Maite is a UNC Chapel Hill Tar Heel planning to graduate with Highest Honors in May 2015. She completed her Open Water certification in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012 followed by her Advanced, Rescue and Nitrox certifications at the UNC Institute of Marine Science in Morehead City, NC in 2013. Maite channels her passion for the marine world into research. She has had extensive experience in the lab, in the field and as a published author. Her next goal is to complete her Ph.D. studying disease ecology in marine ecosystems.