Service to Profession
I have been the graduate assistant for the McNair Scholar Program at Baylor since 2020. The McNair program is designed to prepare undergraduates for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. McNair participants are either first-Generation college students with financial need, or members of a group that has been traditionally underrepresented in graduate education and have demonstrated strong academic potential. Our goal is to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society.
It all started when I became a TRIO upward bound instructor (2018-to Present). Today, I blend these opportunities to students with my research. All my grant applications include a component that aim to continue this mission. With this, I trying to enhance science accessibility and comprehensibility among historically underrepresented groups in STEM wit an specific focus on marine mammal research.
Outreach
I believe in the importance of communicating scientific work we do to a broader audience. I think is our responsibility rather than a luxury. Recently I obtained a BAJEDI grants and I am developing two innovative educational tools for students: a life-sized model of a leopard seal and an immersive 360-degree virtual reality (VR) video showcasing our team conducting research on wild leopard seals. We will present this engaging content at local low-income schools in the US as well as translate the VR content to Spanish to broader the impact of our work and extend it to the countries we are working on such as Chile.
Press
2023
2023
Baylor University Media and Public Relations. Large and In Charge: Baylor Research Team Establishes Baseline Data on Cortisol Levels in Leopard Seals, Mysterious Apex Predators in Antarctica
2023