wonders of this discipline from K to grey."