Staff Profile

Hey, there! I’m Carmen. A native of Southwest Florida, I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t outside. My childhood was spent exploring mangrove forests, snorkeling coral reefs, and chasing the rare Gulf swell. The daughter of a surfer, I fell in love with the ocean at a very young age. I learned to read the tides, respect the resident creatures I encountered, and observe changes in the environment over time. I dove head-first into my studies during high school while simultaneously gaining field experience in shark tagging with the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. There, my passion for sharks was born.

I went on to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biology (Marine Biology) and Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University. A Rachel Carson Scholar, my time in North Carolina was spent focused on ecology, particularly in seagrass environments as well as sharks. The culmination of my educational career resulted in a study analyzing the changes in biodiversity of a community of coastal sharks. The was the product of a collaboration between the Duke University Marine Laboratory and the University of North Carolina Institute for Marine Science.

After graduation, I worked on an internship for a sustainable seafood start-up in Palau where I raised grouper in an open-ocean environment. Once it was completed, I switched gears and moved to Gili Trawangan, Indonesia to pursue my professional PADI Divemaster and Instructor certifications. When I am not diving, you can find me longboarding, reading, running, or planning my next adventure. I am extremely excited to be spending time out in the Turks and Caicos with the School for Field Studies. Happy diving!