I am an Assistant Professor of Biology at Hope College in Holland, MI (USA), a Costa Rica-American evolutionary ecologist and ichthyologist. My research integrates population genomics, eco-evolutionary dynamics, aquatic conservation, and environmental DNA. I am interested in understanding how resource-competition, hybridization, and environmental change shape biodiversity—particularly in freshwater fishes such as cichlids, bigheaded carps, and more recently, lake sturgeon.

Before my position at Hope College, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Iowa State University investigating the recruitment dynamics of species in the genus Hypophthalmichthys sp. known as bigheaded carps invading the Mississippi River Basin. I also delved into the temporal dynamics of gene introgression between the two bigheaded carps using low coverage whole genome sequencing (lc-WGS) data.

In 2021, I graduated from the interdisciplinary Program in Ecology as part of Dr. Catherine Wagner’s Lab at University of Wyoming, Laramie WY. For my PhD, I studied drivers of cichlid fish diversity in the shallow littoral of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, combining population genomic technologies, biodiversity surveys, behavioral assays, and natural history observations. Such an integrative approach provided a unique glimpse into both the origination and persistence processes underlying endemic ichthyofaunal diversity accumulation.

I have always loved learning languages, culture, and history, and more recently contributing to iNaturalist. I value most being outside or underwater, as well as quality time with friends and family.

Silver Carp
Bighead Carp