I am a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Rice University. My work at the intersection of environmental anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), critical cartography, and experimental ethnography.

My dissertation examines the scientific, political, artistic, and local discourses surrounding a feral hippo population in Colombia. Originally introduced for the private zoo of a drug lord, the population has grown into a free-roaming herd of over 160 individuals in the Magdalena River basin. They are currently classified as an invasive species due to the risks they pose to human safety, local fauna, and the ecosystem. My research explores how residents, scientists, policymakers, and animal rights advocates navigate the hippos' unusual presence, focusing on divergent imaginaries of the animals—viewed alternatively as invaders or victims. I investigate the epistemological and cultural mechanisms that have transformed these hippos into disputed symbols of Colombia’s history of drug trafficking and armed conflict. Furthermore, I examine how the futures envisioned through predictive scientific modeling shape complex and paradoxical forms of care for the water, aquatic life, and communities of the Magdalena River.

My doctoral studies at Rice are supported by Minciencias (Colombia’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation), the Fulbright Commission–Colombia, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation. Additionally, my research has received funding from Rice University’s Department of Anthropology, the Social Sciences Research Institute, the Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, and the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies.