Tatiana

Certified Tutor

I am a biogeochemist specializing in polar microbiology. Following my high school graduation in 2012, I was working towards my BSc in Ecology with a minor in Chemistry at the University of North Texas, where I finished in 2015 with an undergraduate thesis on oil spill pollution. I then took a gap year to study freshwater inflows and polychaetes in the Gulf of Mexico and Antarctica. In 2016, I started to pursue my MSc at the University of Texas studying harmful algal blooms and water quality in reservoirs, graduating in 2018. I continued this investigation as an Associate Scientist for the City of Austin until I started my PhD studies in 2019. Following somewhat of a negative experience at the University of California, Berkeley, I am in the process of transferring programs after two years of study to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I will finish my dissertation on trace metal biogeochemistry. Although this was not the ideal PhD experience, I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to take a gap year in between my 5-year doctoral studies! I am spending this year working remotely and traveling. As a native Spanish speaker with a Colombian family who was required to learn to code (Python/R) as part of being a biogeochemist, I am qualified to tutor certain classes in coding and Spanish language. However, my favorite subjects are chemistry and microbiology. My most significant teaching experience includes leading laboratory courses through Austin Community College at the University of Texas in 2018 and serving as a graduate student instructor at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2019 to 2021, which was lecture-based. I have significant experience teaching (marine) chemistry and biology as well as microbial biotechnology. As such, I frequently assisted students individually with understanding the course material through office hours and after classes. Furthermore, I have experience tutoring the Biology II for Science Majors course during my undergraduate days. As an instructor and private tutor, I strive to frame the course material in such a way that the student finds it interesting.