Biography

I grew up in Northern Belize in a village called August Pine Ridge, Orange Walk district,
predominantly of Maya Mestizo families. After attending elementary school in the same
community, I attended and graduated with honors from Muffles College High School, a school
founded by the Sisters of Mercy.
 

In 2007 I began my studies at the University of Belize and joined the Natural Resources
Program. I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2011 and in the final year I met Bart Harmsen,
Panthera’s Belize Country Director. He and his wife, Becci Foster, taught the wildlife
management course at University. I did not know where to further my career until I heard about
wildlife management. Through the University of Belize Environmental Research Institute (UB-
ERI), I enrolled in the internship program for the Darwin Project, which focused on wildlife
research in the Central Belize Corridor, now called MFC – Maya Forest Corridor. I enjoyed
every bit of it, so much so that during the final months of school I returned as a volunteer. This
provided me with experience in camera trapping, cage trapping, telemetry and most importantly, database management. I suppose I made an impression because after six months post B.Sc, I received a call from Bart offering me a technician position to carry out the 2012 jaguar survey in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (CBWS). I immediately said yes without knowing what it would entail. It was different than the CBC/MFC. Too many hills and I [alone] was fully responsible of the survey.

To further my career, I pursued a Master's degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro,
Mexico, using data collected in the CBWS. My dissertation focused on population analysis of
jaguar and ocelots in CBWS. Upon returning to Belize, I once more joined the Panthera Team as
wildlife researcher and thereafter Country Coordinator. I led the program as coordinator for five
years, until the Panthera Belize program closed in December of 2024. During the process of
closure, an MOU was signed with the UB-ERI that allowed us to continue jaguar research and
other wildlife in Belize. Now with fifteen years of jaguar research under my belt, I have spent an
incredible amount of time outdoors and I could not be happier or more proud of this work. I have had the enviable opportunity to see jaguars and other species in the wild.