My name is Dámaris but I like to be called sometimes Isabella

I’m an ecuadorian biotechnologist passionate about science, research and industry.

I was born and raised in Guayaquil, a coastal city in Ecuador. Since I was little, I was fascinated by science. I loved doing experiments with my grandmother's facial creams and designing architectural plans for what my “top-secret laboratory” would look like. I studied in the IB program, which helped me learn more and prepare for my university life.

At 17, I won a scholarship to study at the best university in the country Biotechnology, so I moved to Quito. Unfortunately, a year later, I had to leave the program because the living expenses as a foreign were too high priced for me. In 2019, the first Biotechnology Engineering program opened in Guayaquil, so I returned and in September 2023, I defended my thesis, which was based on the biological characterization of the rhizome of an endemic plant with therapeutic properties. I am currently writing my first scientific paper based on the results I obtained from my research with my career advisor.

On 2023 had the opportunity to intern in a pharmaceutical laboratory as a laboratory technician, which later opened the door to becoming a microbiologist at a water and beverage company. A few months ago, I applied for a position at Skretting, a multinational company, where I currently work as a quality analyst performing physicochemical analysis in animal feed.

During my college years, we were hit by the COVID wave, which resulted in a lockdown for approximately a year and a half. During this time, we missed out on opportunities to participate in lab sessions and become more involved in extracurricular projects. So now, I'm always looking for new opportunities to learn and develop, filling in the gaps COVID left us and gaining experience for -hopefully- be able to apply for a scholarship abroad in7or related to synthetic biology.