Alejandro was born in Medellin, Colombia. After finishing school, he moved to Cali, Colombia to complete his BS in Biology at Universidad del Valle. While there, he developed his interest in marine biology after some field trips to the Colombian Pacific and in 2014 he joined the university’s Coral Ecology Research group. His thesis project assessed the impact of a small stream over corals on a reef near Gorgona Island. At this time, he became certified as a diver and his interest in coral reefs grew. He also collaborated on annual coral reef monitoring around the island and assisted with a coral restoration project.

His interests in coral reefs and traveling have brought him to the Red Sea, joining Prof. Michael Berumen’s lab as a Master’s student. At KAUST he hopes to get to know the fascinating of Red Sea coral reef ecosystem. Alejandro would like to accomplish this by studying aspects of ecology related to corals and other reef organisms including population connectivity.​