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Lucía was born in Cali, Colombia, where she grew up surrounded by beautiful mountains and forests. This scenery inspired her to want to understand these natural ecosystems, which led her to study biology at Universidad del Valle. After a few semesters of studying various aspects of biology, field trips to the Colombian Pacific coast sparked her interest in the sea and caused her to fall in love with fish and marine ecology. She then joined the university’s Coral Reef Ecology research group and the Systematics, Evolution, and Animal Biodiversity research group, which allowed her to develop different projects related to reef fish communities, population ecology, and bioerosion by parrotfish. Her bachelor’s thesis assessed some aspects of parrotfish feeding morphology, ecology, and systematics.

While at KAUST Lucía wants to learn how to use molecular tools to answer ecological questions related to coral reef fishes. She hopes to enjoy the beauty of the Red Sea while broadening her view and understanding of the unique marine life in the region.