I am currently a postdoctoral research assistant in the Aime Lab at Purdue University. I work with coffee leaf rust.

​I was born and raised in Costa Rica and have always been interested in science and nature. I got my bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica in 2015. For my undergraduate thesis work, I spent 3 months in the United States working under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Porras-Alfaro and learning about fungi in her lab. I conducted researched about heavy metal tolerant soil fungi . Most importantly, during this time, I ended up falling in love with research and fungi.

This led me to join the Porras-Alfaro lab and receive a M.Sc. in Biology in 2016 from Western Illinois University. My thesis focused on the description of a novel genus and species in the Mucoromycotina (Bifiguratus adelaidae); a taxon that had been abundantly found in environmental sequencing, yet no cultures were known, and was designated as one of the “top 50 most wanted fungi”.

During 2017, I worked as a field technician for the US Geological Survey in Moab, Utah focusing in the effects of drought and increasing temperatures on biological soil crusts; among several other projects under the supervision of Dr. Sasha Reed.

I did my PhD in Plant Pathology with a dual title in Biogeochemistry in the lab of Dr. David M Geiser at The Pennsylvania State University between 2018–2023. My dissertation project focused on a novel Fusarium species that produces a pseudoflower on yellow-eyed grasses endemic to northern South America. My work aimed to describe the plant-fungal interaction in this system and how fungal presence may be involved in the attraction of insects that potentially aid its dispersal.

Besides research and field work, I enjoy being involved in student organizations, mentoring students, volunteering in the community, and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. I am a past chair of the Mycological Society of America Student Section, a delegate for the Penn State Graduate and Professional Student Association, and president of the Penn State Plant Pathology Student Association