I am a first gen student and a second generation Mexican-American. I am thrilled to bring my interests in skeletons into a comprehensive research program focusing on a key icons in Mesoamerican culture and mythology (bats of course!). Over the years I have trained as an embryologist, morphologist, and evolutionary biologist. I specialize in mammals and I use modern molecular techniques to understand developmental and evolutionary processes. I focus on the craniofacial skeleton and I am particularly interested in the faces of extreme mammals-- bats!