Hello! I am a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech in the Bedform Dynamics Research Group with Dr. Julia Cisneros

I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Puerto Rico during middle school. In 2012 my parents moved to Pennsylvania, and I graduated from Reading Senior High School. I attended Penn State and studied Planetary Science & Astronomy. I have always enjoyed learning, which motivated me to pursue a dual major in Applied Spanish and undergraduate minors in Astrobiology, Geosciences, and Sociology. I furthered my education at West Chester University of PA and graduated with a master's in Geography with an emphasis in geographic information systems (GIS). Under the direction of Dr. Megan Heckert (Geography), Dr. Marc Gagné (Earth & Space Sciences), and Dr. Gary Coutu (Geography), I went on to develop and defend my thesis work, titled "Delineating a Stream Network at Gale Crater, Mars, on ArcGIS Pro: A Geographic Information Systems Approach." Currently, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Geosciences at Virginia Tech. I am studying how we can better understand the morphodynamics of aeolian sediment transport and deposition under the guidance of Dr. Julia Cisneros. My work involves applying the fluvial bedform dynamics framework, using it as a window into how aeolian processes behave.

When not in the classroom, I enjoy hiking, watching movies, working out, and socializing with family and friends. I also like coffee, traveling, listening to music, and reading. My favorite quote is by Rumi, which says:

"Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there."

The message at the core of this quote is an open invitation for individuals with opposing views to sit down and talk about their differences in an informative way that will allow them to help others understand how they think and why.