Coming from an archipelago in the Caribbean belonging to Colombia and surrounded by beautiful coral reefs, I had the chance to develop a passion for the tropical marine environment and its biodiversity at an early age. Driven by that experience I undertook my Biology (Bachelor of Science) studies at the University of Regensburg, Germany, which at the end lead me to the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. There I was able to develop good analytic skills in population genetics and dynamics and my enthusiasm for evolutionary processes, during the research project of my bachelor's thesis. Herein I assessed genetic diversity and population connectivity of an antarctic shrimp species, using fast evolving molecular markers. To study ecosystems with help of genetic tools strikingly fascinated me and opened for me a door to effectively analyze the state of key species and thus their ecosystem. I immediately proceed with the ISATEC (International Studies of Aquatic Tropical Ecology) Master Program at the University of Bremen, Germany and further developed my knowledge about tropical environments and linked it to develop a new scope of research possibilities. With this purpose in mind, I successfully applied and am now joining this research group at KAUST in order to help to investigate one of the most challenging marine ecosystem and its throughout present structure-building hard corals to unravel more of its still mysterious genetic structure in the Red Sea.