She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, completing a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering. As a student, she studied beach morphology changes at Rincón due to storm surges, using RTK surveying technology and nearshore dynamic numerical modeling (with wave and current coupling). Since 2017, she has worked as a research hydraulic engineer at the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory of the US Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center. As part of her job, she works with numerical wave models, such as FUNWAVE-TVD, to evaluate cases involving run-up, overtopping, harbor resonance, and ship wakes. Currently, Gabriela is a Ph.D. student in the University of Delaware Coastal Engineering program.