Sylvia Rodriguez-Abudo was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she received a BS in Civil Engineering, with a concentration in Environmental Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (2007). She was part of CARICOOS at its early beginnings when she worked as an undergraduate researcher under the mentorship of Prof. Julio Morell. She later pursued graduate studies earning a master’s degree in Ocean Engineering from the University of New Hampshire (2011), followed by a Ph.D. in 2014 in the same discipline. Dr. Rodriguez-Abudo is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Materials at UPRM, where she teaches Coastal Engineering, Wave Dynamics, and Fluid Mechanics courses, and directs the Coastal Boundary Layers Laboratory. Her research group investigates the physical processes affecting and shaping the coastal ocean. Her work is done through laboratory and field experiments, and in collaboration with numerical modelers. She has been funded by NOAA, the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, and the DoD, among others. She is also an NSF-CAREER awardee. She has served as the Deputy Director of the Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System, Coordinator of the UPRM’s Research Academy, as well as several committees at the departmental, deanship, and university levels. She is also a proud mother of an 8-year-old girl and an adequate owner of a dog and a turtle.