Ana is a 3rd year PhD student in Integrative Biology, with an emphasis in Computational Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. For her dissertation research, Ana is interested in unraveling the mechanisms and evolution of cold tolerance in tardigrades or “water bears”- using a combination of wet lab techniques, computational biology, and field work (in California and Antarctica). Before starting graduate school, Ana worked as a 7th Grade Science public school teacher, working in the Bronx for the New York City Department of Education. She is a first-generation college student from rural Michigan (from a village of about 300 people), and holds a B.S. in Biology & Philosophy from MIT (‘12) and a M.A.T. from Relay Graduate School of Education (‘15). She has a strong passion for social justice, decolonizing science, improving science literacy, and making quality education more accessible for everyone.
