I'm a veterinarian, originally from Chile, where I had the opportunity to work as a research assitant in the Guigna Conservation Project, which studied threats to populations of the vulnerable Kodkod (Leopardus guigna). While working on this project, I also got field experience working with other mesocarnivores of the Valdivian Temperate rainforests in southern Chile. Recently, I participated as research assistant on a sea turtle monitoring project in Costa Rica and did an internship in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in California. My research interests are around understanding threats and drivers of decline of wild species populations to implement effective conservation actions, with a special interest on wild carnivores. Other important areas of interest are wildlife diseases and emerging zoonotic diseases.

For my master’s project I will focus on mapping the distribution of major hosts of zoonotic diseases and the human pressure occuring within their ranges to increase our knowledge of disease emergence from wildlife and identify opportunities to reduce this risk while protecting intact natural areas.