Coming from a career as a wildlife biologist, I started my journey in education in 2000 teaching fine arts and life sciences at a charter high school in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 2007, I took the position as Education Specialist at this agency. I was tasked with expanding the education program and aligning it with state science standards. We expanded the program to encompass pre-school through grade 12 and created the first community science program for schools, the Vector Inspector Program, in response to the discovery of invasive Aedes mosquitoes in one of our cities.

Today, our agency is an industry leader in public health education, thanks to the hard work, creative talent, and dedication of the department's team members. Our programs have expanded and evolved, employing active learning techniques, language arts, and providing students with SEL opportunities during our visits. We've also expanded our online resources including a unique online interactive educational experience, Journey of the Germ, which was awarded a Chrysalis Grant from the Entomological Society of America in 2021. ​

I enjoy creative activities of all sorts from painting and jewelry-making, to digital art and fiction writing. I love to read and garden. I live in the mountains and one of my favorite past-times is sitting on my back porch, listening to the rush of a nearby creek and watching the wild creatures wander though my backyard. 

Prior to vector control, I taught high school students for 5 years. I decided to go back to school to obtain a master’s in public health and while in grad school I was a teaching assistant for a community education course focused on promoting science and health equity. I was hired at SGVMVCD soon after completing my MPH in 2019. This role has been the perfect blend between my life science CA teaching credential and public health. I use the skills I developed through both master's degrees, mixed with a ton of creativity and exploring uncharted territory in vector control education to create engaging lessons and activities. Mosquitoes are annoying, but teaching about them is really fun!

I love to explore! When I am not at work, I am traveling the world, tending to my edible and native plant garden, hiking up a mountain, dancing to Spanish music, or being a tía to my beautiful nieces.

I started educating Elementary school children in 2017, through a tutoring organization that focused on at-promise students in the Alhambra, Arcadia, and San Gabriel school districts. During the summer, my tutoring organization would host summer school and I would create interactive activities to complement the curriculum that would prepare students for the next year.

I started in vector control in the summer of 2018, as a seasonal employee for the communications department. I wanted to stay in the education field but also combine my background in digital storytelling and media. Thankfully, this job allows me to combine all of my skills to enhance communication effectiveness to residents and students. I’m also currently pursuing my MSc. in Integrated Marketing Communications at the top graduate marketing school in the country, which helps me to apply innovative and strategic techniques to my communication and education efforts.

I enjoy the creative freedom in my role because it allows me to experiment with messaging and curriculum effectiveness that produces valuable insight to residents and students in our jurisdiction. Plus, working with kids in their academic environment is so interesting to me, as they’re so curious about how mosquitoes affect our communities and they’re eager to help keep their loved ones safe.

I enjoy being inspired by art and culture, so I try to travel as often as I can to cultivate creative ideas. I’m also a writer, reader, and a learner of languages; I speak Spanish and French, and have tried learning German and Gujarati (because why not). I also love walking, particularly when I’m exploring exciting cities and checking out cute coffee shops.