Karina earned her B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, her M.S. in Applied Biotechnology from the National Polytechnic Institute, and her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from CINVESTAV/LANGEBIO (Mexico). She completed her postdoctoral training at Carnegie Science (MD, USA) and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. 

Her research focuses on microbiota–host interactions, with an emphasis on bacterial natural products and their biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs).

I'm a senior at the University of Arizona, majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Before attending UA, I graduated from Pima Community College with honors with an Associate's degree in Science. I've lived in Tucson my whole life, and I love the unique ecological system seen in the Sonoran Desert. I'm interested in lab work and research work in a variety of scientific fields, but take a particular interest in biology, chemistry, and paleoanthropology. Outside of school, I love to learn everything about cars.