Carmen started work with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and MarineGEO in June 2018. She works on several long-term studies in the Chesapeake Bay region in collaboration with the Fisheries Conservation lab and can usually be found somewhere on the water or under it. In the lab, she currently focuses on epifaunal invertebrate identification for an NSF project on eelgrass wasting disease in eastern Pacific coastlines. 

Carmen has spent her life loving the ocean, and is passionate about preserving and protecting the animals that live below its salty surface. Before coming to MarineGEO, she earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat, and studied dolphin communities with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program in Florida. Carmen is a PADI Divemaster, Discover SCUBA Diving Leader, and a USCG Merchant Mariner.

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