Ciencia Puerto Rico

Got an undergraduate degree in Civil engineering at University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM). During these college years, I participated in a summer research program at Texas A&M on intelligent transportation systems. This experience 'lit up' my curiosity about research.
Unsure of whether I wanted to pursue a career in Civil engineering on the island due to environmental considerations, I decided to pursue a graduate degree. Following my quest for knowledge, I went to obtain a PhD in statistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). During my studies I focused on environmental statistics, and studied the uncertainty on estimating spatial prediction variance and worked on modifications for an algorithm to perform spatial prediction using massive data in an 'optimal' and computationally efficient way.

During my studies at UCSB I was lucky to be offered the opportunity to return to Puerto Rico after my studies to teach at UPRM. The chance to contribute my 'two cents' to the well being of the island was too hard to resist

In 2014, with some other statisticians on the island, we were successful in developing the Puerto Rico American Statistical Association chapter. The goal of the chapter is to promote careers in statistics, encourage the use of statistics more broadly (by the public and in academia), and provide networking opportunities for those interested in the topic. Currently, I am the president of the Chapter.

My research interest revolve around statistical modeling, environmental statistics and education