Yvette Alva, UCSC

Yvette Alva is beginning her fifth year as a doctoral candidate in the field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCSC under the guidance of Dr. Giacomo Bernardi. With financial support from an MBRS fellowship, Yvette will be using molecular techniques to determine the population structure and history of reef fish in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. The Tropical Eastern Pacific is unique because it has undergone radical transformations in the past million years that may have influenced the present day distribution of marine organisms. Her work will enable scientists to understand the evolutionary mechanisms that are involved in governing genetic diversity and speciation processes.

Yvette Alva earned her Bachelor's of Science in Biology and her Master's of Science degree in Population Genetics from San Francisco State University. After Yvette obtains a Ph.D., she would like to enter the world of academia and become a professor in Evolutionary Biology. Her primary goal as a professor would not just simply be to teach students the skills and knowledge that she has obtained throughout the years; but more importantly, to create bridge programs with underrepresented high school and community college students so to expose them to science at a critical age when they are thinking about a career for their future.