Mónica Medina is a professor of organismal biology at the Pennsylvania State University. She is known for environmental activism, such as fighting to protect Varadero Reef, and her research on the ecology and evolution of symbiosis by studying the relationships between cnidarian, endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, and other microbes.

Education

Medina was born and raised in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia. She studied Biology at the Universidad de Los Andes before pursuing her Ph.D. in Marine Biology & Fisheries at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

under the guidance of Patrick Walsh. She described the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

and population genetics of

sea hares The order Aplysiida, commonly known as sea hares (''Aplysia'' species and related genera), are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the ...

. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

under

Mitchell Sogin Mitchell Sogin is an American microbiologist. He is a distinguished senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His research investigates the evolution, diversity,and distribution of single-celled organisms. ...

during which time she explored the phylogeny and cellular complexity of fungi and metazoans.

Career and research

Medina was a research scientist at the

Joint Genome Institute The Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is a scientific user facility for integrative genomic science at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The mission of the JGI is to advance genomics research in support of the United States Department of Energy ...

from 2001-2005 and founding faculty member as assistant professor at the

University of California, Merced The University of California, Merced (UC Merced or colloquially, UCM) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Merced, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of ...

. There, she pioneered the use of genomic approaches to study coral reef science and coral-algal symbiosis for studying bleaching and disease and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work in France, the prestigious Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Award for her excellence in research, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2007. Upon moving to the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, she expanded research to study coral microbiomes. She has published on the population genomic approaches to evolutionary biology and comparative genomics of model cnidarians including

Cassiopea ''Cassiopea'' (upside-down jellyfish) is a genus of Scyphozoa, true jellyfish and members of the family Cassiopeidae. They are found in warmer coastal regions around the world, including shallow mangrove swamps, mudflats, canals, and turtle gras ...

, and Orbicella faveolata. She is a founding member of the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA). She is part of Penn State's Microbiome Center. She is an invited member of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. She has studied Varadero reef near Cartagena, Colombia, and been an active promoter of community involvement to save the reef. Dr. Medina was a part of the team that produced the nature documentary, ''Saving Atlantis'', which has been shown across the world in several languages.

Diversity and inclusion in science

She has promoted underrepresented minorities in STEM through her involvement with activities including the Committee on Equity and Diversity, and in training students, such as

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

INCLUDES initiatives, the Bridge to PhD for bringing Master's students from

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially becam ...

to Penn State. She was the impetus for the establishment of a

Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science The Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973. It is the largest multicultural STEM diversity organization in the United States, with a mission to advance the success ...

(SACNAS) chapter at Penn State. Her lab provides outreach activities to elementary schools about the importance of corals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Mónica Living people University of Miami alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty Colombian women biologists Colombian women activists Colombian environmentalists Colombian academics Year of birth missing (living people)